Madame Rosa Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Madame Rosa Blu-ray Movie Review

An Academy-Award Winner for Best Foreign Language Film.

Madame Rosa is a compelling art-house drama based on the novel by Romain Gary. The feature-film is produced by Ralph Baum (Paris Nights, Good Evening Paris). The drama won the prestigious Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award. Fans of art-house experiences will appreciate the fine performances (with Simone Signoret in the leading role).

Madame Rosa (Simone Signoret) is an elderly Holocaust survivor who now operates a boarding room for the children of prostitutes. As Madame Rosa spends time with the children at the boarding house, she becomes particularly close with a young boy, Momo (Samy Ben-Youb). Rosa looks after Momo and makes him promise to never pimp himself out to others – something she did for over thirty years. As an unlikely friendship forms, Madame Rosa and Momo learn to navigate life and its obstacles with a sense of compassion and adventure.

The performances are at the heart of the production. Simone Signoret is especially impressive as the title character of the feature-film. Signoret gives the filmmaking a sense of dramatic weight that can only be achieved through a gifted actress of her caliber. The performance has plenty of depth and richness.

As Madame Rosa was a holocaust survivor, a prostitute, and an empathetic caretaker of children, the role has a lot of range for Signoret to explore. A quality performance that is the stand-out role in the film. The young Momo is also well-performed by Samy Ben-Youb, who imbues the role with more sophistication than is often found in young actors. The role gives the actor plenty of opportunities to play against Signoret and the two manage to exude confidence as the roles work in unison.

A first-rate performance by Simone Signoret.

The cinematography by Nestor Almendros (The Blue Lagoon, Days of Heaven) is one of the best components of the film. The visual backdrop provides the film with a stylistically compelling element that sings. The cinematography finds a balance between light and dark – the production conveying the struggles of the characters and their journeys. A potent effort.

The music score by Dabket Loubna and Philippe Sarde adds to the production as well. The score has a sophistication that provides the production with a greater sense of dramatic depth. The music is beautiful and transcendent. A magnificent effort by Loubna and Sarde.

The production benefits from a variety of other commendable attributes as well. The production design by Bernard Evein (The Young Girls of Rochefort, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) showcases the unique boarding house with exquisite detail. Likewise, the costume designs by Jacques Fonteray (Barbarella, Moonraker) provides the actors with the right attire for each respective role.

The screenplay and direction by Moshe Mizrahi (I Sent a Letter to My Love, The Customer of the Off Season) is top-notch. Madame Rosa is a compelling drama with a strong narrative foundation. The direction is complex and rewarding. Mizrahi brought forth great performances from the cast. The stylistic flourishes throughout are compelling and are well suited to the thematic elements. Featuring editing by Sophie Coussein (The Two of Us, Graduate First), Madame Rosa is also well-paced. Outstanding. Don't miss it.

Madame Rosa Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Kino, Madame Rosa is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.66:1 widescreen. The release comes from a brand new 4K restoration. The scan looks breathtaking. The print has little to no print damage. The presentation showcases the cinematography by Nestor Almendros well. The image-quality is sharp, pleasing, and engaging. Fans of the film will be enormously pleased with the results of the new 4K remaster.

Madame Rosa Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono (with English subtitles). The lossless audio quality on the release is surprisingly a little inconsistent at times. Though the video presentation was outstanding, the audio track was a bit thin sounding. Dialogue was clear and easy to understand. However, the music score and occasional sound design efforts are less crisp sounding. The track is unfortunately a bit average.

Madame Rosa Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger

The release includes a selection of trailers promoting other releases available from distributor Kino Lorber: Ponette (SD, 2:30), Tous les matins du monde (SD, 2:01), and Under the Sand (SD, 1:57).

Madame Rosa Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Madame Rosa is a compelling drama with a must-see performance by Simone Signoret. The film showcases impressive cinematography and production values. With a strong script and quality direction, Moshe Mizrahi (I Sent a Letter to My Love) crafted a worthwhile film. The Blu-ray features an outstanding new 4K restoration. Highly recommended.