The final shot of Rosetta
Rosetta tells the story of an eighteen-year-old girl who is on the margin of society in terms of both her social status and living space. Rosetta’s mother is an alcoholic with no ability to care for herself, and her father has somehow disappeared from her life. She commutes between the city and the suburbs, fending for herself and her mother. This is a film that focuses on the socially disadvantaged, but it is free of explicit social commentary and preaching and even hints at the possibility of improving the situation at the ending of the film.
In the final shot of the film(01:27:12 - 01:32:34), it shows the process of replacing the gas tank alone, without much plots or even any dialogue between characters. Rosetta walks outside with the gas can in her arms to buy new ones from the landlord. As she walks home alone with the new gas cans, the boy, Crisqué, who has lost his job because of her denunciation, comes to her on his motorcycle. They didn't say a word, and the boy rides around Rosetta a few times. Rosetta eventually flings herself helplessly to the ground and cried bitterly on the gas can. With the boy's help, Rosetta stands up and looks at him.
On her way to the landlord's house, a handheld camera captures Rosetta from the front and moves in sync with her. The camera captures Rosetta in close up and medium shot, so the viewer is mostly looking at the upper half of Rosetta's body, at her furrowed brow and hunched shoulders. Her nose, forehead, cheeks and ears are frozen red. Generally, this "lengthy" process could have been cut in other ways, such as from the back of Rosetta and her destination, and then directly linking that shot in which Rosetta knocks on the landlord's door. Both methods of filming tell the same story, but the second method with cutting is more time efficient, eliminating the "unnecessary" walking process. But the director chooses not to show Rosetta's destination, allowing the audience to witness her carrying the gas can throughout. Such filming removes the audience's omniscient God's-eye position, and inevitably creates a sense of anxiety in the face of the unpredictable termination of the events. The shaking of the camera also increases the audience's discomfort, and in this discomfort, the audience watches Rosetta struggling to move forward and feels the torment with her.
The film brings the audience to Rosetta's side, but prevents the audience from bringing themselves into Rosetta's role and mistakenly thinking they are in the same situation as Rosetta. After the boy enters the frame, he rides his motorcycle in a circle around Rosetta and passes between the camera and Rosetta several times, interrupting the viewer's gaze at Rosetta. These interruptions take the viewer away from empathizing with Rosetta. And begins to wonder what Rosetta's reaction to the boy will be.
With the boy watching and surrounding her, Rosetta throws a handful of rocks at him in annoyance and proceeds to pick up the gas can and moves forward, the boy not leaving because of her attack. The boy stoppes the motorcycle until Rosetta collapses and flings herself to the ground, crying on the gas can, at which point only Rosetta's voice was left crying out in pain. The boy helped Rosetta to her feet. From the time he got off the bike to the time he looks at Rosetta, the boy not enter the picture. The camera always focuses only on Rosetta, filming her expression from Rosetta's side as they look at each other, rather than filming both of them at the same time, which emphasizes Rosetta's resilient gaze even when receiving help from others, rather their friendship or possible romantic relationship. Their stares suggest that Rosetta is beginning to be willing to ask the boy for help and to show her vulnerability. At the same time the pride and strength in her eyes avoids the audience's sympathy for her.
Before the boy enters the screen, the sound of his motorcycle generator forewarns of his arrival. Upon hearing the sound of the engine, Rosetta glances out of the frame. After she restarts, the camera does not move in sync with her, but waits for her to pass by, then shoots her from her back with a close up. The audience cannot see her expression at this point and does not know how she reacts to the boy's arrival. Only the sound of the motorcycle engine can be heard. It was not until Rosetta put the gas can on the ground to catch her breath that the camera goes back around to her front to shoot the gas can. This was the third time the camera was pointed at the gas can. It was also the third time that Rosetta put the gas can down for a short break. These three shots of Rosetta putting down and picking up the gas can also captured Rosetta's muddy rain shoes, flesh-colored stockings and ultra-short skirt. Whittington this frame, this shot contrasts the huge gas can with Rosetta's slender legs, emphasizing the fact that Rosetta is carrying an object that is too heavy for her. On the other hand, this shot shows Rosetta's strange costume look. She wears a unisex work top and rain shoes, but also wears a short skirt and stockings with female gender characteristics. According to film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum cited by Morgan(2008), Rosetta's rejection of sex-related behavior is related to her need to deny making herself like her mother, who is a person traded sexuality for alcohol. Rosetta's deliberately neutral clothing is also a disdain for her mother's poor sex life.
In the closing five minutes and twenty-two seconds, Rosetta's hardship and resilience are again emphasized and a tendency to improve her situation is shown by making connections with others.
References
Morgan, J. (2008). The Social Realism of Body Language in “Rosetta.” The French Review, 81(6), 1187–1196. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25481401
