Customer Reviews

A Man of Flowers

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Man of Flowers" shows a few months from the life of a man who as the result of childhood traumas has become devoid of the need for human relationships, and consequently, never developed social skills necessary to build and sustain them. Being thus freed from the hang-up on relationships, he has become rarefied, and has escaped instead into the safety of another hang-up - beauty in its various forms: flowers, music, human body in painting and sculpture. He's not unhappy, but he is considered to be so, and to cure this perceived suffering he is in psychotherapy. As part of it, he's told to build relationships, and he tries to, clumsily and hilariously, with quite unlikely characters: his therapist, postman, long-deceased mother, construction contractor. None of those are real and normal relationships, and as he fails to see that, and lacks the sense of danger, he is easy prey to manipulators. He also has an on-going acquaintance with a young and pretty girl - an artists' model. At first glance it looks like this one might be a normal relationship, but on his side it's nothing more than an acquaintance - he doesn't see the girl as a person, but merely as an object of beauty (his "flower"). He doesn't do it out of ill will, he simply doesn't have a need, or an idea, for anything more. The girl, on the other hand, becomes fond of him, increasingly more so as her relationship with her junkie boyfriend deteriorates. He turns down her offer of living together, and proves to be more protective than fond of her by solving her boyfriend problem in a truly ingenious way.
A charming movie, portraying a man who's not "from Mars" but perhaps from Jupiter.

It's a rare thing to see a film that so unabashedly (without being over-sentimental!) reveals an individual's need to fulfil his desire for aesthetic beauty. This is a quiet, honest film that is a 'must see' for people who also share a great love for art and music. I wish they made more films like this!

A rather dated Australian film but I enjoyed it as much as the first time I saw it. Some wonderful vignettes and rich colour

This is the second Paul Cox film I've seen (I recently had the good fortune to view the delightful Lonely Hearts) and it's a wonderful, unique, & quiet film. It's centered on the eccentric life of the reclusive Charles Bremer, a man who experiences love differently: he's unable to establish relationships with other human beings, so instead derives pleasure from the beauty of flowers, plants, nature, music, art, and a young woman who undresses for him (his "Little Flower"). Charles struggles with his odd desire for the young woman, so after each time he pays her to strip he hurries off to the nearby church (to play the church organ) as a way of paying penance. Charles also writes letters to his deceased mother in which he inaccurately describes his daily life. If this sounds somewhat bizarre or disquieting, it is. However, Charles is a very gentle & likable soul and his love of beauty makes the film mesmerizing and beguiling. Make certain you're paying attention during the final shot; it's a very long take that's quite stunning.

With a bit of eye candy in the begining of the film, this film is an excellent film about one man's psychological problem with nudity. As a wealthy art collector he pays a model to strip to a clasical music score then departs to play an organ at a nearby church. The model starts to develop fellings for him.

Depending on what you are looking for this is a good or bad movie to investigate. If you are looking for a lot of blood and gore, then don't waste your time. If you are looking for a little entertainment with the kids, forget it - the eye candy at the begining makes this not suitable. If you are looking for a nice dinner and a movie evening then this is an excellent one - just put the kids to bed first. If you are looking for a bit of eye candy then this is for you.

It did not get five stars because the acting is a bit wooden.

After the mainstream success of his 1982 Lonely Hearts, Paul Cox went arthouse for this film, a meditation on art, religion, sex and death. Norman Kaye plays a vampire-like recluse, who dresses like a priest and is described as "something the world has lost". Independently wealthy, he collects beautiful things and has a flower fetish. This fetish extends to regular visits by Alyson Best, whom he calls"his little flower" and who strips for his pleasure. Best is also associated with Chris Hayward, a manipulative abstract painter. The scenario is credited to Cox, with dialogue by Bob Ellis, who appears in an amusing scene as Kaye's South African-accented anaylst. The treatment tries to legitimise Kaye by demonstrating that everyone else has their own eccentricities, but no one else has dream flashbacks in super8 stock, where even as a child, Kaye seems strange. Cox overdoes the use of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, so that the slight tale of grand guignol that he aims for is flooded in overindulgence, with only small redeeming qualities - the stilted body language of Werner Herzog as the father in flashback, and the lack of eye contact given by the priest of the church where Kaye plays the organ in demonic chords.