Flores de otro mundo

Beautifully executed drama that rouses the soul. Excellently potrayed film of lonely men in a small village in Spain. I congratulate Luis Tossar for his acting and the rest of the cast are excellent also. The echoing silent atmosphere touched my soul of the loneliness and desperation of these characters. A film I could watch and watch again.

A film about a village in Spain importing Latin American brides-to-be for the middle aged farmers and rural workers to marry and create families with. It follows three stories of these unions.

The ladies come on a coach to a warm welcome and a reception from the village but the hard, rural way of living soon gets to the ladies in question - a Cuban, a Dominican and a Basque nurse from Bilbao. With the birthrate declining even moreso in Spain today than it did in the 1990's, this film is relevant today as it was then.

These days, you see many Spanish-Latin American couples and families all over Spain - from Vigo to Almeria - it's not a rarity these days but then it was but if the young of these villages and towns leave for Madrid or Germany, London or Miami then who is going to take their places to keep society going? This film answers that question.

If aging population and decline in birth rate are any indication of a troublesome European identity which will continue to haunt all Europe by year 2020,European subcontinent is in desperate need of a poetic film which talks about issues related to population.It is really a wonder that "Flores De Otro Mundo" has not been criticized by feminists.This is primarily because Spanish actress turned director Iciar Bollain has ensured that the female protagonists of her film "Flowers from another world" are not treated as mere objects as the title of her film makes allusion to the word "flowers"."Flores De Otro Mundo" is a supreme example of a work of entertaining art with a serious message which one can take home and share with family members. It is amazing to experience how there is plenty of dignified humor in scenes of match making exercises involving lonely,middle aged Spanish men from farming community and desperate Latino women.By watching this film one can have a first hand idea of why there is dearth of brides in some communities.This is something which is not related to Spain only. This phenomenon can be felt in many countries all over the world.

This film addresses serious issues without being heavy-handed or pedantic. The characters are complex individuals, the setting is authentic, the dialog is realistic, often tinged with humor. Some of the film's most charming moments are silent, with only a child's face filling the screen. The humor comes from the characters' personalities, not from contrived situations. There is not a single false note of melodrama or farce in this film. Luis Tosar gives such an understated performance that he disappears into his character. Lissete Mejia and Marilyn Torres anchor the film with nuanced, memorable performances. They are the reason to watch this film.

Three couples on the making in a remote Castilian village. The physical horizons are as vast as the mental horizons are narrow. The three men are local, the three women come from distant places (the "Flowers from another world" of the title). While telling three short stories, the film makes perceptive observations on what makes relationships start and hold on, cultural shock and wear, coexistence of the poor and the less poor, antagonism between cities and countryside. The actors are natural, the script, intelligent and with a point of humor.