''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 histor ...
.
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.
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 midst of the plot (cf. ''ab ovo'', ''ab initio''). Often, exposition is bypassed and filled in gradually, through dialogue, flashbacks or description of pa ...
'' (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 conclusion of a story.
The first episode is shot as a
B movie, 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
A metanarrative (also meta-narrative and grand narrative; french: métarécit) is a narrative ''about'' narratives of historical meaning, experience, or knowledge, which offers a society legitimation through the anticipated completion of a (as yet ...
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 (; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His ...
's translation of
Casanova
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...
's memoirs. The fifth episode is a black-and-white, largely silent remake of
Jean Renoir's ''
Partie de campagne
''Partie de campagne'' (; English: ''A Day in the Country'') is a 1946 French featurette written and directed by Jean Renoir. The film is based on the short story "Une partie de campagne" (1881) by Guy de Maupassant, who was a friend of Renoir's f ...
''. 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'', ''
Terminator: Dark Fate'' and ''
Motherless Brooklyn''.
See also
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List of longest films
This list of longest films is composed of films with a running time of 300 minutes (5 hours) or more.
Cinematic films
Note: Some releases are extended cuts or director's cuts, and are ranked according to the longest verified running time.
Expe ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Flor, La
2018 independent films
Argentine anthology films
Argentine independent films
English-language Argentine films