Human Flower Project
“Making Arrangements”
Melissa Scaramucci’s movie goes behind the scenes at six flower shops—not a pretty sight.
From “Making Arrangements,” a 2003 “mocumentary”
Many thanks to writer Amy Stewart for alerting us to something rare: a movie about florists.
Yes, Melissa Scaramucci, a grad of the University of Oklahoma film program, has divulged what kind of mayhem goes on behind the pretty front counter of your local flower shop. Her 2003 film “Making Arrangements” sprang from Scaramucci’s experience working for a florist during college. In a style made famous by Rob Reiner (“This is Spinal Tap”) and Christopher Guest (“Best in Show”), Scaramucci’s fiction film pretends to be a documentary, with homely scenery, bumpy camera shots, faux intimacy. It purports to track six flower shops over four days. “With two weddings, a convention, and an unexpected funeral, ‘Making Arrangements’ exposes the stressful combination of Type A personalities and a perishable product.”
I visited with two fine Austin florists on Tuesday as they continued to recuperate from a weekend megawedding for 400 guests. These guys and gals really do possess what my cousin Ben calls, “the showbiz gene.” They love the squeeze on adrenal glands and—with lights, glueguns, wire and 500 pounds of Hawaiian orchids—they really can make magic. If it takes hubris and some profanity to hoist a curtain of flowers to the ceiling or transform a tent in rural Texas into a Chinese pagoda, so be it.
Melissa Scaramucci was savvy to see the drama and comedy here. Who needs war or violent crime to establish tension when there are cranky brides, homegrown artistes and buckets of fresh flowers? Get ready to reel and rock with this trailer from “Making Arrangements.” We sure hope the flick comes to our town.
Encore, thank you to Amy. Her most recent book is The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms.