Rosetta is a powerful examination of life below the breadline. The
heroine, a teenage girl, struggles to exchange the trailerpark hell
that unemployment and an alcoholic mother have consigned her to for the
normality of 9 to 5 life. Unfortunately, society has other ideas. The
Dardenne brothers use minimal dialogue and grainy hand-held camera,
both of which enhance an impressive central performance by Emilie
Dequenne. The result is mesmerising, heartrending and despite its
prevailing darkness, tinged with hope. Not one for escapists, but for
those who believe in the cinema as a force for social change, this is
highly recommended.
