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FLORES

Jorge Jácome Portugal, 2017
Seen through the eyes of the narrator and two young soldiers working on the island whom he befriends, Flores creates a surreal and tender romance that comments on real issues of economic migration, national and regional identity and cultural loss. Each of these shorts used its images and narrative strategies to activate our imagination, to explore and revitalize history, and to stimulate curiosity and empathy.
February 12, 2018
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Jácome is deeply indebted to Claire Denis, and the film's politics, along with many of its images, are second-generation copies of Beau Travail (1999) and L'Intrus (2004). I offer that as a back-handed by sincere compliment. . . . Flores is a mesmerising viewing experience that, like Denis's more abstract work, brings into being the logic and splendour of reverie. This film is a hell of a calling card. (That's another back-handed but sincere compliment.)
December 14, 2017
Jácome loves the color of these flowers so much that their hues inflect every frame; the result is moment to moment the most ravishing work the festival had to offer.
October 5, 2017
The film's second part, narrated in French, gives us a crafty capitalist view of the disaster: Where some see an apocalypse, others (in this case, honey producers) see an opportunity to increase production and profit. Gorgeously shot, with numerous images of purple-blue hydrangeas in bloom, Flores is in the end a coming-of-age tale disguised as a sci-fi: the two young soldiers are lifetime buddies, and pass the time chiseling out the names of friends they have left behind.
October 4, 2017
In most cases, our actions result in detrimental impact on nature. Flores posits the opposite, looking at a scenario where one species of flora is reclaiming territory from human encroachment. We can see this in the lavender tone of the visuals (shades of Joseph Cornell's Rose Hobart), wherein even the atmosphere has been taken over by the hydrangeas. Considering our own, very real ecological errors, Jácome uses speculative fiction to ask us how we intend to survive the Purple Reign.
September 7, 2017