115 Rosa la rose, fille publique

[Finch]

On the streets of Paris, Rosa ‘la rose’ (Marianne Basler, Va savoir) is the belle of Les Halles. With no shortage of clients, she is beloved by her fellow working girls and spoiled by her pimp Gilbert (Jean Sorel, Belle de Jour). For her, this is a charmed life - that is until her 20th birthday arrives. Across the floor, she locks eyes with Julien (Pierre Cosso, An American Werewolf in Paris), a blue-collar worker who sees something deeper beyond her fun-loving façade. Almost Shakespearean in its execution, Paul Vecchiali’s underseen drama explores class consciousness and female sexuality with startling precision. Anchored by a magnetic central performance from the then 20-year-old Marianne Basler, Rosa la rose, fille publique is a true hidden gem.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES

2K restoration approved by Paul Vecchiali

Original uncompressed PCM mono audio

Interview with critic David Jenkins (2025)

Archival interview with director Paul Vecchiali (1985)

Archival interview with actors Marianne Basler and Jean Sorel (1985)

Newly improved English subtitle translation

Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original promotional materials

Limited edition booklet featuring archival interviews and new writing by Marina Ashioti
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

[ryannichols7]

paging domino, need his take here

[domino harvey]

Haven't seen this one, but I do know this film has its fans and I have a copy somewhere. I despised Vecchiali's L'Étrangleur, but one film does not a fair director assessment make

[ryannichols7]

Haven't seen this one, but I do know this film has its fans and I have a copy somewhere. I despised Vecchiali's L'Étrangleur, but one film does not a fair director assessment make

this got a really positive reaction on the Discord and actually got more buzz than the Polish set I believe! so I'll be curious to hear. I'm more excited for the Hardboiled set (coming in the mail today!) after reading your writeups. just need to contribute my own once I actually watch these

noteworthy to anyone checking out this thread and wanting to see more of this director that Altered Innocence released The Strangler on a fairly barebones disc

[domino harvey]

I used to know someone who considered Rosa la rose, fille publique their favorite film, for whatever that's worth (thirdhand praise?)

Looking forward to your Corneau writeups!

[diamonds]

For what it's worth, I too found little to like in The Strangler, but I think this is just about a masterpiece. Beautiful film with some immaculate Ophulsian staging, and Basler is out of this world. I can't help but smile when I think of the opening frames—perhaps among the greatest character introductions ever?

[JSC]

Alternatively, you could also check out Change pas la main which is available on Blu-ray with subtitles.
It's basically a pseudo-pornographic detective story which apparently exists in a world somewhere between
Jean Rollin and Fassbinder.

I'm very curious to see At the Top of the Stairs, which I'm hoping they'll put out at some point.

[pianocrash]

Wonderful to hear another Vecchiali on the way, since the Shellac BD box is now OOP? Was tempted to import a year ago, but no subs, either. After the Severin of Don't Change Hands came out, someone mentioned that all those titles would be parsed out to english-friendly labels, so the more the merrier, even if it's just a trickle

I was floored by The Strangler (also: I have lots of unchecked emotional problems that seemed to manifest during certain sequences, so consider it site-specific, for now), but I also probably built it up, at least stylistically, by watching & kind of obsessing over Simone Barbes ou la vertu, especially how that picture came together behind the scenes. Obviously not a Vecchiali picture directly (he was producer & editor), but the mythologizing I placed on the whole scene was immense (still is!). That movie needs a proper release worldwide, and I don't think I'm the only one who joined Mubi just to see it stateside.

[bad future]

Loved this when I watched in 2020, very glad it's got a restoration and a Blu-ray on the way. Reminded me of Ophüls, but maybe it would have just reminded me of Vecchiali if I was more familiar (besides this I've only seen Encore, which I saw later and remember less.)

but I also probably built it up, at least stylistically, by watching & kind of obsessing over Simone Barbes ou la vertu, especially how that picture came together behind the scenes. Obviously not a Vecchiali picture directly (he was producer & editor), but the mythologizing I placed on the whole scene was immense (still is!). That movie needs a proper release worldwide, and I don't think I'm the only one who joined Mubi just to see it stateside.

This has been one of my favorite discoveries in the last few years, and I also very much hope to see it get more attention and a physical release. I didn't realize Vecchiali was involved, nor do I know anything else of its behind the scenes story -- sounds worth reading up on!

[therewillbeblus]

This was intermittently amusing, posturing at both cute and operatic ideas, but I'm failing to see the masterpiece so many appear to see. Although there's a strong sense of intimacy, at times the visual and behavioral staging is so peculiarly angled that I wondered if we were going to shift into a Marguerite Duras-esque film! Ophüls is probably a good comparison, and I'm hot and cold on him too so it tracks

[domino harvey]

I despised Vecchiali's L'Étrangleur, but one film does not a fair director assessment make

Two may not make a fair assessment either, but there won’t be a third (ably aided by all of the other films in the Radiance disc’s intro sounding awful). I resolutely hate everything this director does here and in L’etrangleur, especially the pandering attention paid to “pitiful” women. I found much more in this film of the geek show stylings of early Pollet than Renoir or Ophuls (and what an insult to their names appearing in this film is), and there’s even a figure here clearly drawn in the Melki mode. Anything more I have to say about this piece of shit is just unfair aspersions cast upon the character of those who disagree with me. Can we undiscover a director?

[zedz]

This was bad, bad, bad. A bad drama that also managed to be, in fits and starts, a bad sex film, a bad comedy and a bad musical. I can see that Vecchiali was striving for Jacques Demy-style whimsy while also pandering to 'me-so-naughty' titillation, but the dead-eyed performances and pedestrian direction fail to straddle those two stools and the film ends up in a heap on the floor with its knickers over its head. I'm no great fan of Akerman's Golden Eighties, but it did this kind of highly artificial archness so much better.

[JSC]

Anything more I have to say about this piece of shit is just unfair aspersions cast upon the character of those who disagree with me. Can we undiscover a director?

I didn't have quite that extreme a reaction upon seeing it, but basically it left me indifferent. After seeing
L'etrangleur and Change pas de main I was hoping for something a bit more focused in either style
or intent, but this film felt just as muddled to me.

The only other film of his that I'm mildly curious about is At Top of the Stairs with Danielle Darrieux, but
unless someone can recommend any thing else he's done, I don't plan on seeking out the rest of his filmography.

[Glowingwabbit]

Anything more I have to say about this piece of shit is just unfair aspersions cast upon the character of those who disagree with me. Can we undiscover a director?

I didn't have quite that extreme a reaction upon seeing it, but basically it left me indifferent. After seeing
L'etrangleur and Change pas de main I was hoping for something a bit more focused in either style
or intent, but this film felt just as muddled to me.

The only other film of his that I'm mildly curious about is At Top of the Stairs with Danielle Darrieux, but
unless someone can recommend any thing else he's done, I don't plan on seeking out the rest of his filmography.

I'm actually very very high on Vecchiali and his Diagonale cohort. I've seen everything they've done that's available w/ eng subs. Narrow Margin just did an amazing dossier on them in their latest issue (https://www.narrowmarginquarterly.com/). I'm a bit surprised by the negative reactions which range from bad faith readings of Vecchialli to simiply not vibing with what he is doing (the latter of which is fine as not everyone has the same taste). I'd still highly recommend (except to Domino and zedz) Femmes Femmes, At the Top of the Stairs, Once More (Encore) and Drugstore Romance.

[Red Screamer]

Interesting that the response here has turned so negative while, as far as I can tell, Vecchiali is on his way to utter sainthood in general cinephile trends. I saw Corps à cœur / Drugstore Romance a few months ago and found it intriguing and stylistically sharp, if a bit too in love with its own (or its protagonist’s) operatic affect. I’ll have to report back when I check out my copy of this one.

[Red Screamer]

Disappointed to add myself to the negative column as well, though I don’t find Vecchiali’s stylistic program without interest. His direction here is just straining so hard for its effects, and for what — self-consciously overdetermined clichés from 30s melodramas? That must be the sort of thing the Renoir/Ophuls dedication is referring to, though I’m confused as to why so many responses to the film buy into that comparison, calling it Ophulsian and raving about the long takes, when in reality there are only a few long takes/elaborate camera movements and the moving camera in general is so different in nature from Ophuls’, so (intentionally) heavy, awkward and hesitant instead of gliding and nimble. What’s really off is the jerky sense of rhythm, on both a small and large scale, which is why it fails even on the terms of its own limited street opera ambitions. Zedz’ example of Golden Eighties doing archness better is a good one, but Vecchiali himself also does it better in Corps à cœur / Drugstore Romance, with a more accomplished and detailed version of this style, and in a context much better suited to the concept and material (which is itself less unpleasant and played out).

I liked Basler, actually, and thought she might salvage things for me for a while, though her character has few interesting wrinkles in its swings from studied charm to vulnerable over-intensity. But the guy she’s supposed to fall for (and the distracting way he’s made up) — who can believe in that?