beatnik66

Rose Bernd (1957)

expect the gloomy unexpected

I came across this movie on a dull weekend zapping through TV. My first impression was - "i see, one of this typically trashy German movies being trendy at 1956." I was totally wrong.

The movie was already in progress and at the first sight there was the idyllic picture of young women sitting on the lap of an older fatherly man listen to his wisdom. But there was a disturbing sexual atmosphere between them. My initial notion was that the director and actors have made a hidden rebellion against the sanctimoniously smugness of these times. But during the movie it got clear that this was not a hidden rebellion the whole film is about the second face of a canting society.

The story takes place on a picturesque estate with focus to the main character - the beguiling house maid Rose. But behind the beautiful scene there is the gloomy fate lurking for her and all of the other characters, underscored at certain moments by some impressing surreal camera settings. It is such a movie where the characters are leaping with their somber desires straight ahead in the abyss of self-destruction, and the audience is doomed to watch the decline helplessly. The dark side of Rose's life culminates in the loneliness of a black and white pictured cold winter landscape.

Because I prefer unconventional movies which left me thoughtful afterwards and include an excellent work of the film crew - this movie was a big discovery by accident.