Rose

Veteran French actress Françoise Fabian (My Night at Maud’s; Belle de Jour; Out 1) enjoys a luminous late role in this touching first feature by singer, songwriter Aurélie Saada. Fabian’s Parisienne Rose is widowed after a long and happy marriage. Initially she turns recluse in her grief, but this is a film about re-awakening, and rediscovering your lust for life in old age.

“Inspired in part by Saada’s own grandmother, the filmmaker infuses Rose with an infectious sense of joie de vivre. It’s a film about appreciating the small pleasures in life, like dancing alone in your kitchen while baking sweet treats for a lover. Partaking in boisterous conversations around a dinner table. Sharing intimacies with new and old acquaintances over a few drinks. Blasting a favorite song while driving in your car with your best friend. Picking out a new lipstick just for yourself. These are things we often take for granted, but in retrospect make up the best times in our lives. For Rose, like a lot of older women, these were things she had given up altogether. Saada, who also composed the film’s music and sings songs in Hebrew, Arabic, Yiddish and Italian on its soundtrack, has a knack for capturing the sensual pleasures of being alive.” Mary E Gates, rogerebert.com

A feature steeped in love.

Variety

A feel-good movie.

Cineuropa