Rosetta (film)  

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Rosetta is a 1999 French-Belgian film written and directed by the Dardenne brothers. It is about a seventeen-year-old girl (played by Émilie Dequenne) who lives in a caravan park with her alcoholic mother. Trying to survive and to escape her situation, she makes numerous attempts at securing a job, which would allow her to move away from the caravan and her dysfunctional mother and have a stable life.

Contrary to popular belief, the film did not inspire a new so called "Rosetta Law" in Belgium prohibiting employers from paying teen workers less than the minimum wage and other youth labour reforms. In a 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."

Plot

When her probationary employment ends without her being hired, Rosetta (Émilie Dequenne) engages in a violent struggle against her manager and the policemen when she refuses to leave the premises. She returns home to "The Grand Canyon", the caravan park where she lives with her alcoholic mother, who mends worn clothes for Rosetta to sell to charity shops. They get into a physical struggle over her mother accepting gifts from men for sexual favours. Rosetta goes to a nearby river and lays out fish traps to poach trout for food. Unable to receive unemployment pay, refusing to take welfare and desperate for work, Rosetta asks around for vacancies until she comes upon a waffle stand. She befriends the worker, Riquet (Fabrizio Rongione) and asks the owner (Olivier Gourmet) for a job, without success. Later, Rosetta treats her period cramps with pain relievers and a hairdryer warming her abdomen.

Riquet makes an unexpected visit to the caravan park, startling Rosetta. He informs her that a colleague was fired and that she can have the job. Her mother's promiscuity resulting from alcoholism prompts Rosetta to encourage her to visit a rehabilitation clinic. However, her mother's denial of her addiction causes a physical fight between them. Her mother runs away and leaves Rosetta to nearly drown in the river by the park. She decides to stay with Riquet for the night and inquires about renting a bed in the building. During the awkward evening, Rosetta discovers a waffle iron in his possession. He tries to get Rosetta to dance, but her period cramps put an end to it. As she lies in bed, she tries to convince herself that her life has started to function normally.

At work, she is replaced after three days by the owner's son, who failed school, leading to another emotional meltdown. Rosetta is moderately pacified when he tells her she will be contacted if an opportunity arises. She begins a new but fruitless search for employment and keeps Riquet company during work. He offers to pay for a waffle, but she refuses his charity.

Later, Riquet falls into the pond while helping Rosetta with her fish traps. She watches him thrashing in the muddy water and hesitates before helping him out. Later, she discovers that Riquet has been selling his own waffles during business hours, due to him offering her an under the table job helping him mix the batter. After some contemplation, she tells the owner. Rosetta looks on as Riquet is thrown out of the stand and she is handed his apron. Betrayed and hurt, Riquet chases her on his moped until he catches up to her and demands to know her motive. Rosetta states she wanted a job and wishes she hadn't saved him from the water. He counters that she still helped him and lets her leave.

The next day, Riquet buys a waffle from Rosetta while she is working and she can barely look him in the eye. Returning home, she finds her mother unconscious and inebriated in front of the caravan. She drags her mother inside and puts her to bed. Rosetta calls her boss on a payphone and quits her job. Returning to the trailer, she turns on the gas and leaves it running in an attempt to asphyxiate herself and her mother. The gas runs out though, and she goes to the landlord to buy another canister. As she hauls the heavy canister of gas with great difficulty, Riquet arrives on his moped and circles around her. She eventually collapses to the ground and bursts into tears. Riquet helps her up and she turns to gaze at him as she slowly regains her composure.

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Rosetta (film)" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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