Rosa's Wedding / La boda de Rosa
Overworked and underappreciated, 45-yr-old Rosa is on constant call from her widowed father, two siblings, daughter and friends, all of whom have her on speed dial and expect her to jump when they ask for favours. She also holds down a demanding job as a dress designer for a film studio and one day witnesses an actress rehearsing the marriage vows in a mirror as she puts the finishing touches to the wedding dress. At that epiphanous moment Rosa decides to quit her job, absolve herself of all responsibility towards her family and vacate her apartment in Valencia in favour of her mother’s abandoned dress-making shop in seaside town Benicàssim. Initially angered and bewildered, her friends and family are somewhat mollified when she announces she’s getting married, but what she has in mind is a million miles from what they are expecting.
Icíar Bollaín’s fast-moving and delightfully funny follow-up to her 2018 biopic Yuli actually treads similar ground, as the protagonist of both, superficially dissimilar, films is desperately seeking a path of self-determination through an oppressive forest of expectations and obligations. Rosa initially throws her family’s dynamic into chaos, but ultimately kick-starts a long-overdue redress as each comes to understand why she’s pushed the nuclear button and started afresh, and gains insight into their own seemingly intractable problems. The breakneck pace, colour, telenovelistic flair and presence of Candela Peña (All About My Mother) as Rosa suggest a nod to Pedro Almodóvar, but Bollaín interleaves moments of calm underscored by exquisite cinematography (fabrics, light on mannequins, rows of buttons) building to a celebratory grand finale. A real treat.
“With beautifully drawn characters and superb performances all round, Icíar Bollaín’s enchanting comedy draws viewers into a world where romance is not dependent on a committed relationship and love takes many different forms.” - Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film.
“Not only is this a rare thing – a film based on an original idea – it is also carried off with a panache that keeps us involved from beginning to end.” - Phil Butland, CinePhil.
