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Rosetta

Belgium, France

1999

93 Min
Color
1.66:1
French
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
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DIR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne

PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Laurent Pétin, Michèle Pétin

SCR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne

DP Alain Marcoen

CAST Émilie Dequenne, Fabrizio Rongione, Anne Yernaux, Olivier Gourmet

ED Marie-Hélène Dozo

PROD DES Igor Gabriel

MUSIC Jean-Pierre Cocco

SOUND Jean-Pierre Duret

Cannes (In Competition): Palme d'Or, Best Actress, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention, Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema), New York, Rotterdam (Main Programme), Karlovy Vary (Horizons - Award-Winning Films)

Synopsis

The Belgian filmmaking team of brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne turned heads with Rosetta, an intense vérité drama that closely follows a poor young woman struggling to hold on to a job to support herself and her alcoholic mother. It’s a swift and simple tale made revelatory by the raw, empathetic way in which the directors render Rosetta’s desperation, keeping the camera nearly perched on her shoulder throughout. Many have copied the Dardennes’ style; few have equaled it. This ferocious film won big at Cannes, earning the Palme d’Or for the filmmakers and the best actress prize for the indomitable Émilie Dequenne. –The Criterion Collection

Director

Original

Jean-Pierre Dardenne

After studying drama in the arts institute, Jean Pierre Dardenne and his brother Luc made some videos about the rough life in blue-collar small towns in the Wallonie. After their meeting with filmmaker Armad Gatti and cinematographer Ned Burgess, they decided to enter in the movie business.

In 1978 they shot their first documentary, Le chant du rossignol, about the resistance against the Nazis during the second world war in Belgium. In 1986 they shot their first fiction movie, Falsch, about a Jewish family massacred by the Nazis. After their second movie, Je pense a vous, they released La Promesse, a movie about inmigration in Belgium. The film was a success worldwide winning awards in many festivals.

In 1999 they had another hit with Rosetta, that won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Festival. The movie tells the story of a blue collar worker with an alcoholic mother who tries to have a better life in a small belgium city.

In 2002, they came back to Cannes with their… read more

Original

Luc Dardenne

Characterizing themselves as “one person with four eyes,” Belgian filmmaker Luc Dardenne and his older brother Jean-Pierre rose to the forefront of international art cinema in the 1990s with such uncompromising, socially aware dramas as La Promesse (1996) and Rosetta (1999), depicting life in Belgium’s depressed industrial region near Liège on the Meuse River.

Born in Awirs, Dardenne grew up in a middle-class family in the working-class steel town Seraing. With schools closed during strikes, Dardenne was exposed to the upheavals of the 1960s labor movement during his formative years. While still in school, Dardenne frequently visited his older sibling in Brussels, where Jean-Pierre was studying acting under playwright Armand Gatti. Gatti, who often used nonprofessional actors, invited Luc to join his acting troupe. Though he got his degree in philosophy in the early ’70s, Luc was inspired by his time with Gatti to explore the creative and political possibilities of film and video… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 13 wall posts.
Picture of Christopher

Christopher

29Mar12

Rosetta breaking an egg open with her forehead is the best part of the movie. It perfectly encapsulates her character and the film's tone.

christopher gordon likes this

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Hüseyin Çelikoğlu

7Jan12

hepimiz rosettayız

Picture of Gary Pattison
Picture of Salma Dahab

Salma Dahab

23Jul11

It's a level of misery I never reached it before !

Crystal likes this

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Reviews

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A lonely life

By Danny Kana on April 18, 2011

“Rosetta”, directing by the Dardenne Brothers, is one of a kind. The shaky camera and close-ups make the experience feel all so real.

Emilie Dequenne’s performance as Rosetta is remarkable…  read review

Untitled

By Kenji on March 5, 2009

“The heart that is low now will be at the full tomorrow” (R.S.Thomas)

The award of the 1999 Cannes Palme d’Or to Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne’s “Rosetta” met with general surprise and confusion…  read review

Forum

Displaying 1 discussion topic.

What Dardenne brothers film to watch first?

11 posts by 10 people almost 2 years ago