Watch Rosetta For Free

Too much of everything

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

To say that Emilie Dequenne. the young actress playing Rosetta - and who won the Golden Palm at Cannes for her efforts here, is 'plucky', would sound patronising, to say the least.This is structured documentary film-making at its most urgent - and poignant. The premise for most could hardly be less appealing - an independent film, filmed at a moderately sized Belgian industrial town, with an actress who wears no make-up (yes, the odd pimple, too) has an alcoholic mother who gets more booze by offering herself for sex and they both 'inhabit' a tiny, leaky caravan on a caravan park.By plucky, I mean that Rosetta is almost always running - from someone, after someone - including her own mother - to a job, from a job. When not doing that, she gets thrown in a lake (by same person as above), catching fish in said very muddy lake, using a broken glass jar. She is always trying to either get work, keep her job or survive, somehow.This all sounds quite frantic - and it is, when the hand-held camera follows her, is glued to her, almost, as she goes past so close, she briefly goes out of focus. But often, it is meditative, thought- provoking and downright very ordinary. Which, oddly, is extremely compelling, never more so during the gaps in dialogue.Underneath this hardened facade - she only swears and fights when really pressed, then she's like a terrier dog - we hope to see a normal young lady, who can do things that she enjoys. We only see this once, when the young man at the new waffle-van where she finally gets a casual job, takes her after the first day, back to his, for food and playing of some music.If this is SO mundanely glum, why am I watching it for the second time? Well, my Halliwells Film Guide (bible, to me) rated it highly and I got a copy cheap as a Korean import and secondly, you just know that there is a message here. Not necessarily a very important one, but one that we need to reminded of, when we all (and our Governments) continually moan about the youth of today and how they never want to work - and about caring for those unable to care for themselves.It's also very sobering (definitely no pun intended) and one with an ending that you'll remember.

Rosetta is one of the most greatest productions about fighting to live in the cinema industry."life is a valuable gift so you should protect it by being as strong as you can."I think this is the main message of the film.Emilie Dequenne in the role of Rosetta would remain in the memory of cinema forever.She didn't speak that much but she was such a professional actress that showed all her feelings in her face.The scene that Rosetta spoke with herself before sleeping was fantastic.Technical features such as carrying camera on hand and using no music even at the end of the film,make us to believe that this is going to be a special documentary.

Like in Dardenne brothers films, in this one we witness how the main character makes a mistake because of hardships of life or because he/she is naive, then realizes the mistake and corrects it, eventually doing the right thing. No frills, no drama, yet so moving. When we watch this whole process with the kind of fantastic and unconventional closeness - the engrossing & realistic Dardenne-style of close up shots - we actually fall in love and sympathize with the main character - the girl Rosetta. This isn't a sad movie at all (like some people have commented), its a lovely movie that celebrates the spirit of being a normal human being, a must see for any cinema buff. Unlike ambiguous Hollywood films, Dardenne movies are simple and focused, the audience precisely and naturally sees what the directors want to say.

My insomnia kicked in last night at 4AM and when I turned on the tube, Rosetta was about 20 minutes in. Thankfully I have a TiVo and was able to rewind it to the beginning.The film is dreary alright, but not at all unwatchable. And I definitely did notice the hand-held camera, but I guess watching it on TV is less dizzying than on the big screen as it didn't bother me that much. But the effect of following SO CLOSE to Rosetta with the hand-held made it seem more like a suspense film at first... I kept thinking someone was going to jump up behind her or something.The film would have been far more intersesting if there were a little more meat (changing shoes in real time like 5 times?). But I guess the part that made me feel like I just wasted 2 hours was the ending... or lack thereof. I could not believe the credits started rolling at that point! No I wasn't expecting a neat and nifty Hollywood ending, but just *something* would have helped. Can you spoil nothing?