Rosetta (The Criterion Collection) (1999)

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 situations alongside her, a process that usually reveals how silly normal people seem when viewed by someone with no tolerance for nonsense. She does not understand dancing leisure, or why people would indulge in it when other things need doing, is foreign to her.

Routine fills her existence, and when the routines of friendship and work cannot be found, she constructs new and even unnecessarily complicated routines: cross the road to find the sewer where she hid her boots, change out of shoes into boots to cross the mud to reach the lake where she's set up fish traps with bobbypins and broken bottles, every day. She doesn't even keep the fish. In that way she, like most of us, is completely neurotic but who has the motivation to carry out their designs with so much determination, in ignorance of those neuroses? Who completely ignores defeat?

I would recommend other Dequenne pictures, but apparently her only other role is alongside Mark Dacascos in the inscrutible Brotherhood of the Wolf. Stick with Rosetta and enjoy.

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 shots,what seems like natural lighting)gives it a powerful,frenetic feel.Some people are turned off by the camera movement,but to do it any other way would negate the spontaneous,out of control atmosphere(maybe it doesn't bother me because i spent almost 2 years out at sea without getting sick).The camera follows her every move,you'll feel like a peeping tom stalking this young lady.The supporting cast are all solid,but it's really Dequenne's show,it's the main reason to seek out this hidden gem.Highly recommended,especially for the art house crowd.My only complaint,and it's not with the film itself,is that,why can't more director's take chances with movies such as Rebecca.It's an example of what can be accomplished when you don't try to please the masses,and truly "reflect" grim realities(something hollywood portends to do).Croupier,Dark Days,Human Resources,Blair Witch,The Last Broadcast,and now Rebecca,it's been an amazing 2 years for independent film.I consider this another one of my all time favorites.

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Relentlessly downbeat. Heck, the sun doesn't even shine in Rosetta's world of despair. And the production values made me wonder if the Dardenne brothers signed the Dogme 95 pact. I now understand the controversy at the 2000 Cannes film festival when this dour film picked up the Palme D'Or. However, despite it all, I was moved by Rosetta's plight, and I rooted for her. No doubt this is due to Emilie Dequenne's amazing performance in the title role.

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Rosetta is a powerful film depicting a young woman, Rosetta (Émilie Dequenne), living in the cracks of the Belgian society. The crack in which Rosetta has fallen is a part of society where she has no social protection from the government where corporations exploit her without giving her any securities. Rosetta is considered a minor as she is in the years between adolescence and adulthood.

The initial scene is set in motion as Rosetta violently fights her way into the office at the company where she works. When she arrives to her desired destination it becomes evident that she has been fired. However, what would make someone young that upset for being fired? This is a question that is answered as Rosetta returns home to the trailer park in which she lives. Rosetta is a proud person who struggles with keeping it together for her and her alcoholic mother. The mother evidently has been neglecting her daughter for most of her upbringing as Rosetta takes care of herself in every aspect of life as she has done it for a very long time.

The young female protagonist of story lives a life where she strives for socioeconomic security through a job. This is easier said than done as she finds it very hard to keep a job as she lacks experience and laws that protect her from being exploited by small companies. Rosetta also seeks a home, a place where she can find emotional security, as she continues to hold on to her alcoholic and neglecting mother.

The struggle of Rosetta is not told through long scripted dialogues, but through the daily actions of Rosetta. These actions are captured through a handheld camera as it flows with Rosetta and her difficult journey, which enhance the realism of the film. The realism is soul tearing as the audience cannot escape the world of Rosetta, a world in which Rosetta attempts to find a spot.

Rosetta offers an intricate character study of the young woman through her struggles. Émilie Dequenne was awarded the prize for best actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her part. Besides the character study the film also offers a well-made socioeconomic drama that had an impact on the Belgian government. Shortly after Rosetta was released the Belgian government passed a law branded as "Plan Rosetta". The law protects minors from being exploited by being paid less than minimum wage.

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Rosetta, the main character, is oppressed by life, not by men. Her mother is an alcoholic, and tries to get what she wants and needs--her drugs and some care--by trading her body for them. (Incidentally, Rosetta and her mother eke out some cash by a clothing reselling businesses of their own, requiring a good bit of industry and initiative.) The prematurely adult Rosetta sees that her mother is prostituting herself and does what she can to intervene. When Rosetta herself gets the opportunity (plot spoiler alert), she takes advantages of the friendship of a male friend to stab him in the back for his job. Suffering remorse, she tries to extricate herself from the web, but she's already perpetuated the cycle by her poor judgment (actually, by following the temptation to lie and use people for her own benefit). This is an excellent narrative of spiritual and psychological growth, of a girl negotiating opportunities and learning the ways of life. Betrayal and an underplayed if ambiguous redemption theme.

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