Wildflowers (film)
Encyclopedia
Wildflowers is a 1999 drama film directed by Melissa Painter. It stars Clea DuVall
, Daryl Hannah
, Tomas Arana
and Eric Roberts
. It features former United States Poet Laureate Robert Hass
reading some of his own poetry. Filmed in San Francisco and Marin County, California, it was given a limited theatrical release and received a mixed reception from critics.
d at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival
. It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on September 1, 2000. In the US it grossed $5,365.
gave Wildflowers a "rotten" rating of 50% based on six reviews. Metacritic
gave it a "generally negative" rating of 28% based on seven reviews. In a review for The New York Times
, A. O. Scott
called the film dreamy and impressionistic, but ultimately empty. He praised Clea DuVall for her "intuitive grasp of emotion". Writing for The Austin Chronicle, Barry Johnson called the film poignant. He praised Painter for her "lyrical, intimate direction" and DuVall for her "impressive, nuanced performance". Christopher Null
called the film bizarre and incomprehensible, "utterly hopeless as cinema".
Clea DuVall
Clea Helen D'Etienne DuVall is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Sofie on the television series Carnivàle as well as for films such as The Faculty , Girl, Interrupted and The Grudge .-Early life:DuVall was born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Rosemary and...
, Daryl Hannah
Daryl Hannah
Daryl Christine Hannah is an American film actress. After making her screen debut in 1978, Hannah starred in a number of Hollywood films throughout the 1980s, notably Blade Runner, Splash, Wall Street and Roxanne and Kill Bill.-Early life:Hannah was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Susan...
, Tomas Arana
Tomas Arana
-Life and career:Arana was born in Auburn, California. He grew up in San Francisco and studied classical theatre at the prestigious American Conservatory Theater and at the City College of San Francisco. Afterwards he relocated to New York and acted in off-Broadway productions...
and Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
. It features former United States Poet Laureate Robert Hass
Robert Hass
Robert L. Hass is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He was awarded the 2007 National Book Award and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Time and Materials.-Life:...
reading some of his own poetry. Filmed in San Francisco and Marin County, California, it was given a limited theatrical release and received a mixed reception from critics.
Plot
Clea DuVall stars as Cally, a 17 year old who has been raised by her father, not knowing her mother. When Cally meets a mysterious woman called Sabine, she becomes obsessed with her.Distribution
Wildflowers premierePremiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
d at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival
1999 Cannes Film Festival
The 52nd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 12-23, 1999. The Palme d'Or went to the French-Belgian film Rosetta by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.-Jury:* David Cronenberg * André Téchiné * Barbara Hendricks...
. It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on September 1, 2000. In the US it grossed $5,365.
Cast
- Clea DuVallClea DuVallClea Helen D'Etienne DuVall is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Sofie on the television series Carnivàle as well as for films such as The Faculty , Girl, Interrupted and The Grudge .-Early life:DuVall was born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Rosemary and...
as Cally - Daryl HannahDaryl HannahDaryl Christine Hannah is an American film actress. After making her screen debut in 1978, Hannah starred in a number of Hollywood films throughout the 1980s, notably Blade Runner, Splash, Wall Street and Roxanne and Kill Bill.-Early life:Hannah was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Susan...
as Sabine - Tomas AranaTomas Arana-Life and career:Arana was born in Auburn, California. He grew up in San Francisco and studied classical theatre at the prestigious American Conservatory Theater and at the City College of San Francisco. Afterwards he relocated to New York and acted in off-Broadway productions...
as Wade, Cally's father - Eric RobertsEric RobertsEric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
as Jacob, Sabine's lover - Richard Hillman as Graham
- Eric Yetter as Dylan
- Robert HassRobert HassRobert L. Hass is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He was awarded the 2007 National Book Award and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Time and Materials.-Life:...
as Poet - John Doe as Teacher
- Sheila TouseySheila TouseySheila May Tousey is an Native American actress.-Biography:Born in Keshena, Wisconsin, Tousey is a Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee Indian, raised on both Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee Reservations.-Filmography:-External links:*...
as Martha - Irene BedardIrene BedardIrene Bedard is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Native American characters in a variety of films. Bedard was born in Anchorage, Alaska...
as Ruby - James Burnett as Tailor
- David GrahamDavid GrahamDavid Graham may refer to:*David Graham , American photographer*David Graham , pen name of British writer Robert Hale*David Graham , Scottish footballer...
as Trip - Alan GelfantAlan GelfantAlan Gelfant is an American film actor.Alan Gelfant has acted in more than 50 plays and dozens of TV shows and movies, including leading roles in the films Next Stop Wonderland, The Destiny of Marty Fine, Men in Scoring Position, Turn of Faith and highly acclaimed documentary Hero...
as Wolf - David WikeDavid WikeDavid Wike is an American film and stage actor, writer, director and musician. He was born in Philadelphia Pa. He attended St. Andrew's School in Midddletown DE. and graduated from Boston University...
as Gahad - Scott Benton as Oliver
Reception
At the 2000 SXSW Film Festival, Melissa Painter won the SXSW Competition Award for best Narrative Feature. Review website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gave Wildflowers a "rotten" rating of 50% based on six reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave it a "generally negative" rating of 28% based on seven reviews. In a review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, A. O. Scott
A. O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...
called the film dreamy and impressionistic, but ultimately empty. He praised Clea DuVall for her "intuitive grasp of emotion". Writing for The Austin Chronicle, Barry Johnson called the film poignant. He praised Painter for her "lyrical, intimate direction" and DuVall for her "impressive, nuanced performance". Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Christopher Null is a film critic, columnist and former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, editor of Drinkhacker.com, and is the founder and editor in chief of Filmcritic.com.-Publications:...
called the film bizarre and incomprehensible, "utterly hopeless as cinema".