A Star-Studded Stink Bomb Lands in Berlin

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The new film, Rosebush Pruning, takes inspiration from Marco Bellocchio’s 1965 film Fists in the Pocket, and frankly, it’s so disappointing that the filmmakers deserve Bellocchio’s wrath. While the film, which recently premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, clearly aimed to be shocking and unconventional – it has all the elements for it – it falls flat. Despite featuring a talented cast including Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Jamie Bell, and Elle Fanning, the film’s exploration of disturbing themes like incest, murder, and betrayal ends up feeling tedious rather than unsettling.

The film centers on a wealthy but deeply troubled American family who relocated to Spain six years ago, drawn by the mother’s love of Gaudi and the children’s appreciation for Balenciaga. Since the mother’s tragic death, the family has lived off her inheritance, with the children caring for their demanding, blind father. Jack seems to be the most adjusted, but his brothers and sister harbor complicated feelings for him – Robert is secretly infatuated, and Anna is intensely jealous of Jack’s fiancée, Martha. The family dynamics are far more disturbing than simple sibling rivalry, and Jack’s seemingly normal life is a facade. The story is narrated by Edward, who longs to escape to Greece and fixates on luxury goods. He admits to creating empty, pseudo-philosophical statements, like, “A banana falls down, no matter. A melon falls down, it’s over,” and “People are roses. Families are rosebushes. Rosebushes need pruning.” Revealing more about the plot would spoil the film’s many shocking twists.

The film clearly aims to be both profound and ridiculous, mirroring its own strange nature. Rosebush Pruning attempts to explore meaningful themes while simultaneously appearing to be about nothing at all – it’s oddly both too simplistic and too pretentious. The script comes from Efthimis Filippou, a frequent collaborator with Yorgos Lanthimos on films like Dogtooth and The Lobster, which are considered brilliant. It’s directed by Karim Aïnouz, a Brazilian filmmaker known for powerful dramas like Madame Satan and The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão, but his recent films, including Firebrand and Motel Destino, haven’t been as successful. Both Filippou and Aïnouz are talented, but their styles don’t quite mesh well here. Aïnouz is a skilled visual director, but this material demands the precise, unsettling vision of someone like Lanthimos, who builds entire worlds. Aïnouz excels at portraying the gritty realism of our own world, while this film needs something far more abstract.

Throughout Rosebush Pruning, it feels like the filmmakers are trying to help us understand the characters and their chaotic world. The narration sometimes feels added in later, maybe as a desperate attempt to give us something solid to grasp. The film touches on themes like social class, family dynamics, longing, hidden emotions, wealth, male dominance, and the search for liberation. However, these ideas aren’t fully developed and feel disconnected, much like the expensive shoes Edward frequently imagines.

Marco Bellocchio’s original film, Fists in the Pocket, was groundbreaking. It boldly depicted a troubled family, drawing from Bellocchio’s personal experiences and reflecting a changing Italy. The film challenged the traditional values of the time and quickly established Bellocchio as a major cinematic voice. He skillfully blended the realism of Italian Neorealism with the innovative techniques of the French New Wave, creating a powerful and visually striking work. While Rosebush Pruning is based on Bellocchio’s film, it’s unfair to directly compare the two. The original remains a stark contrast, demonstrating what this newer film fails to achieve. Bellocchio knew how to engage an audience with difficult material, making Fists in the Pocket a compelling, even shocking, experience. Rosebush Pruning, however, feels deliberately abrasive and distancing. It certainly succeeds in being irritating, at least.

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2026-02-15 16:54