Isle of Flowers
Isle of Flowers is a 1989 Brazilian short film by Jorge Furtado. It tracks the path of a tomato from grower to the child who collects it as food from a dump with the help of voiceover and a collection of illustrative images. The director stated the film was inspired by the works of Kurt Vonnegut and Alain Resnais, among others.
In 1995, Isle of Flowers was chosen by the European critics as one of the 100 most important short films of the century.
Plot
A constant and verbose off-camera narrator guides the viewer through the life of a tomato. Beginning at Mr Suzuki's tomato field, the tomato is then sold to a supermarket, where it is acquired by Mrs Anete, a perfume salesperson, together with some pork. Each exchange requires the presence of money, which is, together with the tomato, the constant element in the story.Mrs Anete intends to prepare a tomato sauce for the pork, but, having considered one of Mr Suzuki's tomatoes inadequate, she throws it in the garbage. Together with the rest of the garbage, the tomato is taken to Isle of Flowers, Porto Alegre's landfill. There, the organic material considered adequate is selected as food for pigs. The rest, which is considered inadequate for the pigs, is given to poor women and children to eat.
Cast
- Paulo José as narrator
- Ciça Reckziegel as Dona Anete
- Luciana Azevedo as Ana Luizia Nunes
- Irene Schmidt as the client
- Takahiro Suzuki as Sr. Suzuki
Production
The scene of the perfume factory was actually shot in a high school laboratory.The film combines Vonnegut's humor with Resnais' cinematic experiments for a unique and powerful result.