''La flor'' (English: ''The Flower'') is a 2018 Argentine film written and directed by Mariano Llinás. With a length of 808 minutes excluding intermissions, it is the longest film in the history of

Argentine cinema Cinema of Argentina refers to the film industry based in Argentina. The Argentine cinema comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of Argentina or by Argentine filmmakers abroad. The Argentine film industry has histo ...

and the third-longest non-experimental film. The film is a joint project by the production group El Pampero Cine and the acting company Piel de Lava, made up of actresses Elisa Carricajo, Valeria Correa, Pilar Gamboa, and Laura Paredes. It premiered at the

Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema The Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema (BAFICI, ) is an international festival of independent films organized each year in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. History The festival had its first edition in April 1999 and i ...

Plot

''La flor'' is broken into six separate episodes, connected only by an on-screen appearance by Llinás explaining the film's structure. The first four episodes have the beginning of a story but finish ''

in medias res A narrative work beginning ''in medias res'' (, "into the middle of things") opens in the chronological middle of the plot, rather than at the beginning (cf. '' ab ovo'', '' ab initio''). Often, exposition is initially bypassed, instead filled i ...

'' (Classical Latin: "in the middle of things"). The fifth episode is the only one to proceed from start to end, and the last episode is only the conclusion of a story. The first episode is shot as a

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

, where a group of researchers encounter a mummy and its supernatural curse. The second episode has two parallel plots. One follows a couple that has broken up as they reunite to record a song together, and the other is a mystery about a secret society formulating a potion for eternal life using a supposedly extinct scorpion. The third episode is about a group of spies, with extended flash-backs describing each of their histories. The fourth episode uses an experimental

metanarrative In social theory, a metanarrative (also master narrative, or meta-narrative and grand narrative; or ) is an overarching narrative about smaller historical narratives, which offers a society legitimation through the anticipated completion of a (a ...

in which the four lead actresses play actresses who turn against their director and his elaborate narrative structure. After the director disappears, an investigator develops a theory about the actresses after reading

Arthur Machen Arthur Machen ( or ; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh people, Welsh author and mysticism, mystic of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for his influential supernatural ...

's translation of Casanova's memoirs. The fifth episode is a black-and-white, largely silent remake of

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greate ...

's ''

Partie de campagne ''Partie de campagne'' (; English: ''A Day in the Country'') is a French featurette that was written and directed by Jean Renoir in 1936, but not edited and released until 1946. It is based on the short story "Une partie de campagne" (1881) by G ...

''. The sixth episode is told through the diary of an English woman living in the Americas during the nineteenth century. She and three other women leave the desert after being held captive for many years.

Release

In the United States and Canada, ''La flor'' was released on November 1, 2019, alongside ''

Harriet Harriet(t) may refer to: * Harriet (name), a female name ''(includes list of people with the name)'' Places *Harriet, Queensland, rural locality in Australia * Harriet, Arkansas, unincorporated community in the United States * Harriett, Texas, ...

'', '' Terminator: Dark Fate'' and ''

Motherless Brooklyn ''Motherless Brooklyn'' is a 2019 American neo-noir crime film written, produced, and directed by Edward Norton, based on the 1999 novel of the same name by Jonathan Lethem. Set in 1957 New York City, the film stars Norton as a private invest ...

''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flor, La 2018 independent films 2018 films Argentine anthology films Argentine independent films English-language Argentine films

Plot

Release

See also

References

External links