A short film dealing with the transition from life to death and its early stages as seen or felt by two women, a young one
(Patrícia Ermel) who died on labor but her kid was saved, and an older one (Odete Lara, in her last film role) who we don't know much but apparently she was
on the other side for a longer time since she helps the other one about this new dimension.
I love those themes and specially the way movies present about the afterlife (possibility, not a certainty but who knows). They
provide a great sense of comfort and some depression as well, yet it's always great to think about new ways, new worlds and even a higher
sense of purpose as we live in this earthly, sensorial plan as living beings who can feel anything from a brief period rather than the souls
who exist somewhere, before and after this brief passage through life. Problem is that "Flowers for the Dead" in its brief, slow manner
raises far too many questions outside of what's presented and doesn't answer much about what it proposes.
What bothered me the most was seeing the final credits where a total of 15 writers appeared. They were involved on this yet none of them brought a
single enlightning moment, a thrill to make audiences invest in this story. A single writer would suffice, and most usually do. But 15 for
something small as this? I didn't had a clue of what was going in, with the criptic exchanges from both
women and I felt nothing. As I kept watching this I kept making some serious questions about life, purpose, meaning that reached far beyond of what was
shown.
There might be other reasons beyond those descriptions, but I just couldn't connect with the project at all. Worths a view for those
curious in seeing Odete Lara's final performance, a beautiful legend from Brazilian cinema who were still looking fine at an older age and it
was quite rare from viewers to see her on screen or TV - her final soap opera "Pátria Minha" was released five years prior to this film. She
carries the wisdom and quietness for such an important role as a sort of guide to the new plan, and the young actress is also pretty good, very
expressive. But the movie failed with me. 5/10.
