Wildflowers

Rating:
Summary: Meandering but likeable coming of age movie
Review: Wildflowers is about 17-year-old Cally's search for her past. She was raised on a commune by hippies in the 1960's (the movie is set in 1985), and now she lives with her father. She's been told little about her mother, except that she had to leave Cally and her father because she got in trouble for her political activities. Cally becomes convinced that the woman she meets in San Francisco (Daryl Hannah) is her mother, and she tries to become friends with the woman. As she learns more about the woman and her father, she also begins to understand herself better. The story is simple and straight forward, and the style and acting are extremely low-key. Although the movie is not great by any standards, it is fairly likeable. Look fast for a quick appearance by Blue's Traveller. Overall, a very average small-budget film.

Rating:
Summary: made me feel like living life more fully
Review: WILDFLOWERS, a film by Melissa Painter, shown Sunday evening 7 August 2000 at the Wine Country Film Festival in Sonoma, California, made me feel like living life more fully.

WILDFLOWERS is the story of a 17 year old child of the 60s (she was raised first on a commune in Olema, then by her dad on a Sausalito houseboat) who in 1985 befriends an expressive, artistic older woman: one she sees as being everything she would want to be; one whom she gradually suspects is the long-lost mother she grew up without. Clea DuVall plays Cally, Daryl Hannah plays Sabine. The director/screenwriter drew on her own experience - she was born in 1968 too - as well as interviews and research. Filmed in Marin and North Beach.