Rosita

The story of Rosita, set in Seville, is in some ways more interesting than the film itself. In the context of Mary Pickford's career, it’s part of a group of films that were supposed to break her out of the eternal child box and for Ernst Lubitsch, it was a major turning point in his career that took him from Weimar to Hollywood. After the reputation he earned with his monstrous projects Madame DuBarry and The Loves of Pharaoh, his new career was well deserved. And although it is a film adaptation of the 1872 comic opera "Don César de Bazan" (an ideal subject for a silent film), I am basically thrilled by it. I was expecting the worst, because years ago I had already broken away from Mary's filmography, but this film is good. Spectacular dramatic scenes are interspersed with insightful humour and the adult Mary has plenty of sex appeal. (03.09.2011)