In an unremarkable boarding house excitement is running high : one of the boarders, a shy and retiring man, has been receiving passionate letters written in a woman's hand. After the female manager succumbs to temptation by opening one of the letters, the boarder is forced to admit that yes, he is much admired by a tender young lady he met while restoring a painting. Sadly, the lovers are unable to express their feelings openly...
"Rosaura a las 10" is a good black-and-white thriller with a beautifully constructed intrigue. The plot is an exercise in misdirection and the clueing is both clever and subtle, meaning that the viewer needs to pay close attention to what's happening on the screen.
"Rosaura" also works as a satire highlighting deplorable human traits. In the movie, a dozen people speculate about the private life of a middle-aged bachelor who receives perfumed letters. (Most of these speculations will turn out to have been wrong, sometimes disastrously so.) The bulk of this lively - some might say obsessive - interest in the man's actions seems to stem from a combination of boredom and curiosity. Since "I'm bored and I'm nosy" doesn't sound all that noble, other motives are invoked, such as a concern for the good name of a family enterprise or a protective tenderness towards star-crossed lovers. Thus vices get clothed in the vestments of virtue...
I watched the movie with a great deal of pleasure. The serpentine deviousness of the plot reminded me of the oeuvre of Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, two writers and screenwriters who collaborated as "Boileau-Narcejac". If you like "Rosaura" you may want to check out some B-N based thrillers (imdb will be your guide).
"Rosaura a las 10" is a good black-and-white thriller with a beautifully constructed intrigue. The plot is an exercise in misdirection and the clueing is both clever and subtle, meaning that the viewer needs to pay close attention to what's happening on the screen.
"Rosaura" also works as a satire highlighting deplorable human traits. In the movie, a dozen people speculate about the private life of a middle-aged bachelor who receives perfumed letters. (Most of these speculations will turn out to have been wrong, sometimes disastrously so.) The bulk of this lively - some might say obsessive - interest in the man's actions seems to stem from a combination of boredom and curiosity. Since "I'm bored and I'm nosy" doesn't sound all that noble, other motives are invoked, such as a concern for the good name of a family enterprise or a protective tenderness towards star-crossed lovers. Thus vices get clothed in the vestments of virtue...
I watched the movie with a great deal of pleasure. The serpentine deviousness of the plot reminded me of the oeuvre of Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, two writers and screenwriters who collaborated as "Boileau-Narcejac". If you like "Rosaura" you may want to check out some B-N based thrillers (imdb will be your guide).