Rosebush Pruning Review: A Clumsy Satire of Wealth and Dysfunction
In the wake of hits like Succession and Saltburn, wealthy, spoiled, and dysfunctional siblings have become a cultural fascination. Now, the film Rosebush Pruning, directed by Karim Aïnouz and written by Greek screenwriter Efthimis Filippou, attempts to join this trend with a strange-wave contrivance about a messed-up US plutocrat clan living in Spain. Freely remade from Marco Bellocchio’s 1965 film Fists in the Pocket, this movie provides little fascination in its portrayal of a wealthy family’s suffocating lives, often feeling heavy-handed and clumsy.
Plot and Characters: A Bizarre Family Dynamic
The story revolves around a strange extended family residing in a luxurious modernist house in Spain. The father, played by Tracy Letts, is a blind widower haunted by memories of his late wife, portrayed by Pamela Anderson, who was savaged by wolves in a nearby forest. His grown-up children, all infantilised by wealth, live with him:
- Robert (Lukas Gage), who has epilepsy and supervises his father’s horse riding.
- Anna (Riley Keough), a talentless singer-songwriter.
- Ed (Callum Turner), a would-be fashionista.
- Jack (Jamie Bell), who has the intimate duty of helping his father with nightly teeth-cleaning, a ritual tied to their mother’s dazzlingly white teeth.
Jack plans to move out with his girlfriend Martha (Elle Fanning), a gifted classical guitarist, which infuriates the family. During a lunch, the mischievous father asks Anna to describe Martha, leading to intense discomfiture, and even inquires about her "bosom." Meanwhile, Ed learns to fabricate Jack’s voice to fake his presence for teeth-cleaning and make impostor calls to Robert to uncover secrets. Anna develops a whimsical crush on a butcher who delivers a dead lamb, placed near a cross where their mother died, to feed the wolves. The film culminates in everyone following Jack on mysterious excursions, revealing one amusing twist.
Satirical Themes and Criticisms
Rosebush Pruning aims to satirise capitalism and the patriarchy, highlighting how the rich create a next-generation class of useless drones. The bizarre and cartoony secrets, involving sex abuse, manipulation, and self-harm, are meant to be symptomatic of these systems. However, the satire often feels pedantic and overworked, with dramatic effects that seem unearned, generating a strange sensation of pointlessness. While the film has visual style and coherence, it assumes these characters are seductive and entertaining, but in reality, they fail to captivate.
Performances and Overall Assessment
Despite its flaws, the movie features some good performances, notably from Jamie Bell and Elle Fanning, who bring depth to their roles. Yet, overall, Rosebush Pruning struggles to balance its weird-wave elements with meaningful commentary, resulting in a clumsy satire that may try the patience of viewers. It screened at the Berlin film festival, but falls short of the intrigue promised by its premise.
