Ilha das Flores

Ilha das Flores uses humor really well. Its images stay with you. I think its power is in the way it takes an image or phrase and repeats it, giving it a new context each time. For instance, the progression of describing every person as “possessing a highly developed brain and an opposable thumb” and therefore being a human really makes you think about all the ways in which modern social and economic systems dehumanize certain individuals. Similarly, the repetition of the images of the tomato, the flowers, the perfume bottles, the brain, etc. shows the connections that are often hidden by the words we use. The definitions of things such as “owner,” “garbage,” and “the second,” work really well because of the way they are given over images of the consequences of these words that might not be immediately evident. For instance, defining “the second,” a precise and scientific term, leads to defining “cesium,” another precise and scientific term, but meanwhile, the image on the screen makes the connection between that term and the little child who dies from repeatedly rubbing it on his face.