Winner, Palm D'Or: Best Shoulder
I remember, at least half a dozen times, passing this movie by in the video store, gravitating towards it due to the legend "Winner Palm D'Or Best Actress/Best Picture" and the lovely face of Emilie Dequenne, then passing it by after reading the back. The summary of the plot bored me so immediately and intensely that I could not imagine actually sitting and watching the film. I eventually changed my mind, and thankfully so.
Rosetta is an absolutely driven character, almost an animal, single-minded in her goals. Those goals are mundane: find a job, lead a normal life. Her obstacles are mundane: rent, alcoholic mother, cramps. She asks questions, gets her answers, and walks away with no pretense of social grace. For most scenes the camera either points in the direction of Rosetta's POV, over her shoulder, or aims directly into her face. The shot rarely sits still: action and object are the same here. We see what she sees as she sees it and make judgments about people and...
another low budget,avante garde triumph
Rosetta,a film that deals with the struggles of a young woman who has just been fired from her job at a factory in Belgium,was an extremely pleasant surprise for me.Emilie Dequenne's performance in the lead role is riveting,realistic,raw,and energetic.If this were a film financed by hollywood,there's no doubt her gender would have been exploited,and she would have been some sexpot with boy troubles.Not so in this cinematic effort.The focus is almost entirely on her effort to secure employment just so she can get a meal and help her alcoholic mother with the rent.She doesn't have time to chase boys,she's only concerned with surviving.The most startling aspect of this film is it's avoidance of manufactured sentimentlity,complete with cheasy music,to get the viewer to sympathize with her predicament.There's no epiphanies,startling revelations,or some cheap trick ending tacked on for marketing purposes.The way the film is shot(16mm or digital video(i'm not sure),handheld tracking...
Amazing
Warning: Please eat at least 2 hours prior watching this film. If you can't stand the handheld camera in THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, then don't even bother watching this film. Believe me, you'll get sick.
The great thing about ROSETTA is the fact that the Dardene brothers chose not to make her character sympathethic. All she wants is a normal life, which consist of finding a job. And she will do anything to get it. The film literally follows her as she walks around the city, looking for employment. The ending is shocking, but reminds me of Francois Truffaut's The 400 Blows. Emilie Dequenne gave a brilliant performance in a realist film that plays like it's coming from the French New Wave. Overall, this film is worth watching. It deserves to win the Palme D'Or, although most people disagree (they chose the entertaining but thin ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER instead). Watch this film, and you'll never forget it. You probably won't like it, but it's worth watching, because there's...
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