Word: von
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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German feminist director Margarethe von Trotta's Rosa Luxemburg is a richly told tale of this unsung hero. Von Trotta, who has acted in such films as The Lost Honor of Katherina Blum and directed several critically acclaimed works, including Sisters and Sheer Madness, lives up to her reputation as a dominant personality in German cinema. Rosa Luxemburg brings to life the harsh personal and political life of Luxemburg...
With sharp visual images, von Trotta brings the complex character of Luxemburg closer to the audience. Numerous close-ups establish the communist radical as a figure worthy of sympathy. but these are not the soft focus, flattering close-ups of a romantic film. They are hard and lucid glances, sharp swords of realism which dispel the aura of godliness the film's plot gives Luxemburg...
...THAT von Trotta entirely escapes making "Rotte Rosa," as she was called by supporters, into a legendary figure. And this glorification of character may be the film's greatest fault. For example, classical music is used to glorify Rosa during her great speeches. Fortunately, the highly unflattering portrayal of Luxemburg's personal life returns the film to the realm of realism...
...Von Trotta moderates her actors' performances and saves the film from the excesses that made the characters of Gandhi too inspiring to be real. Von Trotta's focus on the female friends of Luxemburg, for example, tends to humanize the historical figure. And the feminist director prevents the men who love Rosa from idolizing...
From the casting to the cinematography to the plot and pacing, von Trotta leaves no loose ends. But her film is almost too complete, making its audience painfully aware of the boundary between reality and films...