Rosetta (1999)

Directors: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

 It is a rare and impressive thing when a filmmaker can craft an intimate and personal film while also bringing with it such broad social and political implications. The film is an uncompromising look at a 17-year-old girl who lives in a small trailer with her good-for-nothing mother trying to find a job. She's a girl who is desperate for any sort of job, but she's also a principled human being who just wants to have a normal life. Her desire for a job has to do with money, but it's also about being a normal member of society, and that's what gives this film added poignancy. The Dardenne brothers use their typical handheld jittery up-close camerawork, always following our main character, and frequently in tight close-ups. It gives this deeply personal look at a life in motion even more intimacy, but at the same time it manages to also be about the larger issue of the difficulty that those on the fringes of society have in entering into society.

One of the reasons I will cherish and remember this film for a long time is because it's not an idealistic film like so many others are, it's not a contrarian movie about the ills of society. The film does not take a stance against the idea of modern society, instead it just says that society needs to do more to help those who want to enter modern society. It's a very pragmatic movie and not one with high-minded ideas, and that's a very unique stand to take in intellectual art. Rosetta is essentially a film about the lack of social mobility, and the difficulties people have in obtaining an honest living. It's telling that Rosetta refuses to do any illegal jobs in this film, because she is a person with respect and principles, a quality very deserving of entering society. She does have to engage in a personal betrayal later in the film though, which is not illegal, but certainly only hurts her social life. That betrayal shines a light on the how obtaining even honest work can be a very anti-personal endeavor, because in this economic system personal relationships must be second to money and success. What's more amazing is that none of these messages are said out loud, everything is implied. It's a movie that shows you the life of one person on the fringes of society and forces you to make your own conclusions about why this girl is having so much difficulty. It manages to be political by way of being personal.

Grade: A