THE FLOWER

THE FLOWER (LA FLOR), 2018
Argentina | DCP, Color, 808’ | Spanish, French, English
Director: Mariano Llinás
Cast: Elisa Carricajo, Valeria Correa, Pilar Gamboa

After 10 years of filming, La Flor was finally released worldwide this year. According to critic Jordan Cronk, the film is “a pertinent query”. With a total running time of 14 hours and divided into different episodes and genres, La Flor is, at its core, an experimental anthology about the nature of contemporary storytelling. Four actresses play various characters in the six stories that make up the film. Throughout La Flor, these four women stand out for their brilliant performances across different styles and genres which include a B-movie of the kind that, according to the director, “Americans used to shoot with their eyes closed”; a musical with a touch of mystery; a remake of an old French film; a spy movie; and a captivity drama set in 19th-century South America. This unusual film received much admiration and acclaim and garnered awards at festivals where it was screened. A masterpiece which pushes the boundaries of originality both for the film industry and for Mariano Llinás himself, who already drew attention with his experimental and adventurous approach to storytelling in his previous film Extraordinary Stories (Historias Extraordinarias).

Note: Because of its 808-minute duration, the film will be screened in 4 parts, divided according to the director’s wishes. The screening dates and hours are shown in the schedule.