“Enjoy your new life”. That’s what the bride and groom often say when they get married. Actually it is not wrong, because getting married is a new chapter. It is not appropriate, when the assumption arises, that turning over a new leaf must go through marriage. That in order to press the “reset” button, there needs to be the presence of other people in our lives.
At the age of 45, Rosa (Candela Peña), a single mother, lives a busy life. Apart from the time-consuming work of tailoring film costumes, he still spends his time taking care of the family. His two siblings, Armando (Sergi López) and Violeta (Nathalie Poza), are too busy to take care of their father, Antonio (Ramón Barea), whose health is starting to decline. The responsibility was given to Rosa. Later, Antonio expressed his desire to live together in the princess’s apartment. Best Movie Site
Not only that, every night Rosa also takes care of Armando’s children, her friend’s cat, and her neighbor’s plants who are on vacation for 20 days. Rosa is busy satisfying others, but has she ever satisfied herself? The burden on his mind is still added about his daughter, Lidia (Paula Usero), who lives in poverty with her husband and twins in Manchester (the film is set in Valencia).
The opening scene of Rosa’s Wedding shows the protagonist’s dream, while running a marathon, while along the way, his family continues to provide support. Instead of being excited, Rosa was distracted. Such is Rosa’s life. Everyone has expectations of him, shouting for him to be the best, and that just puts a burden on him. At the end of the dream, even though she had crossed the finish line, Rosa still ran. He ran not for the sake of winning the race as people expected, but for personal satisfaction.
The script by Icíar Bollaín (also acting as director) and Alicia Luna takes the main character to take a bold step. A tired Rosa, chooses to return to her hometown, visits the shop where her late mother made clothes when she was a child, then sends sudden news to her family: She is getting married.
Not an ordinary wedding, and I’m not going to divulge Rosa’s plans, but from the opening paragraph of this article, which is the main message of the film, you may have guessed. Of course, the whole family was shocked. “Why all of a sudden?” they asked. Rosa has a boyfriend named Rafa (Xavo Giménez), but their relationship is not seen as that serious. Movie Review
However, the confusion and surprise did not prevent them from acting as usual. Control Rosa’s life. Armando and Violeta immediately chose a dress, even rented the town hall as a wedding location, without discussing it with the bride. Repeatedly the words, “Rosa, this is your wedding, so you have to do your best”. The question is, “Best for whom?”. And if this was Rosa’s wedding, why didn’t she get a voice?
‘Rosa’s Wedding’ hits too close to home. It seems that the majority of us have been embarrassed by family control, which is in the name of “to get us the best.” Intentions that (maybe) are actually good, but are often misused as a means of channeling the ego. One more thing is often forgotten. Before becoming a social being, before taking on a role as a family member, humans are individuals, so they must make themselves happy first before making others happy.
Bollaín’s directing ensures that the audience feels the exhaustion and frustration of Rosa, who is caught in the middle of a barrage of family talk (sometimes shouting). Several times the atmosphere was packed in an interesting way, although there was an impression that Bollaín was too worried that his film would sound ridiculous, thus suppressing a lot of potential humor.
Candela Peña’s performance, with the knack of reviving pent-up frustrations, makes it easier for us to support Rosa, hoping that at some point she will stand up straight and say, “No!”. Like humor, Bollaín also tends to dampen the dramatization of this film. The results are somewhat mixed.
There is one moment, as Rosa and Lidia’s conflict resolution, which is packaged simply, without music, wrapped using close-ups to highlight the acting of the two actresses. The moment managed to capture the intimacy of the mother-daughter relationship. A similar effect unfortunately does not appear at the end of the story. After going through a series of frustrations with his character, Bollaín’s decision to reduce dramatization has even reduced the emotional payoff. It feels like there is still a turbulent feeling, held back to be expelled from the chest.
But that doesn’t diminish the relevance and warmth of Rosa’s Wedding, which, over time, reveals that all family members have problems. Armando with his marriage, Violeta with her work (giving Poza the opportunity to add to the complexity of the character, through a performance that gave her the second Goya Awards in her career), Lidia with her economic condition, Antonio with grief after the death of his wife who has not yet recovered.
Is Rosa’s decision to pursue personal gratification, even if it’s not just her who is depressed, a form of egoism? Certainly not. First, the script confirms that this condition also creates a dilemma in Rosa’s mind. Second, Rosa’s Wedding is not about “ignoring family matters.” Instead, he returns the concept of family to its roots, namely togetherness. Families must listen to each other, be fair, and then work through adversity together, rather than handing it over to one person. Top Movie