Flower & Garnet

If you want a little background information on this film, read the other users' comments. I am just going to explain my view on this movie :)

Overall, it has spectacular cinematography. It deals with grippingly real issues. You are able to connect with and understand the characters. The actors are really perfect for their roles - individually and as a family (played by Callum Keith Rennie, Jane McGregor, and Colin Roberts).

All in all, I appreciate that I got to see the film. It is definitely an improvement from mainstream media that is constantly coming out. (Not to say there isn't any good mainstream movies, I'm just saying this in a general sense).

Beware for those of you with short attention spans! (I blame the fast-paced mainstream media, he he). I mean, I am also a little impatient but I didn't find myself squirming even once! It had my full focus and attention. You will feel for the story.

I recommend it for just about anyone (more so those who are in their mid-teens and up).

If you are into the art of film, you will appreciate seeing "Flower & Garnet".

Ed (Callum Keith Rennie) has trouble dealing with the death of his wife from childbirth and accepting the baby boy Garnet. The older sister Flower becomes his mother figure. Eight years later, Carl (Craig Olejnik) gets 16 year old Flower (Jane McGregor) pregnant. Ed doesn't take the news well and neither does Carl.

It's a quiet little Canadian indie. It's a little too quiet. Ed's emotional detachment permeates the entire movie. It's written and directed by Keith Behrman. It needs a more imaginative cinematic style. It also needs more energy. Callum Keith Rennie is a very good actor. The kid is fine but he's just a kid and not really an actor. Jane McGregor puts in a reasonable performance. There is a compelling family within this quiet little movie. However the movie doesn't have enough energy.

This film is getting a lot of press in Vancouver. This is not only because it is locally made, but also because it is very well executed. I was tempted to dismiss it as just another Canadian slice-of-life film. It is that, but it is a superb example of the genre. The characters grew on me and a lot is communicated from the looks on their faces. This film is worth seeing, even if you're not Canadian.

Flower and Garnet is a gritty movie that, I think, captures aspects of small town Canadian life perfectly. That is not to say that every Canadian family is as dysfunctional as Ed's family. But this movie is an engaging drama. It holds itself unique than other family melodrama's in that it does not suck. Granted, the movie is very sublime and there is not much in the way of action or direct conflict but the turmoil of Ed's family is expertly conveyed through stunning performances of the lead actors. Callum Keith Rennie is great, as par for his career, Jane Macgregor, who plays Flower, turns in a solid performance. However the person who really shines through is Colin Roberts in the role of Garnet. The story centers around and is seen through the eyes of eight-year old Garnet. Colin carries the movie effortlessly on his shoulders, never once betraying a false moment. If you need one reason to see this film, it would be to watch this kid struggle through confusion and loss as he tries desperately to cope with his family dynamics.

Vancouver writer/director Keith Behrman has a feel for small town life. It's there in every frame of this finely crafted drama about a dysfunctional family living in Cache Creek, in the British Columbia interior. That's right, dysfunctional, it's a five dollar word meaning these folks have a lot of problems. The father, Ed (Callum Keith Rennie) has been having an empty affair with a local woman (Kristin Thomsen) who deserves better. The man has kept his emotions in cold storage since his wife died eight years ago while giving birth to Garnet (Colin Roberts). Deep down inside he blames his son for the tragedy. That's a heavy burden for a kid to bear and it shows in his sad eyes. Garnet may not talk much but he's thinking all the time. He's especially curious about nature, the whole cycle of birth and death going on around him. (Reminds me of young Brian in W.O. Mitchell's classic Canadian novel "Who Has Seen the Wind") Garnet's sister, Flower (Jane McGregor), who is eight years older, has been like a mom to him. Now, after a fling with an irresponsible local Romeo, she's about to have a child of her own. Naturally, Ed flips out, afraid history is gonna repeat itself. There's a bitter argument. Flower moves out. Left to his own devices Garnet begins to "act out" in increasingly creepy ways. I could picture this kid showing up at school with a rifle in a few years. The movie shows the circumstances that can lead up to it. I'm not saying he will. In fact, the people in this film rarely do what you expect them to do. The movie takes its time about revealing its mysteries. The clues come in looks and gestures, bits of dialogue, an accumulation of seemingly unremarkable details. (This movie is not for short attention spans.) It's like being in a strange town. It takes awhile to get the lay of the land and meet the neighbours. Behrman proves to be an astute observer of human behaviour and he has pulled some wonderfully restrained performances from his cast. This may be Rennie's best work to date. And that's saying a lot. If you've seen Hard Core Logo or Suspicious River you already know his range. Roberts is a real find and based on her work here McGregor should really stop wasting her talent in piffle like 2002's Slap Her … She's French.

Behrman makes good use of landscape to define character and sustain mood. The remoteness of the rural BC locations echoes the emotional isolation of the central characters. Growing up in the small Saskatchewan farming community of Shaunavon has obviously given him a special appreciation for the stark visual poetry in those wide open spaces. Judging from his feature film debut the sky is the limit.