An unhappily married woman’s life shifts when she begins to receive a weekly anonymous gift of bouquets in Spain’s official Foreign Language Film submission, Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga’s moody, broody “Flowers” (Loreak). Their story of three women who pine for a particular man is the first fracture in a convoluted narrative, beautifully shot (by Javi Agirre Erauso), engagingly acted, mostly inert. Bold signs and symbols spike the visual vocabulary, ever suggestive, ultimately elusive. With Itziar Ituño, Nagore Aranburu, Itziar Aizpuru, Josean Bengoetxea. 100m. (Ray Pride)
“Flowers” opens Friday, December 18 at the Music Box. The Spanish trailer is below.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s film critic and a contributing editor to Filmmaker magazine.
His multimedia history of Chicago “Ghost Signs” will be published soon. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram as Ghost Signs Chicago. More photography on Instagram.