Overview: On the streets of Paris, Rosa la rose (Marianne Basler, Va savoir) is the belle of Les Halles. With no shortage of clients, she is beloved by her fellow working girls and spoiled by her pimp Gilbert (Jean Sorel, Belle de Jour).

For her, this is a charmed life - that is until her 20th birthday arrives. Across the floor, she locks eyes with Julien (Pierre Cosso, An American Werewolf in Paris), a blue-collar worker who sees something deeper beyond her fun-loving façade.

Almost Shakespearean in its execution, Paul Vecchiali’s underseen drama explores class consciousness and female sexuality with startling precision. Anchored by a magnetic central performance from the then 20-year-old Marianne Basler, Rosa la rose, fille publique is a true hidden gem.

Blu-ray Verdict: We do for love what love does not for us; I can never live the way I did before you. All it takes is one physical touch, one miraculous pleasure so true and human that it transforms what you once were - but to refuse a gaze is to die all over again, and your presence fades all the same.

Vecchiali’s emotional movements unravel within the free-flowing illusion of elongated shots; its artificial edges thus collapse against contact with what’s fatalistically real, naturally steering its inhabitants toward each other like a dance. Entangled bodies, as free as you believe.

The strength of drama, the power of tragedy. Every shot trembles with all sorts of emotions they might contain. A movie that impressively succeeds in suggesting a world that is both beautiful and terrifying. There are not many as touching as it. Highly recommended.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
2K restoration approved by Paul Vecchiali
Original uncompressed PCM mono audio
Interview with critic David Jenkins (2025)
Archival interview with director Paul Vecchiali (1985)
Archival interview with actors Marianne Basler and Jean Sorel (1985)
Newly improved English subtitle translation
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original promotional materials
Limited edition booklet featuring archival interviews and new writing by Marina Ashioti
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Official Purchase Link

www.radiancefilms.co.uk