Little would I expect that the next time I would be prompted to blog would not be due to my thoughts on my London & Paris trip or my good fortune to be able to teach chemistry in 2009 but due to this movie Broken Flowers lingering on my mind after I watched it.¹

To be honest, I wouldn't have bought the dvd if it wasn't priced at a dirt-cheap 5 bucks at Cash Converters. haha. but aside from that, i was intrigued with the premise of the movie: Bill Murray (of Lost in Translation fame) visits four former lovers, where he comes face to face with the errors of his past and the possibilities of the future. sounds like an introspective warm production about the absurdities of life, right?

it surprised me how the movie was mostly flat and comprised little highs and lows but i guess that's my bad since i shouldn't impose my expectations of seeing sharp-biting dialogue and naked emotions worn on sleeves, gained from a diet of hollywood story-telling conventions, on this one. but it just seemed like nothing ever happened. Bill Murray, acting as Don Johnston, was stoic and even stoned on his couch for several scenes-the film critics call this minimalist acting. like, seriously?! I needed a more explicit indication from Don that would enlighten me on whether he felt he was lonely and if so, how he felt about it.

a greater disappointment came from the fact that I thought each visit would reveal some epiphany, some resolution of some inner crises, some gems of astute insight that would help Don take stock of his life. Rather like the premise of Five People in Heaven by Mitch Albon. The scientifically-oriented person in me (again, my bad) even half-thought that the first visit would reveal some insights which would be built upon during the subsequent visits. Kinda like a chain effect, in which A leads to B, which leads to C, which then Ta-Da! a much-wanted growth in Don. Something that was more analytical, more proactive, I guess

but it wasn't like that at all. the four women had distinctive personalities, so each encounter was different for Don but we never got to learn about how Don felt about the visits. Was he transformed? Was he traumatised? Did he ache for the present that could have been?

Nay, I watched Don drive in his rental car and scan his maps to get to the next destination and actually anticipated for the scenes after the last visit so that I could see Don somehow gain a closure from this whole episode.

There wasn't an Eureka moment at all; if there was one, we certainly didn't get to see it. In fact, I felt I gained more from the short Bonus feature on the director, Jim Jarmusch's thoughts on making the movie.

yup, I was quite dissatisfied after watching this. Ironically, i think the lack of revelation is why I liked Broken Flowers. I liked how it took me in a different direction from what I expected. Also, I may not know whether Don is resigned or accepting of his mundane days but it doesn't render his sense of loss any less poignant.