Misguided Sympathies of Flowers is certainly misguided

Misguided Sympathies of Flowers is supposed to be about isolation. It’s supposed to be about how a mentally ill homeless woman deals with being alone. It’s supposed to be dramatic and disturbing. At least this is what the IMDB.com page for this short tells us director/writer Gregory Dyke was trying to get across to us.

I didn’t really see it. Sure, we know the main character is homeless and appears to be mentally ill. But that’s basically it. Maybe there was symbolism I missed or simply just didn’t get, but this film didn’t speak to me in anyway.

We’re supposed to believe the mentally ill homeless woman is longing for human contact, but there isn’t much to show us that. Sure, there’s a scene involving her lying with a dead body that is certainly odd, but nothing indicates that she’s doing that because she needs human contact. While that may seem like a very strange way to look at it, we know this character is mentally ill so how are we supposed to know that she’s even aware that the person she’s been sleeping next to is dead? Perhaps, she’s completely oblivious to that fact.

As far as overall quality and production value go, nothing really stood out or caught my eye. The film isn’t directed poorly by any means, but there’s nothing about the style that jumped out and wowed me.

Had this been a video I stumbled upon online somewhere I probably wouldn’t have made it through to the end as it really failed to keep my interest. It was certainly my least favorite short at the 2010 Arizona Underground Film Festival and probably should have been the opener for the short block it was part of.

In no way am I attempting to bash Dyke or anyone else that worked on this project. I’m sure Dyke will be a fine director and I’d love to see the next piece of work he adds to his resume. I respect the vision and message Dyke is trying to communicate to the audience, but with this film Dyke struck out.

It is what it is. And what it is is just another short film.

For more information on Misguided Sympathies of Flowers and other work from Gregory Dyke and Desert Squid Productions, please visit www.desertsquidproductions.com