War, Violence, Victims

 

"Celebration of violence in the movies is the most pathetic situation in filmmaking" - Paul Cox: In Conversation session in IFFK 2012

"For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst" - Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet

How many movies one recalls on Second World War and Holocaust? Is there anything new to show in movies? How long we’re going to antagonize Germans? Don’t they have any positive side at all? The Polish movie "Rose" (Roza) gives answer to all these questions.

A prologue in the starting of the movie tells us about Masuria. Masuria inhabitants are German speaking Polish descendants who had existential crisis during the WWII to which way to go as both Germans and Poles were equidistant from them in different terms. The movie is set in 1945 with Russian Army already arrived and great deal of hate being spewed on the Germans. Tadeusz, a war veteran arrives in war ravaged Masuria discreetly and Pastor in church helps him find an accommodation which is in Roza Kwiatskowa who stays alone in there. She gives him a cold welcome and openly asks him to leave once the landmine is removed from her farm.

He engages himself there when doing that a gang of 4 guys arrive in her home and she starts to scream. Tadeusz rushes there to find that Russian soldiers try to rape her; they run off after a brief duel. Rose slowly gets affection for Tadeusz which grows on with their daily chores. He takes the potatoes to the market for sale and arrives back to see, Rose in silence with torn cloths.

When she walks, blood spills over from her dress. She is raped again and now Tadeusz arranges for guns and grenades from the abandoned Army vehicle. He finds it difficult to get a doctor but at last one comes and helps her with the first aid. Tadeusz tries to do the same in the evening but she asks him to go to the cellar and call for her daughter who hides to avoid raping. Radiwga is her daughter.

Russian Army’s violence and negligence of the Poles towards the Masurians aggravate the problem largely which’re showed in various scenes. A family comes to stay with Rose both engage in farming. Health of Rose deteriorates because of an abortion went wrong as the Doctor finds a part of the baby left inside her. He also mentions to Tadeusz that she is dying.

Violence against women seems to be order of the day and they are confirmed by Rose as Russians arrives their main preoccupation is with the women. What happens to Rose, Tadeusz and Radiwga? See the movie once.

The color and tone of the cinematography helps in moving the audience to a War zone feel. Excellent editing makes it very sensible when dealing with the trespasses of soldiers. You have to give credit to the actors who enacted the role to perfection even the Pastor who comes for 2 or 3 scenes stays in the mind of all. Rose during a conversation with Tadeusz mentions that Germans only treated them as human beings. Poles argues repeatedly that Masuria had always been a strong hold of Hitler hence they should be a part of Poland. In another scene Pastor goes to say Masurians are not Poles and they were not Germans either 80 years ago. Hence it is the identity and existential crisis for the people of Masuria which is portrayed in the movie.

Now read the quotes again which one you agree?