There is no plot, there is no story, we are just witnessing a few days of life of Rosetta. A tough life. Despite the young age of the actress, she seems older and you can read from her face that something unpleasant is going on. An alcoholic (and maybe prostitute) mother to take care of, a life in a campground, no friends, nobody that seems to be vaguely sympathetic with her, the need to work in order to survive and (probably) a poor schooling education. Brothers Dardenne do not give anything from granted: the unease of Rosetta's life is given by the continuous repetition of daily acts that in a "normal life" nobody has to do. Rosetta does not have access to hot water, she does not have a tap water in the van, she dresses with only few pieces of clothing, she always change her shoes with rubber boots before passing through the bush that leads to the campground ,etc. The movie is filled with normal acts that are not skipped or just summarized by the directors. When shutting down the hut where she sells muffins (job stolen to her friend), the directors let you see the entire procedure. The same when Rosetta drags her mother (completely drunk) in the van, or when she goes to get a new gas tank. The strength of the movie is represented by all of these scenes that make a life hard to live.
This movie, if it can be defined neorealistic, differs a great deal, for example, from the Italian neorealism of the late '50. Despite all the difficulties of the Italian society after WW2, it appears that at least the family or the solidarity among desperate people is there. Rosetta seems to be an alien, one of the few people remained at the outskirts of a wealthy society. She cannot rely on other people like her, all the environment around her is not in tune, she is alone, she has not a chance to change her life.
NOTE FOR SOME US AUDIENCE: despite Europe is quite far away and therefore it can be difficult to appreciate difference between countries, I would like to remember that Belgium is not France. This is a Belgian movie.
This movie, if it can be defined neorealistic, differs a great deal, for example, from the Italian neorealism of the late '50. Despite all the difficulties of the Italian society after WW2, it appears that at least the family or the solidarity among desperate people is there. Rosetta seems to be an alien, one of the few people remained at the outskirts of a wealthy society. She cannot rely on other people like her, all the environment around her is not in tune, she is alone, she has not a chance to change her life.
NOTE FOR SOME US AUDIENCE: despite Europe is quite far away and therefore it can be difficult to appreciate difference between countries, I would like to remember that Belgium is not France. This is a Belgian movie.