WATCH: This gender-swap drama set in 17th-century Germany was inspired by real queer history
'Anatomy Of A Fall's' Sandra Hüller plays a woman who disguises herself as a male solider in this buzzy festival drama.
Mark
The so-called “gender-swap movie” is an odd thematic sub-genre that can usually go one of two ways.
On one hand, there’s the big, broad comedies that typically see cis men cross-dressing as (or body-swapping with) women for easy jokes based on tired old gender stereotypes. Think Rob Schneider’s The Hot Chick, the absurd sports comedy Juwanna Mann, or the Wayans Brothers’ White Chicks, which goes the extra mile by throwing some race-swapping in there, too.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, these have fallen out favor since their early 2000s resurgence now that society’s reached a more progressive, equitable, and compassionate understanding of sex & sexuality. Mostly, we just look back at these examples now and think, Holy sh*t I can’t believe they got away with that!
But the other type of gender-swap movie has managed to maintain its acclaim, even if they aren’t the biggest audience-drawers. Like Glenn Close’s Albert Nobbs, these are usually the austere period piece dramas that follow women who decide to live their lives as men as a means of survival, at a time when it’s the only way for them to move through the world with respect & dignity.
The latest to fit that mold is Rose, a fascinating and heartbreaking new drama from filmmaker Markus Schleinzer (2018’s Angelo) set in 17th Century Germany, a time & place where women were more or less seen as subordinates to men, socially and legally.
The phenomenal Sandra Hüller (star of international favorites like Anatomy Of A Fall and The Zone Of Interest) plays the eponymous Rose, a woman who, after being disfigured by a bullet during Europe’s devastating Thirty Years’ War, decides to take up the identity of a male fallen soldier.
Posing as a man and using his name, she arrives at a remote Protestant village where she claims to be the heir to an abandoned, ramshackle estate. Though the villagers are wary of the strange newcomer, she nevertheless uses her disguise to gradually ingratiate herself into the community and build a life for herself.
And, eventually, in order to keep up the ruse, she takes up a prospective wife in Suzanna (newcomer Caro Braun), the beleaguered eldest daughter of a farmer. Of course, there are only so many secrets Rose can keep for so long from the woman she’s sharing a home with.
While Rose is a fictional narrative, not based on any one particular person, it’s a story inspired by fact: there are numerous documented accounts of women who disguised themselves as men throughout history, for any number of reasons, though they typically came down to one in particular, survival.
Whether they were simply doing what they had to do to get by, or this was also a means for them to more safely express & explore their queerness and/or transness, it’s hard to say for certain. For its part, it sounds like Rose leaves itself open for interpretation as a trans allegory. Not to mention, even if Rose & Suzanna’s relationship is initially built around a lie, early reviews indicate it evolves to a point of mutual understanding and companionship, so it’s possible the film includes some not-so-metaphorical queer romance, too.
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Writer-director Markus Schleinzer identifies himself as queer, and at a press conference ahead of his premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, he acknowledged that “queer identity and queer history” is “always” a part of his work, so Rose is indeed intentional in how it depicts those who transgressed societal and gender norms.
At the same conference, Sandra Hüller agreed, noting the deep resonance of the film’s themes for today’s audiences: “More and more people who were on the path of being more free and integrated in society, respected and accepted are threatened these days, again,” she shared. “That was definitely a topic that we were thinking about” in making the film.”
Since its premiere in Berlin, Rose currently stands at a 100% “Fresh” rating on RottenTomatoes, with Indiewire critic Ryan Lattanzio positing that it might be the “first full-out masterpiece” of the year. And there’s certainly already some buzz that Hüller could be a real contender for the festival’s Silver Bear acting prize, while the film itself has a good shot at both the Gold Bear top prize and the Teddy, awarded to the top LGBTQ+ themed feature.
So, what’s next for Rose? The Match Factory has international distribution rights with plans to release it in Europe this spring, and the strong word-of-mouth means a U.S. release is likely by end-of-year—maybe even in line with the next awards season?
We’ll know more soon, but in the meantime check out tis gorgeous first trailer:
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