Rosetta is a 1999 coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. The film follows the story of a teenager (Émilie Dequenne), residing in a caravan park with her alcoholic mother. In her quest for survival and a better life, she tirelessly seeks employment in order to break free from her tumultuous living situation, hoping to leave behind the caravan and her dysfunctional mother for a more stable and secure life.

The film won numerous accolades, including the Palme d'Or and the Best Actress awards at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, and received critical acclaim upon release.

Critical response

thumb|Lead actress [[Émilie Dequenne at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival|285x285px]]

Rosetta was released to overwhelmingly positive reception by American mainstream press and critics, who cited the lack of a musical score and use of a handheld camera throughout its production as a major factor in its overall unique tone. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 19 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Derek Elley of Variety notes the film is "Anchored by a performance of grim determination and almost feral instincts from its lead actress, Rosetta is an extremely small European art movie from Belgian brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne that will alienate as many viewers as it wins over." Stephen Holden of The New York Times gave a more critical review due to the prevalent gloom, stating Rosetta "is so clinically detached from its subject and its screenplay so minimal that we never really feel the title character's intense suffering or even get to know her very well. As she spirals into despair, the film's heavy, social-realist angst feels more than a little contrived... Instead of feeling universal, the movie feels claustrophobic." In his review for Boston Globe Jay Carr surmises, "The bleakness of Rosetta will not be for all, but it's one of the best films of the year." Peter Bradshaw, writing for The Guardian, lauded Rosetta to be "a rigorous transforming gaze, a strange and passionate urgency. Every time I watch it, it becomes more moving, more commanding, more exceptional. It is a film whose grace and lyricism has earned it, simply, the status of classic: something of real greatness." Jonathan Rosenbaum, reviewing for Chicago Reader, extolled the film as showing an extraordinary capability of maintaining an objective view into the world of the protagonist and "the most visceral filmgoing experience of the past year, including all of Hollywood's explosions and special-effects extravaganzas".

The French press were also enthusiastic about the film. Jean-Pierre Dufreigne reviewing for L'Express highly recommended Rosetta to readers regardless of polarization because of its tenacious depiction of youth straining to preserve their integrity while bearing adult responsibilities and the effective use of the camera to capture the essence of the protagonist. Marine Landrot writing for Télérama gave additional praise to Rosetta, noting the role reversal between Rosetta and her mother signified the inherent desire in childhood comforts as both yield to the pressures afflicted by modern society.

Accolades

The film unanimously won the Palme d'Or and the Best Actress awards at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. The film also received the André Cavens Award for Best Film by the Belgian Film Critics Association (UCC), and the Golden Pegasus from the 2000 Flaiano International Prizes for Best Director. Belgium's submission of Rosetta was not nominated for the 72nd Academy Awards. Émilie Dequenne won the CFCA Award for Most Promising Actress from the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, tied with Julia Stiles of 10 Things I Hate About You and was nominated for the Most Promising Actress at the 25th César Awards.

At the 2000 Joseph Plateau Awards, it was presented with the Joseph Plateau Award for Best Belgian Actress, Best Belgian Director, Best Belgium Film, and Box Office Award while Olivier Gourmet received a nomination for Best Belgium Actor. Other nominations included the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film and the European Film Awards for Best Actress and Best Film.

Rosetta Law

Contrary to popular belief, the film did not inspire a new so-called "Rosetta Law" in Belgium that prohibited employers from paying teenage workers less than the minimum wage and included other youth labour reforms. In a 2006 Guardian interview with the Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre explained the misconception; "No, that law already existed, it just hadn't been voted through yet. The truth is always less interesting than the fiction."

See also

  • List of submissions to the 72nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
  • List of Belgian submissions for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References

Further reading

  • Rosetta at AllMovie
  • Rosetta at The Criterion Collection
  • Rosetta at the Arts & Faith Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films list
  • Rosetta: Radical Economy – an essay by Kent Jones at The Criterion Collection