Karim Ainouz's macabre family comedy 'Rosebush Pruning' premiered to a mixed reception at the Berlin Film Festival this weekend. The Brazilian director's film is awash with bodily fluids and bizarre moments, but ultimately fails to be as shocking or funny as anticipated.
Callum Turner, tipped as the next James Bond, plays Edward, a spoiled American rich kid living with his dysfunctional family in Spain. He describes himself as a 'lazy, mediocre, vapid, egotist' and despises his family, which includes a blind, lecherous father (Tracy Letts), a mother eaten by wolves (Pamela Anderson), and siblings with various quirks. Elle Fanning plays Jack's girlfriend, Martha, an outsider treated with hostility.
Inspired by Marco Bellocchio's 1965 classic 'Fists in the Pocket', the film is scripted by Greek writer Efthimis Filippou and shares the barbed, surrealist humour of Yorgos Lanthimos's work. It also targets the ultra-wealthy, echoing Mike White's 'The White Lotus'. However, Ainouz's disdain for his characters makes it hard for audiences to engage with them.
The film suffers from tonal shifts and pacing issues, with none of the cast excelling at comedy. References to fashion designers become grating, and some storytelling is surprisingly crude. However, the visual palette is rich, capturing Spanish landscapes, and Matthew Herbert's score is majestic. Some set-pieces, like a family dinner appraising Martha, are well-observed.
Turner's performance anchors the film, lending humanity amid the grotesquerie. His character has traces of Tom Ripley but is played with engaging understatement. 'Rosebush Pruning' will be released in UK and Irish cinemas later this year.
