VIFF 2024: She Loved Blossoms More
She Loved Blossoms More (2024)
Directed by Yannis Veslemes
Starring Panos Papadopoulos, Julio Giorgos Katsis, Aris Balis, and Dominique Pinon
In his second feature-length film, Yannis Veslemes seems to toss Weird Science (1985) and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) into a cinematic blender, sprinkle in an unnamed powdered substance, and top it off with an appreciation for seven-time Academy Award winner Rick Baker. The result? She Loved Blossoms More.
The film centers on three young Greek men—Hedgehog, Dummy, and Japan—who sit in a rural Greek home discussing life and resurrection. Hedgehog, in particular, is dead set on bringing his mother back from the grave. With a room full of bizarre analog devices and a large wardrobe, the trio embarks on a series of experiments involving a chicken, a visiting girl, and, eventually, themselves.
With each experiment, the consumption of drugs and alcohol escalates, blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Whether they’re tapping into another dimension or simply coping with their intoxication, it’s never quite clear. While the practical effects and set design are impressive—especially given what I assume is a modest budget—the film’s narrative hovers somewhere between three friends messing around and a student project. Occasionally, it raises intriguing questions, but these are quickly drowned out by an onslaught of “I’m tripping for the first time” dialogue, which sends the film spiraling into what I can only describe as a “bless their hearts for trying” vibe. At least, that’s how it came across to me, a 50-year-old man.
Clearly, She Loved Blossoms More is made for the adventurous, evoking the spirit of the midnight movies of the 1970s. It straddles the B-movie aesthetic while attempting to pose deeper questions. Who knows? This film could very well become a modern-day El Topo (1970), Eraserhead (1977), or Altered States (1980). But maybe ask someone in their twenties who saw it at the Vancouver International Film Festival—not this jaded old film critic.