EDNote: I suspect it's most likely that Jarmusch was using some aspects
of Lolita as his own creative springboard, and as Suellen
Stringer-Hye mentioned in last August's discussion of the film, other
VN novels may also have cameos in it. The title vaguely evokes "Fleur
DeFyler"; or the flowers could remind us of the rose gardeners'
convention taking place at the EH during H and L's stay. But I think
I'd better see the film before I comment any further. -SB
Dear ED
Somehow I lost the posting where I brought up again
the play with Johnson/Johnston in "Broken Flowers" and I´m glad that
your own associations added an interesting information ( the EO´s
post-VN translator Johnston). The link to The Enchanted Hunters (
quoting you: First: the name-switching reminds one of
the Humbert/Humberg/Homberg mutations that take place at the Enchanted
Hunters) before you doubted that the references to VN were
unintentional and that the director did not consider VN as one of his
favorite authors led me to another kind of association.
If Jarmusch deliberately pointed to VN in "Broken
Flowers", what could his intention be? He must have had something in
mind to insist on that.
The scene at The Enchanted Hunters in "Lolita" is
part of the mise-en-abîme tactics sometimes employed by VN, the play
inside a play. What could be a similar procedure in Jarmusch and how
did it connect with VN?
In his movie, the letter that arrives and sets
Donald on his quest mentions the existence of a son who Don will now
try to discover. Could this message and exploration be considered a
kind of "Deus Ex Machina" interference on Don´s life? Why would VN´s
"Lolita" be chosen to offer a lead into that?
These are idle thoughts that might spark
some useful association of yours to explore further the role of
both coincidences and intentionalities in a work of art.
Jansy