Paul Vecchiali is an ambitious demanding director;his "L'Etrangleur" (1970)renewed the "serial killer" genre even before it was trendy again;his" En Haut Des Marches" about collaboration during the Occupation ,flouting chronology, cast Danielle Darrieux as the "what -could -I - do? I did not know"- passive irresponsible woman confronted to a politically correct young lawyer,her goddaughter, "who anyway was not living through those dark days".
"Rosa La rose" his following effort ,is dedicated to the actress and to her director (Max Ophuls ,"Le Plaisir",segment "La Maison Tellier " ,from Maupassant,which tells a story of prostitutes);it is also dedicated to Renoir and Dora Doll (a rather obscure actress recently deceased,who enjoyed a long career though) who played "Rosa La Rose" ,a supporting part in "Elena Et Les Hommes " starring Ingrid Bergman.
Vecchiali wanted here to renew the good old melodrama ,one of the triumphs of the "Realisme Poetique ";but this is a genre which does not lend itself well to a pure intellectual approach;his effort is an odd mixture :borrowing from the golden age cinema its atmosphere (no pun intended) and its hooker with a big heart(no pun intended) a la "Hotel Du Nord" ,from the NW a rather loose screenplay,and pastel colors which show sixties Jacques Demy's influence ,it's off- putting for some viewers -read one of the two previous users' comments .
A melodrama devoid of a firm screenplay and making it up by including nudity galore does not convince ;Marianne Basler is a luminous beauty but it takes a lot of imagination to believe she is a whore ;anyways actors' directing leaves a bit to be desired and aging pretty boy of the sixties Jean Sorel (as her pimp) is not that much exciting an actor to begin with.As for her Romeo (Pierre Cosso )he is completely insignificant.
One vital thing Vicchiali forgot:those movies of the thirties he adores were made admittedly by great directors,but they also depended on first-class actors:without equivalents of Louis Jouvet,Arletty,Gabin,Jules Berry,Danielle Darrieux et Al,his movie never really takes off.
Commercially,the movie was a flop;it was highly praised by the intelligentsia ,going as far as to compare it to a Racine tragedy- one of the two previous posters compares it to Shakespeare -,but "Rosa La Rose" hardly touched my imagination in the way the two other Vecchiali efforts had done .
