Film Review: Ordinary Lives Are Interwoven in Intricate ‘Flowers’

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Average: 5 (1 vote)

CHICAGO – The meaning of our lives is elusive, and the time we spend here too short. The Spanish foreign language film “Flowers” seeks to define the meaning, through three women trying to memorialize one man. “Flowers” opens at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre on Dec. 18th, 2015.

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.5/5.0
Rating: 4.5/5.0

What is remarkable about the story is the ordinariness of the characters. They were all working class – a toll collector, a crane operator and a construction clerk – and they’re all occupying themselves with day-to-day drudgery. When a mystery begins, and a accident occurs, their obsessions regarding the shifts in their lives, due to those two situations, lead them on a path to change and redemption. In the European film atmosphere, none of the actors are glamorous, but simply know how to deliver the emotions to make this story inspirational. Beyond stopping and smelling the flowers, it opined that the beauty of the bouquet – like life – is delicate and momentary.

Ane (Nagore Aranburu) receives some harsh news. The late thirtysomething woman is going through an early menopause, and this information puts the already reticent construction clerk into a bit of funk. Her mood shifts when she begins to receive flowers on a weekly basis, with no note or source. This causes a rift between her and her fiancé, because they can’t find out who is delivering these packages, and Ane then takes the bouquets to work to hide them.

There is a crane operator at Ane’s worksite named Beñat (Joesean Bengoetxea), and the attitude of his mother Tere (Itziar Alzpuru) is causing problems between him and his wife Lourdes (Itziar Ituño). In a swift turn of events, Beñat is killed in a car crash, and the site of the crash begins to be memorialized in flowers. At the same time, the weekly deliveries for Ane ceases, and the lives of the mother, wife and co-worker are about to be inexplicably linked.

“Flowers” has a limited run beginning December 18th at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 North Southport Avenue, Chicago. See listings for show times. Featuring Itziar Ituño, Nagore Aranburu, Itziar Alzpuru and Joesean Bengoetxea. Written by Jon Garaño, Jose Mari Goenaga and Altor Arregi. Directed by Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga. Not Rated.

StarContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Flowers”

Nagore Aranburu
Ane (Nagore Aranburu) Tries to Blossom in ‘Flowers’
Photo credit: Music Box Films

StarContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Flowers”

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