Rose
Sofie Gråbøl continues to garner acclaim for her latest performance in a feel-good production from Denmark.
Image courtesy of Bulldog Film Distribution
It's probably a fair generalisation to suggest that most film critics are not fans of films that can be considered feel-good movies. Nevertheless, it is a well-established genre and one that has a strong following and this Danish film is a very good example of it. Unexpectedly it is the work of the writer/director Niels Arden Oplev best known for another genre movie but one of a very different kind: he was the director of the Swedish language version of Stig Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009), an outstandingly popular example of cinema’s tough thriller school. In turning now to a genre quite different in character and providing his own screenplay in the process, he has opted for the kind of feel-good piece which, although tailored to sending the audience out happy, is ready to incorporate elements that are anything but escapist.
The story told in Rose is set in 1997 the year when Princess Diana died, an event that has a special bearing on the way that this narrative develops. The central character here is a woman named Inger who for some years has been suffering from schizophrenia which appears to have arisen after a love affair with a married man in Paris came to an abrupt end. More recently Inger (Sofie Gråbøl) has been living in her own country, Denmark, supported by her sister Ellen (Lene Maria Christensen) and her brother-in-law, Vagn (Anders W. Berthelsen). The other influential figure in her life is her fussy mother, Gudrun (Karen-Lise Mynster) but Ellen believes that she is over-protective where Inger is concerned and that her sister will do better if encouraged to undertake more. That is how Inger comes to be invited to join Ellen and Vagn on a week-long coach trip to France, a tour centred on Paris but also including visits to Versailles and to Normandy.
The other main characters here are the three members of another family also taking this trip: a withdrawn teacher named Andreas (Søren Malling), his wife Margit (Christiane G. Koch) and their 13-year-old son Christian (Luca Reichardt Ben Coker). Later we will also be introduced to a helpful taxi driver, Nadir (Illyès Salah), and Inger will assert herself enough to seek out her long-lost love, Jacques (Jean-Pierre Lorit). But what gives Rose its special character is its willingness to show the strains experienced by a schizophrenic who hears voices that she feels compelled to obey and to portray too the burden that this can impose on family members (Inger’s state can cause her to make outrageous comments and to play up and act inconsistently while the power of her voices could even draw her to the idea of suicide). It is clearly significant that Oplev was inspired to make this film due to having a sister who became schizophrenic. In consequence of that Inger’s state is portrayed with appropriate sympathy and with the intention of encouraging the belief that with the right approach improvement is possible. Given the impact of Inger’s behaviour on the tour schedule and on the other passengers, it is possible to question how appropriate it is to have her there. Nevertheless, making Andreas highly critical of her presence is clearly a ploy to encourage the audience to disapprove of his attitude and the desirability of seeking rapport with someone in her situation is conveyed by the scenes in which young Christian, acting in contrast to his father, befriends Inger. In passing the fact that the boy’s parents are often at odds and that he is concerned by that is another example of the film including downbeat touches.
Feel-good films are often created in a calculated way that is designed to please a particular audience, but in this instance one senses that the source of Oplev’s venture has resulted in a film that is genuinely warm-hearted. It also yields fine performances from Sofie Gåbrøl and Lene Maria Christensen as the sisters and the closeness of their bond is admirably caught. The child actor involved, Luca Reichardt Ben Coker, is also well-judged in his acting, but it is interesting to find in a film written and directed by a man that it is the leading actresses who have the opportunity to shine (both Andreas W. Berthelsen and Søren Malling are merely subsidiary although we already know their quality from other films in which we have seen them).
Another asset here is the film’s ability to capture the atmosphere of Paris, always a good location for a film seeking popular appeal. Because Rose is what it is there are improbable scenes from time to time, that being in keeping with the escapist nature inherent in this kind of movie. Indeed, I doubt that anybody with a firm resistance to feel-good cinema will be able to see Rose as being anything more than that, but within this style of film-making it stands out as a work that is well intentioned, sincere and adroit.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Sofie Gråbøl, Lene Maria Christensen, Anders W. Berthelsen, Søren Malling, Luca Reichardt Ben Coker, Christiane G. Koch, Illyès Salah, Karen-Lise Mynster, Peter Gantzler, Jean-Pierre Lorit.
Dir Niels Arden Oplev, Pro Thomas Heinesen, Screenplay Niels Arden Oplev, Ph Rasmus Videbæk, Pro Des Knirke Madelung, Ed Lars Therkelsen and Anne Østerud, Music Henrik Skram, Costumes Anne-Dorthe Eskilden.
Nordisk Film Production/Bankside Films/YouSee-Bulldog Film Distribution.
106 mins. Denmark. 2022. US Rel: 8 December 2023. UK Rel: 28 June 2024. Cert. 12A.