La boda de Rosa (2020)

Directed by: Iciar Bollain | 97 minutes | comedy, drama | Actors: Candela Peña, Sergi López, Nathalie Poza, Ramón Barea, Paula Usero, Xavo Giménez, Paloma Vidal, Lucín Poveda, María José Hipólito, María Maroto, Eric Francés

Rosa (Candela Peña) in her mid-forties has been there for others all her life. Although that resulted in the fact that she was the apple of her parents’ eye with regard to her brother and sister, but after more than four decades of effacing herself, Rosa still runs into a blank wall. One day when she only seems to be preoccupied with other people’s problems, she comes home where her father casually tells her that he is moving in with her. “So much more practical,” he says. But Rosa, of course, doesn’t want to hear about that.

The Spanish comedy ‘La boda de Rosa’ sketches in clear images that Rosa has been dealing with for years. Her young adult daughter moved to Manchester and gave birth to twins there – she doesn’t seem to have any real contact with her; her brother Armando continuously shifts the care of his two teenagers onto Rosa, because he is in a divorce and tries to save his marriage; her sister Violeta is always busy with work and her boyfriend barely has time to listen to her. Then there is also the invisible neighbor, who has put all the plants on the stairs, with notes on how to get water during the unannounced holiday. Meanwhile, Rosa has also promised to look after her friend’s cat and her employer assumes that she will work through the night on the costumes (she is a costume designer for movies), because there are still 150 dresses to redo (or something like that). scope).

However, caring for the widowed father of two years is the last straw and Rosa makes a decision. Not only does she want to use her late mother’s vacant sewing studio to start a business of her own, but she’s also planning an important day, inviting her family and the few friends she has. This leaves them in the dark about what is about to happen, but that is no secret to the viewer. What follows is a series of events caused by miscommunication, in which the characters (especially Armando and Violeta) sometimes rub uncomfortably close to the caricature. However, Icíar Bollaín maintains the balance well, so that the serious element of the story never feels too heavy. The summer setting certainly helps.

Excellent acting from the cast and the film is smooth and never sinks into anything. Of course you don’t feel tense for a moment that it won’t work out, but ‘La boda de Rosa’ is a nice, warm film with its heart in the right place. For many people who recognize themselves in the main character, the step she takes may go too far, but the symbolism behind it is a message that they should take to heart.