Directed by: Karim Aïnouz
Written by: Efthimis Filippou
Run Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Greek writer Efthimis Filippou has spent much of his career in creative partnership with Yorgos Lanthimos, co-writing several of his defining films including The Lobster (2015) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017). Even aside from his collaborations with Lanthimos, he’s always worked in tandem with other writers. Rosebush Pruning — loosely based on Fists in the Pocket (1965) — then, marks the first independent screenplay from the celebrated writer. No doubt keen to cultivate another cinematic success, it’s Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz who’s been entrusted with bringing Filippou’s singular vision to the screen.
Aïnouz’s film follows a wealthy and depraved family from New York City who have relocated to Catalonia. Siblings Jack (Jamie Bell), Ed (Callum Turner), Anna (Riley Keough) and Robert (Lukas Gage) live together along with their blind father (Tracy Letts) in a lavish and secluded family villa. However, their much-loved family matriarch (Pamela Anderson) tragically died two years previously, after being torn to shreds by wolves in the woods. Presently, eldest son Jack is keen to introduce his new girlfriend Martha (Elle Fanning) to the family, but the earnestness of their relationship is met with disdain, sending his siblings into crisis as they fear Jack will abandon them altogether.
Rosebush Pruning certainly has the deadpan sensibilities of a Lanthimos film, with plenty of droll dialogue and farcical ideas delivered matter-of-factly. Evidently remaining close to what he knows, Filippou infuses a comedic quality into some of the film’s most memorable sequences, one that’s often awkward and almost always dark. One such scene sees a dinner party, at which Jack — the family’s much-fawned-over golden boy — attempts to bring Martha into the fold, quickly turn sour. His father’s staggering disregard for decorum as he requests a description of Martha, “bosom” and all, has shock value sure to stun audiences into disbelief. While the siblings’ subsequent squabble over the details of such underpins the exchange with a humour borne out of the characters’ notable immaturity and the family’s collective lack of respect.
However, it’s a shame that Filippou only achieves this nuance in isolated moments. Too intent on astounding his audience rather than sustaining them, his eat-the-rich satire never really offers much bite. Rosebush Pruning too often feels provocative for the sake of it, and without the consistency in his dark humour or proper development of characters and narrative, it all feels a little aimless. If it was even just fun enough to allow audiences to dismiss the screenplay and simply have a good time it could be forgiven, but it fails to connect even on this most basic level of entertainment.
Perhaps it’s Ed’s self-awareness that takes the enjoyment out of it; after all, it’s more fun to laugh at the expense of the affluent rather than agree with them. Portrayed by Callum Turner, he acts as the narrator of the film, acknowledging how vapid and useless his family are, bar Jack of course. Interested only in fashion and music, the siblings seem to exist solely to consume the talents and art of others. It’s a straightforward takedown of spoilt rich kids, but hardly groundbreaking. And while Ed’s longing to fulfil one of his own pretentiously penned proverbs (although he doesn’t believe in the written word anymore) gives his character more depth than the others, it’s not enough dimension to make him a compelling lead. Turner is serviceable in the role, but in a film so full of controversy, he doesn’t make as big a splash as he might have hoped.
Several of his co-stars fare much better. Jamie Bell impresses as Jack, the family’s last hope for respectability, torn between them and his partner. As his girlfriend, Elle Fanning offers a stark alternative to her disturbing potential new family with a screen presence, that by comparison, feels both arresting and pure. It’s a fantastic Pamela Anderson who shines the brightest though, literally and figuratively thanks to her character’s suspiciously sparkling smile. She’s having the most fun, and offers the audience a much-needed levity alongside the film’s at times overbearing absurdity and distinct unpleasantness.
It’s a colourful film not only in its content, but in its appearance as well, with the intense grading giving Hélène Louvart’s cinematography a vivid and dynamic look. Its oversaturation, surely intended to mirror the excess of the characters and their various explicit impulses, makes for an eye-catching picture, but after a while the sheen starts to become garish. It’s certainly not enough to distract from the thorny screenplay, nor enhance it, and similarly the longer the script has to unfold the less interesting it becomes. With that, barely having sown its own seeds, Rosebush Pruning weakly wilts away without a moment’s notice.
Star Rating: ★ ★
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