Flowers In The Cinematic World

By Najwa Zulhisham

A bubbly personality with a hint of pseudo-sarcasm, Najwa is a world of creativity on her own. Coming from her failed acting career during her uni days, she started writing for fun, eventually making it her career. Other than having to do her nails every month, she also finds solace in her interior designer alter-ego, redesigning her bedroom whenever life doesn’t feel quite right.

Beautiful flowers are a visual feast, so it’s no surprise that they’ve served as the supporting star in a number of blockbusters. If only it were possible to photograph aromas. We’ve collected a list of some of our favourite movies that feature memorable floral scenes to celebrate the evergreen attraction of roses, daffodils, orchids, and other flowers on the big screen. We can appreciate the beauty of the season’s symbols—flowers—by looking at how different kinds of flowers influenced the visual appeal of a film’s plot or setting. 

City Lights (1931)

In Chaplin’s City Lights, a Tramp meets and falls in love with a blind flower girl. Charlie Chaplin created a visual poem with this film. At the beginning of this tape, she is convinced that she hears the slam of a limousine door, which means that her “rich” tramp is close by. She’s yearning to reconnect with the man who altered the course of her life, and she keeps on hearing his voice. She used to be little more than a flower vendor on the street. She was finally able to see clearly enough to operate a shop, allowing her to support her grandma while also realising her own potential. The flower represents an ideal that is beautiful in its core but is treated poorly and abandoned in the street.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

In both the book and the movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, a field of toxic poppies lulls Dorothy, Toto, and the Cowardly Lion to sleep. Poisonous flowers like poppies may look out of the ordinary at first glance, but they are actually rather common. The Oz poppy is a unique magical species with an exceptionally potent Papaver somniferum at its centre, fragrant petals, and edible seeds. Opium, the raw form of the narcotic, comes from these trees and contains powerful medicinal alkaloids like heroin and morphine.

Alice In Wonderland (1951)

It’s possible that the garden is meant to represent the biblical Garden of Eden, an ideal place of pristine beauty and purity that Alice is barred from entering. On a deeper, more philosophical level, the garden may simply stand for the sensation of want, in the sense that Alice channels all of her effort and feeling into pursuing its fulfilment. Both of these interpretations of the symbol operate in tandem to emphasise Alice’s need to maintain her feelings of infantile innocence as she grows older, feelings that she will inevitably have to give up. The song “The Golden Afternoon” is being sung by a rose, an iris, a daisy, pansies, tulips, sweetpeas, bluebonnets, violets, a calla lily, a lily of the valley, a lilac, sunflowers, chrysanthemums, morning glories, daffodils, a tiger lily, and a dandelion. 

Beauty And The Beast (1991 – 2017)

Perhaps the most recognisable symbol from Beauty and the Beast is the rose preserved in glass. A rose is a symbol of love, but this one is wilting like the Beast’s hopes for everlasting happiness. As significantly, the rose depicts the passing of time of life and the Beast’s need to abandon his former ways of vanity and greed in order to restore his kingdom. Art depictions of fading flowers, such as the rose in Beauty and the Beast, are known as “vanitas.” Reading the rose and other symbols in Beauty and the Beast through the lens of the vanitas tradition adds depth and even spiritual significance to the story.

Memoirs Of A Geisha (2005)

The production of fake cherry blossom trees for the film adaptation of Memoirs of a Geisha is recognised as a noteworthy achievement in the realm of fake cherry blossom trees. The artificial cherry blossom tree that stood 32 feet tall offered a breathtaking visual portrayal of some of the film’s central ideas and themes.

The Hunger Games (2012)

Katniss proves her ingenuity and ability to hunt for food by using a dandelion. She gains confidence in her ability to provide for her family after witnessing the abundance of dandelions. The dandelions blooms can be used in any dish. Foragers and gardeners have diverse interpretations of a dandelion field. Dandelion leaves are richer in iron than spinach and in beta carotene than carrots. Bee stings and blisters can be alleviated using the milky sap that flows from the root. The root has medicinal properties and is used to treat a wide range of conditions with herbal medicine.

Midsommar (2019)

Dani’s enormous floral costume that she wears after being named May Queen is just one example of the significant importance flowers play in the film. But flowers are a recurring motif throughout the film, often appearing at critical emotional moments. As the film opens, Dani’s emotional journey begins when she notices flowers on the wallpaper in her parents’ home. Dani brings flowers to an emotionally distant Christian on the plane ride to Sweden. In the end, Christian follows the trail of flowers to the building where he has an affair with Dani. Flowers are also commonly used to represent new beginnings and fertility. While the flowers indeed have a direct role in Christian’s demise, the metaphor is also perverted. At the film’s conclusion, Dani is showered with beautiful flowers while she watches the ritualistic building burn to the ground with her former friends, many of whom have already been cut off in the movie.

Each of these movies demonstrates, through the use of flowers with a variety of connotations and symbols, how flowers may have a significant influence on both real life and fictional narratives. With the help of Bloomeroo, you can also symbolize your love for someone in Australia and show how much you care about them by sending them flowers!