I'm wondering what people's interpretation of the title is. I haven't really made up my mind as to why Jarmusch titled it so.
Perhaps it's because the flowers Johnston gives to his past lovers do not really mean anything, and he's simply out to find the mother of his son? So they're 'broken,' without meaning?
(bump) Anybody?
I'm totally not sure either. I know that I didn't pay close enough attention to the film. I had seen a youtube clip recently that was clouding my thinking on it and I know that it was influencing the way I saw the movie, but the connection still does seem plain to me.
As Don realizes that he really was a jerk and that he truly did hurt people he had to see the ugliness of what he had done and the ruin it has brought to his life and the lives of others. Something that is supposed to be beautiful (marriage, fatherhood) is both fragile and ruinable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-zR3h2UsR4
"Do not grieve, for the Joy of the Lord is your Strength."
The "broken flowers" are the women he goes to visit.
He "broke" them.
End.
"Lolita was naked because...." read this post then look back at your question..
The 'broken' flowers are shown at 28:56 and again at the end.
They are shown only briefly, but they are very significant.
Note especially the scene where Don has a glass and bottle of champagne.
This is the key to the title's meaning.
OK, I will elaborate.
The film was originally going to be called Dead Flowers.
Don let his own relationship with Sherry die, even when it was aalive. There was no sign of commitment. He doesn't really try to stop her. At the end of the film, there is a glimmer of hope, of life of his relationship with Sherry. He has a chance before it is gone forever. What did he learn from his experiences? What will he do next? Of course, no one knows what the future will be. Maybe that's what held him back before, not knowing where his relationship would lead. But by being aimless, he lost the chance to know. Maybe the first girl would have worked out just fine, maybe the second would have been happier with him ( or just as miserable without any children), maybe the third was a bit weird and would have ended in divorce, maybe his wife would have died and left him a widower. There is a good possibility that he forgot someone with whom he fathered a child. Perhaps he just didn't care deeply enough to remember her.Hopefully, he may realize his life is empty, shallow, selfish. He has to consider what Sherry wants and needs, not just his own laziness. He obviously had something to celebrate with the champagne before Sherry left. What was it we wonder? We are left to ponder over all of these choices and possibilities as that is real life, with no concrete answers.
I thought it was particularly significant that the flowers in Don's house were pink and Sherry's entire outfit was pink as well. The writer designed lots of questions to see what answers his audience would have.
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I think it is a dual meaning. Both the literal broken flowers scene that does occur, and the metaphorical "broken flowers" representing the broken women who were all once young flowers fresh in bloom. Now they are older and damaged just like he is.
Well, one way to look at it is in the relationships. As said before, the women that he visits are broken. These are also candidates for being the bearer of his child, and broken flowers could also have the connotation of defloration. Dead flowers also works because he's meeting with the women years after their defloration.
Just some thoughts on the film from a dirty mind.