Review of Rosetta (1999) by Andrew G — 23 Dec 2007

A dreary little tale of a young, working-class woman trying to make good in the factories, caravan parks and waffle outlets of Belgium.

I did not find the lead character a sympathetic one. Sure, she may have been in an unfortunate situation, jobwise, but emotionally she was cold as ice and unresponsive to those who cared about her, sometimes downright treacherous in this respect.

I by no means wanted her to be a honey-pie, just someone I could empathise with. The Cinema is full of flawed characters, some of them central characters, who are nevertheless compelling - Rosetta (for me at least) is not one of them.

I didn't have any real problem with the style of the film, though it makes Dogme look like Tarkovsky. How many times did we have to see Rosetta crossing the street, walking through the woods, putting on her boots, etc? I appreciate that the film-makers were opting for a sense of immediacy here, but I got the point the first time.

I also found the film to be reminiscent of the cinema verite of the French New Wave/Italian Neo-Realism, and even some of the British films from that period. As one reviewer on imdb put it, change the setting from Belgium to Manchester, add a pregnancy subplot, and voila.

A difficult film to appreciate.