Film review | "Rose"
Between gender studies and the search for identity

The new film by Austrian director Markus Schleinzer premiered in the official competition at the 76th Berlinale and gave audiences one of the first major films of the year. It is no coincidence that its leading actress, the ever-fascinating Sandra Hüller, won the Silver Bear for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

By Kenza Bouhnass-Parra

Rose is a wondrous tale based on the true story of a mysterious soldier who returns from the Thirty Years' War in 17th-century Germany. Disfigured by the war, he assumes a false identity in a remote Protestant village, posing as the worthy heir to an abandoned manor house. However, the soldier not only assumes a name, but also the gender identity of his comrade who fell in battle, and it is precisely from this deception that the film draws the power for its highly topical message. The main character is actually a woman named Rose who pretends to be a man. Not only to gain property, but also and above all to enjoy the advantages that men were accorded at that time.

A search for complete identity

It is a queer and feminist narrative in which Rose grapples with the themes of her story, the complexity of her character, and her relationship to the resulting expression of her gender identity. The character that Rose initially creates out of social necessity quickly becomes a personal necessity as she manages to integrate herself in a very positive way. Rose transforms the abandoned mansion into a productive farm and quickly becomes a pillar of her community, particularly by displaying qualities normally associated with men. For example, she saves a villager from a giant bear, earning the respect of the villagers. By taking on such an important role in the small community, Rose exposes herself more and more to the public. Even a marriage between her and a young woman from the village becomes inevitable due to the customs of the time. The tricks she uses to hide her femininity accumulate until the tension becomes unbearable, especially when the new couple has their first child despite their unusual situation. The boundaries between the sexes become blurred, and Rose's character is explored through a blending of genders, in which she feels like a (married) woman, but also like a father, soldier, and partner. With her physical and emotional portrayal, Sandra Hüller vacillates between the two feelings of belonging and conveys a search for complete identity with few words. Like her performances in Anatomy of a Fall (2023) and The Zone of Interest (2023), Rose will leave her mark on contemporary cinema.

Nuances in the shadows

Rose does not dwell on words; rather, the focus is on the reflexive unspoken, which is also reinforced by the decision to shoot in black and white. Schleinzer explains that the absence of color allows the audience to redirect their attention. The duality of black and white also fits perfectly with the ambiguity of male-female relationships in the film. Gerarld Kerkletz's superb camera work is based on this kind of dualism, where the nuances are to be found in the shadows, reflecting the unsettling mood of the script. The danger in addressing a decades-old topic for a contemporary audience is to avoid falling into stereotypes, whether in exploring gender or in the presence of subtext about trans identity. In a society where intolerance towards these minorities is as prevalent as it is today, a clumsy portrayal can lead to real violence. But the film's greatness lies in its human approach to the subject, in the tenderness with which the story is told, even in its most violent and hateful moments. This tenderness is also reflected in the rhythm of the film, in which long scenes give the characters space to simply exist, and in which Rose is never rushed into hasty explanations in this 90-minute film, but rather her thoughts and feelings are allowed to take over the screen and gently fill the theater.

Apart from the outstanding performance of one of the greatest actresses of our time, this film succeeds in doing something that many others fail to do, namely telling a story from the past that may seem archaic and sometimes even trivial, yet still giving it a universal and contemporary dimension. This magnificent film therefore deserves its place at the most political of all film festivals and will hopefully encourage viewers to reflect on the issues it addresses. It will make the world a better place, as only certain films can do.