Broken Flowers

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Broken Flowers
The movie poster.
Directed by	Jim Jarmusch
Produced by	Jon Kilik Stacey Smith
Written by	Jim Jarmusch (Inspired by an idea from Bill Raden and Sara Driver)
Starring	Bill Murray Jeffrey Wright Sharon Stone Tilda Swinton Frances Conroy Julie Delpy Alexis Dziena
Cinematography	Frederick Elmes
Editing by	Jay Rabinowitz
Distributed by	Focus Features
Release date(s)	August 5, 2005
Running time	105 min.
Country	US
Language	English
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Broken Flowers is a 2005 comedy-drama film directed and written by Jim Jarmusch and produced by Jon Kilik and Stacey Smith. It stars Bill Murray, Jeffrey Wright, Jessica Lange, Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Julie Delpy, and Mark Webber. It opened August 5, 2005 in limited release.

In 2005 Cannes Film Festival, the film was nominated for "Golden Palm" Award and won "Grand Prize of the Jury".

The film is dedicated to French director Jean Eustache. In an interview, Jarmusch said he felt close to Eustache for his commitment to making films in a unique and independent fashion.

• Tagline: Sometimes life brings some strange surprises.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Controversy 3 Soundtrack 3.1 Track listing 3.2 Others songs in the film 4 Trivia 5 Cast 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Plot

The main character, Don Johnston (Bill Murray), receives an anonymous letter, allegedly from an unnamed former girlfriend, informing him that he has a 19-year-old son who may be looking for him. At the same time, his current girlfriend Sherry (Julie Delpy) moves out. Don has lived the life of an archetypal womanizer, a "Don Juan", and any one of several former girlfriends may have written the letter. He initially doesn't intend to do anything with the information, but his friend and neighbor Winston (Jeffrey Wright), a mystery and detective enthusiast, convinces him to visit the four possible mothers:

• Laura (Sharon Stone) works as closet and drawer organizer and is the widow of a race car driver. She has a "jailbait" daughter, Lolita (Alexis Dziena), who flirts with Don and walks around the house naked in front of him.
• Dora (Frances Conroy) is a realtor who hasn't yet let go of her past; once a flower child of the 60s, she appears very brittle and on the verge of exploding out of her confining life. Her controlling husband, Ron (Christopher McDonald), invites Don to an awkward dinner.
• Carmen (Jessica Lange) works as an "animal communicator." Don recalls how she was formerly so passionate about becoming a lawyer, among other things. But "passion is a funny thing," she says. There are also hints that she may be involved in a lesbian relationship with her receptionist (Chloë Sevigny).
• Penny (Tilda Swinton) lives in the country amongst blue-collar motorcycle enthusiasts. Having left Don years ago, she has no desire to reconcile with him now. When Don asks her whether she has a son, she gets upset; Don is beaten up by her friends as a result. He awakens the next morning in his rental car in the middle of a field. He has a nasty cut around his left eye as a result of the confrontation.

After the beating, Don stops at a florist to buy flowers from a friendly and attractive young woman named Sun Green (Pell James) who bandages his wounds. He leaves the flowers at the grave of another former girlfriend, Michelle Pepe, who Don originally thought might be the mother before finding out she had died five years prior. Earlier Don told Winston he had loved Michelle — his only mention of love throughout the film. As he kneels at her grave stone he softly says "Hello, beautiful."

Disillusioned, Don returns home where he meets a young man in the street (Mark Webber) who he suspects may be his son. He buys him food, but when he remarks that the young man may wonder whether Don is his father, the young man becomes upset and flees. As Don looks on, he notices a Volkswagen Beetle drive past. The young man in the passenger seat (played by Homer Murray, son of lead actor Bill Murray)^[1] is listening to music which Don himself listens to throughout the movie. This "Kid in Car" holds unblinking eye contact with Don while the car drives on and away. Don is left standing in the middle of the road.

[edit] Controversy

Screenwriter Reed Martin sued Jarmusch in March 2006, claiming that the director stole the film's concept from a very similar script that had circulated among several people eventually involved in the production. The outcome of the case is still pending, and Jarmusch denies the charges. However, Jarmusch told MovieMaker magazine that he believes that "Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration ... And don't bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it."^[2]

[edit] Soundtrack

Music from Broken Flowers
Soundtrack by various artists
Released	August 2, 2005
Genre	Jazz, rock, pop, soul, reggae, classical
Length	38:01
Label	Decca
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link

The soundtrack to the film features an eclectic mix of music, chiefly using instrumentals by Ethiopian jazz artist Mulatu Astatke as the main score, mixed with garage rock (The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Greenhornes, Sleep), soul (Marvin Gaye), rocksteady reggae (The Tennors), classical (Gabriel Fauré's Requiem) and easy-listening pop music (Holly Golightly).

[edit] Track listing

1. "There Is an End" (Holly Golightly with The Greenhornes) - 3:05
2. "Yegelle Tezeta" (Mulatu Astatke) - 3:14
3. "Ride Yu Donkey" (The Tennors) - 2:03
4. "I Want You" (Marvin Gaye) - 3:57
5. "Yekermo Sew" (Mulatu Astatke) - 4:03
6. "Not if You Were the Last Dandy on Earth" (The Brian Jonestown Massacre) - 2:49
7. "Tell Me Now So I Know" (Holly Golightly) - 2:02
   • Written by Ray Davies
8. "Gubèlyé" (Mulatu Astatke) - 4:35
9. "Dopesmoker" (Sleep) - 3:57
   • Abridged version of 63:31-minute track.
10. Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 ("Pie Jesu") (Oxford Camerata) - 3:30
    • Composed by Gabriel Fauré, fourth of seven-movement work.
11. "Ethanopium" (Dengue Fever) - 4:38
    • Instrumental, composed by Mulatu Astatke
12. "Unnatural Habitat" (The Greenhornes) - 2:08

[edit] Others songs in the film

Several songs in the film but are not on the soundtrack album. They include:

• "Dreams" by The Allman Brothers Band
• "El Bang Bang" by Jackie Mittoo
• "Playboy Cha-Cha" by Mulatu Astatke
• "Mascaram Seteba" by Mulatu Astatke
• "Aire" (Pavan A 5 in C Minor) composed by William Lawes, performed by Fretwork
• "Fantasy" (A 6 in F Major) composed by William Lawes, performed by Fretwork
• "Alone in the Crowd" by Mulatu Astatke

[edit] Trivia

• In writing what would be on the pink letter, Jim Jarmusch asked each of the four female leads to write a version of the letter from the point of view of their respective characters, and used an amalgamation of those four letters in the finished film.

• In one scene Don Johnston complains why his friend Winston had to rent him a simple Ford Taurus instead of something more formidable, but in several scenes the Chrysler logo can be seen on the back the automobile contradicting his earlier statement.

• Bill Murray's son, Homer Murray, plays the young man who appears briefly right near the end of the movie.

[edit] Cast

• Bill Murray – Don Johnston
• Jeffrey Wright – Winston
• Sharon Stone – Laura Daniels Miller
• Frances Conroy – Dora Anderson
• Christopher McDonald – Ron Anderson
• Jessica Lange – Dr. Carmen Markowski
• Tilda Swinton – Penny
• Julie Delpy – Sherry
• Alexis Dziena – Lolita Miller
• Chloë Sevigny – Carmen's Assistant
• Pell James – Sun Green
• Mark Webber – The Kid

[edit] References

1. ^ Homer Murray at Internet Movie Database (retrieved on December 14, 2006).
2. ^ Kahn, Joseph P. July 3, 2006. "Shattered dreams", Boston Globe (retrieved via International Herald Tribune on December 14, 2006).

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Broken Flowers at the Internet Movie Database
• Broken Flowers at Rotten Tomatoes
• Broken Flowers at Box Office Mojo
• Article on Jarmusch and Broken Flowers Alternate Takes
• Fanlisting for Broken Flowers

Films Directed by Jim Jarmusch
Permanent Vacation • Stranger Than Paradise • Coffee and Cigarettes • Down by Law • Coffee and Cigarettes, Memphis Version • Mystery Train • Night on Earth • Coffee and Cigarettes: Somewhere in California • Dead Man • Year of the Horse • Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai • Ten Minutes Older • Coffee and Cigarettes • Broken Flowers