Rosemary (1960)

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Absolutely brilliant

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

"Das Mädchen Rosemarie" or "The Girl Rosemarie" is a West German German-language movie from 1958, which means it will soon have its 60th anniversary. It is in black-and-white and won a Golden Globe back then as well. However, Germany did not choose to submit it to the Oscars. Maybe it also would have been a bit too controversial. But it sure was current as the title character is the young prostitute Rosemarie Nitribitt who died recently and the circumstances of her death are still ominous until today because of her involvement with the rich and famous, but also mobsters you see in the film here especially. But what makes this film really stand out is not only the story, especially as the story may not be really that accurate on many occasions. This perfectly fine though as creative freedom is nothing to be too harsh about and it was an interesting watch as well as one that may have you on the edge of your seat occasionally. But back to what I said earlier. There are elements in this film that you really would not expect and this includes somewhat subtly comedic scenes as well as the great deal music. It's certainly close to a level that one could call it a musical, even if it may a be a bit edgy. And with all these influences, the film never forgets its true purpose, namely telling the tragic story of the title character. There are many really smart scenes. You will recognize them when you see them. Let me just mention one example, namely the parallel between the ending and the beginning. And the sad statement that every girl is basically exchangeable, in terms of physicality, but also in terms of character and attitude that eventually did not matter at all in their profession. The director is Rolf Thiele and he did a pretty good job. Kinda shocking to see that he has not made any other somewhat known films during his long and prolific career. The material for him may have been lighter frequently. He is also one of (no less than) four writers working on the script and it's nice for once to see that we don't have a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. And the actors give convincing performances too and this involves many others too, not just Tiller for whom it's a career-defining performance. I actually would have hoped for Adorf and Froebe perhaps to have even more/better material to work with as their characters were a bit underused and probably did not match the actors' talent. But that's just a minor criticism. All in all, I am convinced by the film and it's a rare occasion of a German movie from the 1950s that was actually good. And it did not even need the oh so important WWII subject for succeeding. Well done to everybody involved. Go see it. And then decide for yourself if you wanna give the Nina Hoss film on the same character a chance, if you manage to get a hand on it.

I some what enjoyed Das Madchen Rosemarie because of the following reasons: camera shots in car, plot and storyline, setting, and several characters. The storyline was great and very creative. I guess I like those blackmail movies but, there is a couple parts that I didn't quite pick up on. For example, (this could be a spoiler) near the end Rosemarie receives a call from this guy in a booth and she demands 30,000. Then she hangs up. I was wondering how does she know this man? I felt like I either missed some connection during the movie or the director just threw that in there. Several characters stood out and kept my interest. The two singing men with their act and how they always kept on following Rosemarie. Were these guys suppose to be like musical narrators because sometimes they would be singing, but you would be watching Rosemarie in a different building? Regardless they added some of the comic relief that was needed in parts of the movie. I felt that Hartog was an odd character. He seemed to be too generous that you would expect him to do things in the movie. Another great aspect of this film is the writing. Some of the lines were great and the musical lyrics were hilarious!

I enjoyed this movie a good deal. The thing that stood out to me the most was the interesting camera angles. There were many times when the camera focused on an object instead of the people who were speaking. There was also many other interesting camera techniques. These various camera angles added to the over feeling of the film. This film also had a very interesting plot, showing how powerful the powerful are. No one can get too close to them, or know too much. The movie was darkly funny. There were many funny moments and even more irony. The most ironic part was the movie ending right where it began. It came full circle, and showed how small and invisible the poor were compared to the rich. The movie kept a constant contrast between the rich and the poor. The movie was full of black male, threats and using people. Everyone was pinned against everyone esle. This made the movie very interesting to me, but at the same time there was an entire subplot that was never made clear.There was secrets about the factory and a conflict between the French man and the English that was never made clear. This made the movie a bit hard to enjoy, because we never get to know what is actually happening. And then there is Rosemarie in the middle of it all, and by leaving out all the details it allows the movie to focus on her story, after all thats what this movie is about. Overall, the camera angles and irony made this movie enjoyable to me.

Das Maedchen Rosemarie was a very well-done film. It is about a call-girl,Rosemarie, who wants to move up in the world. She begins circulating withimportant capitalist business clients. Then a french client gets her to become a spy for him, and she begins to feel like she has a lot more power and influence then she really does, and becomes a threat to all of the men. In the meanwhile, all she really wants from the situation is to be an upperclass member like all of them. It's sad because, being a prostitute, she can never really be like a rich man's wife, or a member of elite society.One unique thing they did with it was to have two musicians (the two men with whom Rosemarie initially lives and works with) sing songs throughout the movie that have to do with what Rosemarie is currently doing. Their songs reflect on the current situation and foreshadow things to come. It is sort of similar to the two male singers in "There's Something about Mary," only this movie, unlike that one, is not moronic.The fim's being in black and white gives it another interesting effect. It does not have much background music, and reminds one of an Alfred Hitchcock movie inthat respect. It focuses on interesting (and altered/distorted to sound stranger) background noises like the whooshing sound of revolving doors, or the sound of an elevator going up. It also does interesting camera shots such as looking at the carpet (and the shadows of revolving doors) instead of the doorsthemselves. It reminded me of how, in Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock chose to focus on the running water, and shadows, in the famous shower/murder scene,instead of actually depicting the violence.I really liked this movie, and thought it was very well done, and somethingdifferent. Aside from the technical aspects of it, the general story-line was really good in itself, and had a strong message about capitalist germany and how the business and capitalist were taking over everything, and became moreimportant than the personal lives of less cold-hearted, business-minded people such as Rosemarie. Even though she was a prostitute, she was sort of innocent at the same time, because she could not comprehend how hopeless it was forher to wish to be a member of the upper class, and how most people were onlyusing her. She was just a luxury to them, and one more thing they could afford to buy for themselves to make their lives more interesting. They did not want for her to hold any real sway over them, or affect their lives in any way. She did not realize how dangerous it would be for her when she attempted to become a real person.