''Flores de otro mundo'' ( en, Flowers from another world) is a 1999 Spanish film, written and directed by

Icíar Bollaín Icíar Bollaín Pérez-Mínguez (born 12 June 1967) is a Spanish filmmaker and actress. Early life and education Icíar Bollaín Pérez-Mínguez was born in Madrid on 12 June 1967. She was one of twin girls to a father who was an aeronautical ...

and starring

José Sancho José Asunción Martínez (11 November 1944 – 3 March 2013) better known as José Sancho or Pepe Sancho, was a Spanish actor. Over a period of fifty years he appeared extensively in Spanish television and films. He was perhaps best known ...

Luis Tosar Luis López Tosar (born 13 October 1971) is a Spanish actor and musician from Galicia. He is one of the most recognizable and versatile actors in Spain, best known for performances in films such as ''Cell 211'', ''Take My Eyes'', '' Sleep Tigh ...

and Lisete Mejía.Benavent, ''Cine Español de los Noventa'' , p. 263 The plot follows three women who arrive to a village in rural Spain looking for love and to start a new life.Benavent, ''Cine Español de los Noventa'' , p. 264 Very well received, the film won the

International Critics' Week The International Critics' Week (french: Semaine de la Critique) was founded in 1962 and is organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. It was created following the showing of '' The Connection'' directed by Shirley Clarke which had been ...

Grand Prix award at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

Plot

A group of women arrive by bus to a small town in the depopulated central

Province of Guadalajara Guadalajara () is a province of Spain, belonging to the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. As of 2013 it had a population of 257,723 people. The population of the province has grown in the last 10 years. It is located in the centre of ...

, where there is a scarcity of single women and economic opportunities. The men have organized an annual party to get to know available ladies with the hopes of falling in love and finding a wife. Women hope to find stability, companionship, immigration papers or a combination of the three. The group of women include: Marirrosi, a divorced nurse from

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

who is lonely and looking for love; Patricia, a young woman with two children from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

who has been in Spain illegally and having difficulties to find decent work; and (joining later) Milady, a young Cuban who wants to see the world at any cost. They come to the town filled with eager men but few opportunities other than farming. Patricia settles with Damian, a hardworking farmer who lives with his mother, Gregoria. Looking to find stability for her young children and a hard worker herself, Patricia tries in vain to find common ground with her stern mother-in-law, who seems to reject her because of her skin color and the fact that her son is no longer under her control. Patricia, with more time and experience in Spain, befriends the newcomer Milady. Milady settles with Carmelo an older Spanish man who wooed her in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. Carmelo tries to impress her with a big television and modern kitchen, but what she really wants to do is go to discos and have fun. She is in no way ready to settle down. Her dream of a life in Europe is very different from his fantasy of life with a gorgeous young wife. Milady is flirty and does not love Carmelo. Wanting to see the sea in Valencia, she takes a ride from a truck driver. When she comes back to town, the jealous Carmelo gives her a beating. Milady wishes she could leave him, but she has few friends and no real place to go. Marirrosi, the oldest of the three women, has a grown-up son and is tired of her job in Bilbao. She finds love with Alfonso, a gentle soft-spoken gardener. However, she is unwilling to give up city life for fields and cows, while he is unwilling to even consider living in a city. Unable to resolve their differences, she eventually breaks up with him. At the farm, Patricia receives the visit of some of her friends and this creates confrontation with Gregoria, but Damian comes to Patricia's defense and the relation between the two women improves. However, the father of Patricia's two children reappears in her life wanting to take advantage of her steadier situation. In a frank talk with Damian, Patricia admits that if she could have found work and been able to take care for herself either in the Dominican Republic or Spain, she probably wouldn't have married him. But now that she is there, she realizes that she wants to be his companion and stable love. Damian and Patricia have an argument after her honest revelation. He believes that she is taking advantage of him and he tells her to leave with her children. At the last minute, persuaded by his mother, Damian stops them from leaving and he and Patricia reconcile. Later on, we see Patricia's daughter making her first communion in the local church. Milady captures the attention of Oscar, a young man infatuated with her. He helps her escape the town but in a stop in a hotel she also leaves him, taking the road on her own. Carmelo deals alone with his disappointment of Milady's sudden departure. Alfonso is devastated when he receives Marirrosi's letter breaking up with him. At the village's bar Alfonso gives some advice to the local single men. Another bus, full of hopeful single women, is arriving in town.

Cast

Influence

The film was inspired by Spanish country bachelors, such as those from

Plan A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal. F ...

, who organized parties to attract marriable women from cities, since rural women tended to emigrate to the cities. These "caravans of women" took inspiration from the Western ''

Westward the Women ''Westward the Women'' is a 1951 Western film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel and John McIntire. Plot In 1851, Roy Whitman wants to keep the lonely men who live in Whitman's Valley from leaving, so he d ...

''.

DVD release

''Flores de otro mundo'' (''flowers from another world'') was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in the United States on October 18, 2005. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles. There are no extras features.

Notes

Bibliography

*Benavent, Francisco Maria. ''Cine Español de los Noventa''. Ediciones Mensajero,2000.

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0193167, title= Flores de otro mundo 1999 films 1990s Spanish-language films 1999 comedy-drama films Spanish comedy-drama films Films about immigration to Spain 1990s feminist films Films about racism Rural culture Films about internal migration Films directed by Icíar Bollaín