‘Rose’ Review: French Icon Françoise Fabian shows Us That Joie de Vivre Is Truly Timeless
Cohen Media Group
From The Substance to The Last Showgirl, the landscape of cinema has gradually begun to shine an authentic light on women's experiences as they age, particularly framed within societies and industries that come to depreciate the female body as it departs from its most youthful stages. Exploring similar ideas about the spirits of women as they enter later stages of their lives is Rose, the debut feature from French singer-turned-filmmaker Aurélie Saada, which finally makes its theatrical bow in the United States on Friday, January 24. Starring renowned actress Françoise Fabian, Rose studies the life of a Parisienne septuagenarian of the same name who discovers an entirely refreshed "joie de vivre" following a close family tragedy.
We first meet the seventy-eight-year-old Rose in a packed party venue, where she –– along with her three adult children, extended family, and friends–– celebrate the birthday of her longtime husband, Phillippe. When the guest of honor consults their oldest son (a successful doctor) about some recent MRI testing, the results sound far from hopeful. Rose leaves the raucous fete behind and abruptly jumps forward in time to Rose's apartment, where she covers the mirrors and prepares for Phillippe's shiva.
Unmoored by her husband's passing, Rose struggles to understand how she will navigate the world without him in the twilight years of her life. Neglecting her hygiene and failing to pay utility bills, her children begin to worry about their mother's future: "Dad took care of everything." Unable to see Rose frozen by uncertainty any longer, her daughter Sarah (Aure Atika) takes her along to a hip dinner party, where the eclectic mix of companions sparks a change in Rose's perspective on life. Instead of wasting the years she has left, Rose decides from then on to make the most of every single day.
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Well-known in France for her distinguished acting career –– having worked with the likes of Luis Buñuel, Jacques Demy, and Éric Rohmer –– Fabian's performance at the heart of Rose serves as the film's shining feature. With the narrative's progression, Rose's character transforms from a powerless widow to an entirely self-possessed woman inspired by the vibrancy of her surroundings. As Rose learns to navigate the world on her own terms, we find her in much-uncharted territory: smoking a joint for the first time, hitting the bar by herself, and shopping for makeup in trendy stores. Fabian imbibes much humor and sensuality into such banal activities, mirroring the liberation her character experiences through her newly discovered autonomy.
Clashing with Rose's reinvigorated spirit is her trio of children, who struggle to understand her evolving perspectives at such a late stage in life. Having never known their mother as an individual without their father's company, they attach Rose's identity to her standing as a caretaker rather than a fully-rounded woman with unique desires and needs. Saada’s screenplay (co-written with Yaël Langmann) incorporates this generational misunderstanding as a reflection of the family's Jewish heritage and the conventional gender roles that accompany it without ever feeling overly didactic. Speaking on this interesting push-and-pull between Rose and her flock, the film loses steam when it pivots towards their individual situations and away from those of their matriarch.
Moving past the movie's clear-cut, familiar narrative, Saada uses the background of Rose's characters to honor her own Tunisian-Jewish roots with purpose. The director composed all of the film's music –– sang in Hebrew, Yiddish, Italian, and French––which becomes increasingly critical to Rose's emancipation as the film progresses. Flavors of North African and Mediterranean culture come through as Rose taps into music to celebrate life, whether dancing alone in her kitchen or with the hunky bartender at the restaurant below her apartment building.
While Rose is always grounded by a particular warmth typically absent from movies that concentrate on similar themes about aging, there are elements in its portrayals of grief that seem disappointing or unsatisfying. Rose and her family's experiences of mourning their father feel unexplored, never examined in a manner that would inform Rose's desire to change the course of her existence. While there is never a specified period for the stages of grieving, it seems far-fetched to portray a woman married for most of her life just moving forward with such immediacy.
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With its heartfelt illustration of an older woman rediscovering her lust for life before it is too late, Rose functions with a levity and joy that speaks to the ultimate satisfaction of cinema and its comforting qualities, paramount to lean on during times of uncertainty, such as the ones we are currently experiencing across the globe. Rose begins its U.S. theatrical release on Friday, January 24, in Los Angeles and New York City before expanding to other cities nationwide.
3/5
2021 | 1hr 43min | Color | French, Yiddish
'Rose' had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival in 2021. Cohen Media Group handles the movie's theatrical distribution in the United States. Click here for ‘Rose’ showtimes near you.