Film review: 'Rosie' Strong visuals, sterling performances make up for slack storytelling in tale of adolescent angst
The complexity of adolescent angst is an increasingly popular subject for filmmakers and is the chief concern of this debut feature from Belgian director Patrice Toye. The tale of a deeply troubled 13-year-old girl and her complex, intense relationship with her young mother, "Rosie" suffers at times from the filmmaker's slack approach to storytelling, but -- thanks to some excellent performances -- it manages to be intermittently powerful. Now playing in New York, the subtitled film opens Aug. 20 at L.A.'s Nuart Theatre.
Told in flashback, the story begins with Rosie (Aranka Coppens) being held in a juvenile detention facility; how she got there is not revealed until the film's end. Before her incarceration, Rosie lived with her mother Irene (Sara de Roo) in a run-down housing project in an industrial neighborhood. Irene, not yet 30, has more than a few boyfriends, and she hides her motherhood by having Rosie address her as "sister." Things become even more confused in the cramped apartment when Rosie's uncle Michel (Frank Vercruyssen) -- whose relationship with his sister is, shall we say, complicated -- moves in.
To escape her misery, Rosie reads romance novels and spends a great deal of time with her boyfriend Jimi (Joost Wijnant), who may be imaginary. Ultimately, the disturbed teen begins to spiral out of control, engaging in ever more problematic and dangerous behavior as her emotional state unravels.
Too often, the filmmaker seems more intent on establishing a bleak atmosphere than clarifying her characters and situations. Although several scenes register with a Gothic intensity, the general vagueness and haphazard blending of fantasy and reality proves more distancing than illuminating. Still, Toye demonstrates a strong visual sense, and she has elicited sterling performances from the entire cast; young Coppens, in particular, inhabits her character with a startling intensity.
ROSIE
New Yorker Films
A Prime Time, the Flemish Film Fund, VRT, Nationale Loterij, Canal PLus production
Credits: Director-screenwriter: Patrice Toye; Producer: Antonino Lombardo; Director of photography: Richard Van Oosterhout; Music: John Parish; Editor: Ludo Troch. Cast: Rosie: Aranka Coppens; Irene: Sara de Roo; Bernard: Dirk Roofthooft; Jimi: Joost Wijnant; Michel: Frank Vercruyssen. Color/stereo. No MPAA rating. Running time -- 97 minutes.
Told in flashback, the story begins with Rosie (Aranka Coppens) being held in a juvenile detention facility; how she got there is not revealed until the film's end. Before her incarceration, Rosie lived with her mother Irene (Sara de Roo) in a run-down housing project in an industrial neighborhood. Irene, not yet 30, has more than a few boyfriends, and she hides her motherhood by having Rosie address her as "sister." Things become even more confused in the cramped apartment when Rosie's uncle Michel (Frank Vercruyssen) -- whose relationship with his sister is, shall we say, complicated -- moves in.
To escape her misery, Rosie reads romance novels and spends a great deal of time with her boyfriend Jimi (Joost Wijnant), who may be imaginary. Ultimately, the disturbed teen begins to spiral out of control, engaging in ever more problematic and dangerous behavior as her emotional state unravels.
Too often, the filmmaker seems more intent on establishing a bleak atmosphere than clarifying her characters and situations. Although several scenes register with a Gothic intensity, the general vagueness and haphazard blending of fantasy and reality proves more distancing than illuminating. Still, Toye demonstrates a strong visual sense, and she has elicited sterling performances from the entire cast; young Coppens, in particular, inhabits her character with a startling intensity.
ROSIE
New Yorker Films
A Prime Time, the Flemish Film Fund, VRT, Nationale Loterij, Canal PLus production
Credits: Director-screenwriter: Patrice Toye; Producer: Antonino Lombardo; Director of photography: Richard Van Oosterhout; Music: John Parish; Editor: Ludo Troch. Cast: Rosie: Aranka Coppens; Irene: Sara de Roo; Bernard: Dirk Roofthooft; Jimi: Joost Wijnant; Michel: Frank Vercruyssen. Color/stereo. No MPAA rating. Running time -- 97 minutes.
- 7/27/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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