Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageMadame Rosa (1977)
Director: Moshe Mizrahi
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Badly adapted from a rather good novel by Emile Ajar, this is art cinema at its artless, exploitative worst. An essentially simple tale - of a prostitute's child, Momo, brought up with a bevy of similar kids by professional foster-mother/aged ex-prostitute Madame Rosa - is used to screw the audience for every ounce of its social conscience, with Signoret evidently (and mistakenly) convinced that she's in a 'political' film. Far from reflecting the realities of streetwalking in Pigalle, or of childhood in the ghetto of Belleville, the film trades instead on Rosa's memories of Auschwitz (to which she refers with objectionable facility) and the boy's Algerian background to fabricate a pretentious allegory on Israeli/Arab conflict. Eventually, thank God, Rosa dies and doe-eyed Momo is 'rescued' - in a crowning example of nauseating, complacent sentimentality - by a chic young couple.Author: CA
User reviews of this film
-
- zoli said...
- Posted on Dec 04 2010 08:06 I love this film for its humanity and depth. It is wise and gentle and humorous. I cannot for the life of me understand why this film has not been transferred to dvd while so much garbage has been. This film is anti-war and pro-love. It is deeply moving. The old vhs copy will have to do until someone's light bulb goes off and it is made available for all to see.
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Moshe Mizrahi
Producer: Raymond Danon, Roland Girard, Jean Bolvary
Cast: Simone Signoret, Claude Dauphin, Samy Ben Youb, Gabriel Jabbour, Michal Bat Adam, Costa-Gavras full cast
Duration: 120 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now