There are many itterations of the prostitute shown on the silver screen: the woman forced into the profession because of poverty, the streetwalker who faces constant danger of violence, the high class call girl, the working girl, the 'hooker with a heart of gold' who just needs a good man to rescue her. Sex work is more often than not shown in a disparaging light (even if the workers themselves are not). But it's not called the world's oldest profession for nothing, and there is drama, comedy, and music in the lives of these people of the streets.
French auteur Paul Vecchiali, who passed away just two years ago, has had his work making the posthumous rounds, and a new 2K restoration of his melodrama Rosa La Rose, fille publique is among that. A tale of sex, love, power, devastation, the life of the working class in 1980s Paris, it's an almost operatic story that merits a viewing on the big screen.
In the squares of Les halles, Rosa (Marianne Basler) is a very happy hooker. A constant favourite with a regular clientele, she is sought after for threesomes, roleplaying, losing of virginity, and seems constantly thrilled and flexible in her work. She and fellow daytime streetwalkers Quarante (Catherine Lachens) and Trente-Cinq (Evelyne Buyle) ply their trade while discussing life and philosophy.
Their pimp, Gilbert (Jean Sorel), seems to take good care of his girls, running a hotel for them to use, and keeping his various employees, from the prostitutes to the bodyguards, happy and healthy, and a kind of found family is formed around this illegal work. But such a seemingly reasonable life can never be sustained, and so Rosa finds herself almost instantly in love with Julien (Pierre Cosso); the feeling is mutual, but when Rosa tries to leave her working life to follow her heart, Gilbert, in his jealousy, refuses to let her go.
With a few small alterations, this script could easily be adapted to the stage, or perhaps more precisely, to an opera; it feels that way as we're introduced to Rosa, the happy and horny hooker who seems to breeze through life, being picked up as soon as her working day begins by two men (who agree to engage in a threesome, at first worried about homosexual undertones, but afterwards embracing them). Her and her fellow hookers's world revolves around this square teeming with working and middle class life, where their profession is a permanent part of the landscape. The life is in the streets, and when they and their fellow workers celebrate Rosa's birthday, it's together in joyous communion (almost literally, with a shot mimicking 'The Last Supper' painting).
After all, these are the marginalized in their world (perhaps excepting Gilbert), sticking together to form their own supportive community. it all feels like an opera, taking its time to each character's voice, to the conversation, emotional resonance and engagement, with various characters popping in and out of the scenes. Rosa in the first half seems to thoroughly enjoy this crazy life of sex, streets, and fur coats, playing whatever part her clients ask of her. But there is also an undercurrent of danger—and not the sexy kind. This might be a found family she's a part of, but there is still a patriarch, who is not as benevolent as he claims.
This being melodrama, the character emotions and motivations are not (for the most part) subtle. Love, hate, jealousy is worn on the sleeve, emoted as enthusiatically as Rosa. The bright blues and reds of her world are a reflexion of her embrace of her unconventional life; and even as she finds herself in the somewhat conventional space of a heteronormative love, that itself threatens to marginalize her even further from the only place of safety she knows. Vecchiali plays with queerness in this film, squarely set in the midst of the AIDS crisis era: sexuality and gender identity are all at play, and even if Rosa finds herself wanting more traditional romance and love, that itself is also a rebellion.
What at first was something of a melo-comedy of manners, becomes then its melodrama of love, jealousy, and betrayal. While the women around her work to keep her safe, it seems most of the men will acquiese to the power of Gilbert. Still centred on this small geographical area, it becomes a heightened carnival of emotions, playing out within and around an actual carnival. As Rosa and Julien declare their love, Rosa knows even then she will never be able to escape.
This is most certainly a naughty film (though not dirty), perhaps indulging its nature just shy of soft porn (though with both female and male full frontal nudity); it's also quite open in its queerness, especially from men, which might have been unusual in its time. Though perhaps in the end it succombs to its male gaze and attitude towards women: our heroine is not permitted the strength and power she deserves.
Rosa La Rose, fille publique feels like it was perhaps a bit unusual, even for French cinema, of the era, at least in its portrayal of prostitutes and its honesty towards the lives of those on the margins and in the working classes, who find community and support in usual places. And even among them, melodrama and joy surround them in the public square.
Rosa La Rose, fille publique opens at the Metrograph in New York on July 11th, for an exclusive one-week run.