An elderly woman grieving the loss of her husband finds new joy and purpose in creating unique, idiosyncratic funerals for her neighbours in writer/director Macha Colón’s first feature, Perfume de Gardenias. The film premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
Isabel (played by veteran theatre and television actress Luz María Rondón), an 80-something-year-old living in Puerto Rico, spends her days caring for her dying husband and working in her garden. When her husband dies, she designs a custom funeral that beautifully reflects his spirit and provides Isabel with a creative outlet for her grieving process. The funeral is a big hit with those in attendance and catches the attention of Toña (Sharon Riley), an overbearing figure in the church community with her own small posse of women. Toña recruits Isabel to use her creative gifts and design funerals for the local community. While initially hesitant, Isabel soon finds herself rejuvenated by her new work, and the neighbourhood can’t get enough of her unconventional custom funerals. Meanwhile, in between funeral projects, Isabel tries to adjust to life without her husband, ignores the concerns of her meddlesome adult children, and looks after her increasingly ailing neighbour. When events take an unexpected turn, Isabel must grapple with her beliefs about the nature of life and death and make a tough decision.
An independent Afroqueer artist with a background in documentary, theatre and music, Macha Colón, the stage name for Gisela Rosario Ramos, is dedicated to merging artistic disciplines within her work and making her art more queer inclusive both in front of and behind the camera. Her award-winning short documentary, El Hijo de Ruby (2014), examined dance and queer identity. Perfume de Gardenias leans more heavily on theatre while integrating various music genres in the film’s soundtrack, and explores the intergenerational relationship between pious Isabel and her younger queer neighbour, Julia (Blanca Rosa Rovira Burset).
Isabel’s creative funeral services are themselves a blend of theatrical performance and art exhibition. At one service, the deceased lies peacefully in a small fishing boat, his fishing equipment around him and a blue backdrop with decorative fish completing the tableau of a fisherman simply taking a nap out at sea. At another service, the deceased’s doll collection is on full display with hired performers dressed to match the doll they each hold. Isabel’s artistic funerals attract community members like an exciting new exhibit that’s just been opened to the public. In addition to the funerals, watching Rondón breathe new energy and spirit into Isabel as she comes alive through her creative work provides us with new perspectives on aging and death, and a solid reminder that it’s never too late to pursue new passions.
The film moves at an unhurried pace and yet flies through the narrative around Isabel’s funeral projects in a montage format that leaves viewers feeling somewhat like they missed the service. The funerals are inspiring and part of an important theme around society’s treatment of aging and death, so it’s unfortunate we only catch the funerals and Isabel’s new creative leadership role in brief glimpses before the film moves forward with a narrative turn.
Isabel clashes with Toña over the idea of preparing terminally ill neighbours for their deaths, including collaborating with them to plan their funerals. After one particularly unsettling encounter, Isabel removes herself from Toña’s group and seems ready to give up on her newfound creative venture. However, Isabel is soon forced to confront her beliefs about the nature of death when she begins caring for her increasingly ailing neighbour, Julia. The film explores their shifting relationship as they find common ground and develop a bond despite their conflicting views, particularly around the right to die. It also leads Isabel back to her custom funeral designs, recognizing her particular talents enable her to create a unique way for the community to honour and celebrate the life and death of individuals who touched their lives.
Perfume de Gardenias introduces feminist perspectives that confront society’s treatment of aging and death, placing both front and centre in the film in stark contrast to the unrealistic youth and beauty of Hollywood. Colón’s cast of strong senior women in leading roles, use of humour, and themes around compassionate care and creative, idiosyncratic funerals normalize aging and dying as a part of life that should be celebrated.
Score: B-
© 2021. UniversalCinema Mag.