Winner of the Audience Award at Ireland's Pride of the Deise festival, “The Florist” implements a rather unusual approach to the LGBTQI+ theme, through its silent, and rather subtle premises.
“The Florist” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
Anish is a painter who shares a rather dysfunctional relationship with his wife, as communication, particularly on her side, has ceased almost completely, despite his efforts to change the whole situation. In one of his tries, he decides to buy some flowers from a street peddler for her, but she does not seem to notice at all. At the same time, however, the impact his presence has on the florist is the exact opposite, with the man actually waiting every day for his customer to appear. When Anish stops visiting, after a divorce notice comes in his hands, the florist decides to take matters in his own hands.
Priyam Chanda directs a film whose true purpose does not become evident until the last moments of this 15 short, which begins as a kind of social drama regarding a dysfunctional marriage, before it transforms into a romantic story of the love of one man for another. The no-dialogue approach works quite well in that regard, as it also makes the lack of communication between the married couple more eloquent as much as communicating that feelings like the florist's still cannot be expressed “loudly”.
Cinematically, however, the film has some issues. The music sounds a bit too sentimental, in a kind of forced effort to communicate the feelings of the protagonists, while the “foggy” coloring makes the whole thing appear as a TV-program on a number of occasions. Arijit Sorkar's cinematography, on the other hand, works quite good, particularly in the exterior shots, where the camera follows Anish closely, even when he is biking, in a kind of documentary style that looks very nice. The acting is also on an adequate level, with Sushovan Dasgupta (Anish), Asmita Bhaduri (Amrita) and Dipak Das (The Florist) communicating their feelings and thoughts clearly, even without speaking.
“The Florist” does not work particularly well cinematically. However, it is a very interesting film, which communicates its comments and overall context quite artfully, through a rather intriguing approach.
