Flower power
He’s keen to deny it, but Broken Flowers is the most accessible movie that JIM JARMUSCH has made. The filmmaker whose earlier productions include Down by Law and Night on Earth has long been associated with huge cult hits that did not achieve large-scale cinema distribution. This time, he tells us, things are turning out to be very different.
oody. wry and laconic. Broken Flowers demonstrates that. when it comes to understated humour. Bill Murray is the linest comic actor Hollywood has seen in years. It also confirms that Jim Jarmusch. the maverick king of the indie flick. has enough talent to strike gold with the movie-going mainstream — when he wants to. In the film. Murray discovers unexpectedly that he has a child from a previous relationship. He embarks on a road trip to visit a series of former lovers. hoping to find out which one is the tnother. Alongside Murray. there are fine cameo performances from the likes of Sharon Stone. Julie Delpy. Tilda Swinton and Jessica Lange. Here. Jim Jarmusch talks to us about the making of the film. and about his powerful relationship with Bill Murray.
‘I designed Broken Flowers with Bill Murray in mind. Four years ago we were going to do a different film that I wrote. but I pulled the plug on it and Bill was disappointed. It was a good story. but not a good script. I told Bill a rough idea about this new story and he said. “Wow. I like that one too. Do you want to do that one instead'.’ Let‘s do it." This particular story I liked for Bill. Oddly enough. unlike my other films. I didn't feel any connection to his character. Don Johnston. at the beginning of the story. He‘s very different to me and other characters in my other films. who. however damaged they are. I still like them from the start. At the beginning. I didn't care about Don Johnston. I don't know why I wrote a script about him but I did. My hope is that by the end of the story. thanks to Bill. you do feel for him and he has moved you in some way. and caused you to reflect on things
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in your life by his humanness. I’m sure other actors could pull that off but not in the way that Bill could.
‘lt‘s strange working with Bill Murray: the thing about him is that he is very complicated. He definitely becomes the character. and of course there are parts of him that are the
characters he plays. but there are other parts of
him that are greatly suppressed. it‘s a very delicate performance. without pushing anything
‘I FIND THIS A VERY QUIET, POETIC AND BITTERSWEET FILM'
at all. and the big difference between him as a person and the character he plays in Broken Flowers is that as a person Bill commands attention because of his personality. He's a guy from a large family. he‘s the one that needed attention. and he became adept at getting the attention. When he walks on the set or into a room. he gets a lot of attention. it just goes to him. i have talked to him about it. and he says it comes from his family and having all these brothers. He says that his personality had to be exaggerated in order to get attention. There's an element of that in all actors. Many actors need a certain kind of attention. that‘s why they‘re good at playing pretend people. I say this as a compliment to actors — it‘s a childlike quality. to be able to imagine you are another person and to be able to pretend that.
‘Talking of kids. I'd specifically chosen Bill
Mt!t't‘1t_\"s son Homer to be in the lilm. I wrote the last part of Broken I-‘Ion'ers because i knew Homer and i thought there was something in their eyes that was very close. I asked him as l was beginning to write the film. “Would you mind being in one scene?" And he said.“()l\'." And I asked Bill if it was OK if his son was in it. and he said. “That’s cool. if Homer wants to he in it. That was before I wrote the script. He‘s not shy. but he‘s not like his father. Bill has six sons. .\'o daughters. llis younger son Lincoln is exactly like Bill. Bill has a bar and a pool room in his house. and he sits Lincoln on the bar. If Bill says any bad word by accident. like “Shit. I don‘t have any ice." Lincoln laughs hysterically. He knows he’s not supposed to hear that . he's so much like his dad. llomer‘s very different. though. and that's what I wanted for the lilm. ‘The landscapes in Broken flowers are all kept very anonymous. liven the car licence plates are fake. In the [S we have zip codes like .\'Y. and on the pink letter l)on gets it’s .\'T. yet there is no .\'T. We were very careful to make it very generic. I didn't want to get into the whole “Well. he's going to the South. so shouldn‘t he have Southern accents. or shouldn‘t he pass dramatic landscapes?" I wanted it to look generic. like a lot of America does: the airports and rental cars and highways all look the same. i deliberately didn't want to give much information. Jessica Lange's character's house is woody and upscale. .-\t Sharon Stone’s house you see boats and water as though you're near a coast. bill it doesn‘t get much more specific. Tilda Swinton‘s is in a rural area. We just called the location shooting "(ienerica" and we avoided