Broken Flowers

Colour, 35 mm
USA, 2005, 105 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

Confirmed bachelor Don Johnston has just been dumped by his latest girlfriend, Sherry. But that’s no reason to get excited, determined as he is to continue spending his early retirement in front of the TV. Then, when he gets a mysterious letter, anonymously indicating that he’s got an adult son with one of his many old girlfriends, he is finally forced to think about the past. Spurred on more by his neighbour friend Winston (who likes to play detective) than by his own curiosity, in the end Don sets out to discover which of his former lovers could be the letter writer and mother of his son. The only clues he’s got are the letter’s pink stationary and the telltale type of the typewriter on which it was written. He gradually meets four women who once meant something to him (Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange and Tilda Swinton), but now the only emotion they provoke is a vague nostalgia. Nevertheless, these encounters make him face up to both his past and present. If Broken Flowers goes on to become Jim Jarmusch’s most successful film, he’ll have Bill Murray to thank for his excellent lead performance.

About the director

Jim Jarmusch (b. 1953, Akron, Ohio) lives and works New York. His debut, Permanent Vacation (1980), was screened to great acclaim in Europe and became a cult hit. His second film, Stranger Than Paradise (1984), took Camera d’Or at Cannes. Other successful features followed: Down by Law (1986), Mystery Train (1989) and Night on Earth (1991). In 1995 he shot an atypical western, Dead Man, and in 1997 he came out with Year of the Horse featuring Neil Young. Then came Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), and in 2000 the segment “Int. Trailer. Night” for the film Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet. He has also shot several shorts and a number of music videos.