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Rosie
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Unseen in Cincinnati ROSIE
Unrated 1998, New Yorker
The troubled heroine of writer/ director Patrice Toye's gritty teen drama is a 13-year-old Belgian girl, Rosie (Aranka Coppens). On the surface, she's a typical teen-age girl. She chomps incessantly on chewing gum and roller-skates through the streets of her Antwerp neighborhood. While listening to Pop music, she practices dancing in front of her mirror. Rosie reads romance novels and dreams of meeting a handsome prince. Her active imagination is the source of a complex, make-believe world.
Rosie's daydreaming takes her further away from the grim life she shares with her single mother, Irene (Sara De Roo), and deadbeat Uncle Michael (Frank Vercruyssen). She fantasizes about a handsome boy at school, Jimi (Joost Wijnant) and shocks her classmates with make-believe stories of violence.
"I was raped by three Moroccans," Rosie says, speaking quietly. "It was the nicest thing I ever felt."
Toye begins his Flemish-language story with a mystery. What has Rosie done to be sent to a reform school? Slowly, through an extended flashback, her tragedy unfolds. We learn that her mother portrays Rosie as her younger sister. It's a confusing lie that Rosie finds difficult to accept.
"Why can't I call you mommy?" Rosie asks her mother.
"Because I was only 14 when I had you, not much older than you are now," Rosie's mother says. "It's a secret, a secret between you and I."
Rosie's fantasies take her away from an otherwise grim life. Part of the film's dramatic strength is how it's difficult to determine where her make-believe stops and her reality begins. There are moments when she's completely oblivious to the world around her. She walks away blissfully after being hit by a passing car. It's as if Rosie refuses to accept her day-to-day reality. Charmed by Coppens' girlish smile and rebellious spirit, we quickly buy into Rosie's fantasies.
Toye captures a beautiful grimness in the stark Belgian countryside. Rosie escapes from her life in a hideaway, tucked among the open fields and distant factories. In this bleak landscape she ditches her adolescence and pretends to live like an adult.
An unsentimental look at teen-age anxiety, Rosie is a powerful youth drama. Toye tells his mother/daughter story in a quiet and deliberate manner. Incidents of teen rebellion and petty thievery are more thoughtful than shocking. The dramatic strength of Rosie lies with Toye's subtle treatment of child neglect. Brought to life by Coppens' winsome performance, Rosie makes a wrenching impact. (Grade: A)
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Contact Steve ramos: sramos@citybeat.com
