‘Rosetta’ is directed by Jean-Luc and Pierre Dardenne and premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1999. It is a film about a young Belgian girl, Rosetta, who perseveres in the face of all the disappointments in her life and remains kind. Rushton (2014, p. 306) believes that the Dardenne brothers appeal to the classic theme of the "dignity of the people" through Rosetta's daily struggle for survival.
Next, I will analyze a shot in the film and explore how the Dardenne brothers used audiovisual language to show the reality Rosetta faced and how she resisted it to retained her dignity. The shot I will analyze is located at 0:08:08 to 0:09:05 in the film. The shot shows the conflict between Rosetta and her mother after she finds out that her mother has received malicious alms from others and asks her mother to throw away the fish that others have given to her.
In this shot, the overall tone of the interior is dark, Rosetta and her mother live by the faint light outside the window. This dim background gives people an oppressive sense of fatalism as if Rosetta and her mother's lives will never be improved and they can only live in despair. According to Morgan (2008, p.1188), the dark color matches the gloomy mood of the whole story.
Rosetta is wearing a green vest in this shot. Unlike the sportswear she wears when she goes out, the red and black sportswear conveys Rosetta's tenacity, fierceness and self-enclosure. The sportswear is like her combat armor, while the green vest that Rosetta wears in the Grand Canyon camp gives people a kind of quiet feeling and makes people experience her in the face of both mental and physical torture of helplessness and pain. However, green also symbolizes vitality. This color conveys Rosetta's persistence in the struggle, even if it is helpless and painful, Rosetta does not give up hope.
The overall color of the picture and the color of the protagonist's clothing supplement part of the narrative of the shot to a certain extent.
In the selected shot, the camera is close to the two actors, especially Rosetta. The part above Rosetta's shoulders is almost full of the whole picture. Frampton (2006, as cited in Rushton, 2014, p. 304) states that films create attention and empathy for the characters by placing the audience close to them. Moreover, the camera moves completely following Rosetta's actions in this shot, which allows the audience to visually get closer to the character. Therefore, following the camera, the audience can easily be immersed in the desperate world in which Rosetta is located, and thus empathize with Rosetta. In addition, the enlarged figures and crowded images suggest that the house in the Grand Canyon camp is a prisoner for Rosetta. She tries to escape from such a life.
Although the audience can be immersed in the plot, they can still feel the sense of distance in the narration of this shot. Although audiences see the relationship between the characters, they did not view the event from anyone's particular perspective (Rushton, 2014, p. 309). This third-party perspective brings the audience a sense of distance from the character. This sense of distance allows the audience to get close to the character rather than identify with them directly (Cooper, 2007, as cited in Rushton, 2014, p. 305). In this way, directors express respect for Rosetta and the group she represents by showing their lives without deliberately sensationalizing to win sympathy. Meanwhile, Rosetta in the movie rarely faces the camera directly, thus, the audience's access to her inner world is deliberately blocked (Higson, 1986, as cited in Rushton, 2014, p. 310). Accordingly, the inner world and emotions of the character are preserved, which also brings the audience a sense of distance.
Furthermore, the handheld camera makes the picture shake frequently. The feeling of moving back and forth gives the audience a sense of reality as if the camera is capturing and recording a real event (Rushton, 2014, p. 307). Besides, the shaking lens makes the audience close enough to the character feel nervous and uneasy (Rushton, 2014, p. 310). People can't help but worry about Rosetta. It is worth mentioning that the selected shot has not been edited. Directors achieved the purpose of restoring the event itself and supporting the autonomy of the characters by canceling the man-made manipulation of the narration caused by the editing.
When Rosetta takes the fish from her mother, the mother points the knife she was holding at her daughter, hoping that Rosetta will not throw the fish away. At this moment, the power relationship between mother and daughter, who was in a weak position and obviously suppressed by her daughter, changes. The mother's knife does not physically hurt Rosetta, while the act of holding the knife symbolized the mother's ability to threaten and harm Rosetta. In this shot, Rosetta is hurt by her mother’s act of trading sexuality for food, giving up her efforts and making a concession to the bad world, which hurt Rosetta deeply.
The camera moves from the knife to Rosetta's face and gives a close-up. Rushton (2014, p. 311) argues that close-ups of characters can express emotions. Additionally, Dyer (1993, as cited in Rushton, 2014, p. 310) pointed out that the characters of the Dardenne Brothers hide emotions deep in their hearts. Consequently, the characters may seem apathetic on the surface, but their emotions fluctuate greatly. This shot ended with a close-up of Rosetta's face. In the picture, Rosetta has no obvious expression in the dim environment, but the audience can detect surprise, disappointment and controlled anger in her heavy breathing.
In this shot, Dardennes visually and audibly reflects what the character encounters and their psychology. ‘Rosetta’ builds and shows a world belonging to marginalized people through such shots. They may encounter countless troubles every day, they may make mistakes and collapse, but they also have their emotions which worth struggling for.
Reference
Dardenne, J.,& Dardenne, P. (Director). (1999). Rosetta [Motion Picture]. United States: USA Films.
Morgan, J. (2008). The Social Realism of Body Language in “Rosetta.” The French Review, 81(6), pp.1187–1196.
Rushton, R. (2014). Empathic projection in the films of the Dardenne brothers. Screen, 55(3), pp.303-316.
