Rosa fuerte, the debut film of Argentine filmmaker Laura Dariomerlo, has a few scenes with genuine pathos where you actually believe that the characters are going through a hell of emotional pain and anguish. One of them depicts Manuel (Pablo Rago) asking his wife Cristina (Leticia Brédice) whether the baby she carries in her womb is actually his.
Since she’s cheating on him, it could very well be her lover’s. She tells her husband it’s his. But, indirectly, she also tells him that she’ll tell her lover he is the real father — and not her husband. As it is, Cristina is about to leave Manuel for good. After who knows how many years together, the couple is running on empty. From now on, it seems it’s all downhill.
There’s also another scene where Manuel comforts Cristina when she gets a fit of intense physical pain and her body seizes from tips to toes. You see her in acute pain and you believe her pain. You see him trying to make the pain go away, and you hope the pain will go away. In these scenes, the actors do their best within a screenplay that, for the most part, lacks a truly compelling edge. But these scenes make sense, they work and are touching.
But since Rosa fuerte is meant to be some kind of study of a separation, a close-up look at hurtful matters of the heart, it should be dramatic enough to keep you caring for the characters. It’s not meant to be an icy film, and yet sometimes the drama is too far away to be felt. Or there’s too little of it. Which is to say the “less is more” narrative Rosa fuerte goes for is seldom accomplished. Too often you get the feeling you are just watching a series of loosely connected situations that never fully develop into big-scale drama. That and the little overall tension turn into a dull exercise on sentimental liaisons.
When the few good scenes come in, you can see the original potential of a seemingly simple premise such as: “a couple splits up with much difficulty, or at least they try to.” Sure, it’s a story which has been told endless times before, but that’s not necessarily a problem if new insights are incorporated. Or if the performances make you feel and think you’re seeing this stuff for the first time. But that’s hardly the case here.
Production notes
Rosa Fuerte (Argentina, 2014). Written and directed by: Laura Dariomerlo. With: Leticia Brédice, Pablo Rago, Santiago Rapela, Ivana Cur. Cinematography: Agustín Alvarez. Editing: Javier Favor. Running time: 90 minutes.
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