It is 08/25/07 and I have just finished watching "Flower and Garnet." It is an excellent film in every respect: script, direction, acting, the use of music - everything. It begins right off with both birth and burial. The loss of wife and mother in childbirth has profound consequences upon the grieving husband (Callum Keith Rennie), the young daughter, Flower, finding herself serving as mother to her baby brother, and the boy child, Garnet, who spends much of his childhood believing that somehow he caused his mother's death, his father's seeming rejection, and his sister's burden of being his substitute mother. When his sister becomes pregnant, Garnet is certain that this means that she will die. The child actor playing Garnet delivers a phenomenal performance. His depression born of fear and guilt is balanced by his father's grief and withdrawal of affection, with Flower caught in the middle. The contrasted facial expressons of father and son, each holding his true feelings within yet revealing them without words, are superbly acted and brilliantly caught by the director. I oversimplify: please consider seeing this film. It was filmed on location in a small town in British Columbia, so the scenic background adds a great deal to the emotional impact of the movie.
