Review of The Rose Tattoo (1955) by Frank-Raymond P — 10 Nov 2017

This is such a strange film. At first I thought it was a heavy drama with all these deep emotional things going on. But then there were moments of real levity, to the point that I was almost laughing out loud, but then it would get dark again.

I found it tough to nail down the genre, and part of that was the performance of Anna Magnani. She plays the vast majority of this film very straight, so it?s hard to think of it as a comedy, even when Burt Lancaster is hamming it up in the same scene.

She is going through some serious things in her life and she takes it out on everyone around her. I was starting to get very impatient with The Rose Tattoo, because everything centered around Magnani?s character and she is so unpleasant.

There are also a lot of little subplots swirling around her. While they play into the main storyline either directly or indirectly, it takes some time before you can get your bearings and understand what story they want to tell.

The entire film was a mixed bag for me, because at times I was enjoying it, then I?d be annoyed by it, and then I?d just be confused. It never had the kind of focus and direction that I wanted, so it didn?t impact me as powerfully as I think they intended.

Still, I will admit that The Rose Tattoo has some strong performances and a few scenes that are enjoyable.