Broken Flowers (2005)

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writers:

Jim Jarmusch (written by)
Bill Raden (inspired by an idea from) ...

Release Date:

26 August 2005 (Iceland)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

Sometimes life brings some strange surprises.

Plot:

As the devoutly single Don Johnston (Murray) is dumped by his latest girlfriend (Delpy), he receives an anonymous pink letter informing him that he has a son who may be looking for him. The situation causes Don to examine his relationships with women instead of moving on to the next one, and he embarks on a cross-country search for his old flames who might possess clues to the mystery at hand.

Plot Keywords:

Lolita | Dream Sequence | Computer Whizz | Upper Class | Humor

Awards:

4 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Bill Murray	...	Don Johnston
Julie Delpy	...	Sherry
Heather Simms	...	Mona (as Heather Alicia Simms)
Brea Frazier	...	Rita
Jarry Fall	...	Winston and Mona's Kid
Korka Fall	...	Winston and Mona's Kid
Saul Holland	...	Winston and Mona's Kid
Zakira Holland	...	Winston and Mona's Kid
Niles Lee Wilson	...	Winston and Mona's Kid
Jeffrey Wright	...	Winston
Meredith Patterson	...	Flight Attendant
Jennifer Rapp	...	Girl on Bus
Nicole Abisinio	...	Girl on Bus
Ryan Donowho	...	Young Man on Bus
Alexis Dziena	...	Lolita

Also Known As:

Dead Flowers (USA) (working title)
Untitled Jim Jarmusch Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some graphic nudity and brief drug use.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hungary:14 | USA:R (certificate #41745) | Netherlands:MG6 | Belgium:KT | France:U | Malaysia:U | Sweden:11 | Malaysia:18SX | Australia:M | South Korea:18 | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:o.Al. | Norway:A | UK:15 | Singapore:M18 | Mexico:B15 | Finland:K-7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Singapore:NC-16 (edited version) | Ireland:15A | Brazil:14 | Iceland:L | Hong Kong:IIA | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Canada:G (Québec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Mahwah, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Bac Films

Trivia:

Jim Jarmusch asked each of the four female leads to write a version of the pink letter from the point of view of their respective characters. He used a combination of those four letters in the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: Around the 1hr mark of the film, after Don gets off the plane and is driving over the bridge, his sunglasses appear on, then the camera angle changes and the sunglasses are off, then on again at the next camera angle change, with no indication that he had taken them off

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sherry: I pretty much have all my stuff.
[picks up mail]
Sherry: Looks like you got a love letter from one of your other girlfriends.

Movie Connections:

References Dolemite (1975)

Soundtrack:

Aire (Pavan A 5 in C Minor)

A low-key picaresque

Barely dramatic, thematic but enigmatic, that's Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers. His Stranger than Paradise was exactly that, a Cleveland road trip to existential uncertainty. In Broken Flowers, Bill Murray as Don Johnston is also on a trip, but more certain of his goal than anyone in Stranger, for he seeks out his alleged son by visiting former lovers, one of whom anonymously wrote that she had borne him a child 19 years ago.

The formidable women, including a randy Sharon Stone happily lampooning her film persona and Tilda Swinton, tougher and more dangerous than all the others in her biker mom role, never really sway him from seeking his son or finding himself. Beyond discovering that you can't change the past of "an over-the-hill Don Juan," much less understand him, reflected in the depressing but authentic lack of communication with all but one of his wives, Murray may have discovered on his low-key picaresque a truer self than he had ever known before. He may be beaten up physically, he may be unable to close the case of his putative son, and he may have divorced himself from his millionaire persona as a computer whiz, but he remains a deeply calm, lonely wanderer in his effort to solve his case.

An amateur detective, neighbor Winston has the spirit and energy Don does not have, yet Don is deeper and more reflective. In fact he outstrips all of his former loves in kindness and caring in calm response to often explosive situations, for instance when Stone's daughter, Lolita, comes on to him only to find he is not available.

I complain American films are not sophisticated like Euro flicks, but Jarmusch has come close with this slow, laconic, and demanding indie. Hats off to Bill Murray for mixing minimalist with passionate this time around—his purpose and his change of character make his aging Hollywood star Bob from Lost in Translation just a dress rehearsal for this Oscar-worthy performance and film.

Perhaps Don's discovery is twofold: his potential to love others and himself. As Alexander Smith declared, "Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition."