A Few Brief Comments on Pierre Pinaud’s film, “The Rose Maker”
John Bennison, Mountain Shadow Director

When you’ve watched enough films, they’ll often remind you of one you’ve seen before. There are a finite number of plotlines to our human story. In this way, “THE ROSEMAKER” is just a fun film. It is completely formulaic; as well as predictable. But like any good film, it’s then a matter of how well the story is told. Or, in this case, re-told.

In addition, with this particular film, we are reminded -- metaphorically -- that we do not live by bread alone. Life is transitory, and as we make our way through our life chapters, we seek to not only define and embue the journey with meaning and beauty, but often rejuvenate it through rehabilitation and even transformation, as well. The different cast of motley and imperfect characters in “THE ROSEMAKER” exemplify this perfectly.

In ancient symbolism, the flower has always represented this fleeting transitoriness; from the seed, its growth, its bloom, then withering, death and returning to the earth. Fire is another ancient symbol, representing light, truth, purification, completion. In the words of the poet, T.S. Eliot:

And all shall be well
and all manner of thing shall be well -
When the tongues of flames are en-folded
into the crowned knot of fire
and the fire and the rose are one.

Excertpts: Filmmaker Interview with Pierre Pinaud

Q; This is the first time that a film has focused on the creation of roses. Where did the idea come from?

A: From my love of flowers since I was a child. I was about eleven years old when my grandparents offered my brother and me a corner of their garden, giving us carte blanche to do whatever we wanted there. To have a piece of land of your own when you are a kid... what a wonderful gift! Since then, it has coexisted with my other passion, the one I developed for the cinema, also at a very early age. The coexistence between them is necessarily peaceful, since they are both fed by the same source: the search for aesthetics and staging.

QL What was the trigger for ‘assembling’ them?

A: One day, quite by chance, I learned that the creation of roses was a French specialty, just like haute cuisine and perfume. Of the forty or so rose designers still in existence today throughout the world, more than twenty are French; a large number of whom are based in the Lyon region. This intrigued me. I researched the subject: the different stages of the process, the competitions that the roses are entered into, the love and self-sacrifice that they require from those who create and “raise” them.

I discovered that the creation of these flowers is not a matter of chance, but is based on a very meticulous selection: the best “fathers” (stamens) and “mothers” (pistils) are taken, those with remarkable characteristics, in terms of color for example, or resistance to disease, or perfume, and they are “married” - hybridized - in the hope that their mating will give birth to varieties worthy of being presented in competitions.

As social themes have always touched and challenged me, I saw a striking parallel with our hyper-competitive modern societies, with their elitist tendencies, where in order to get into the best schools, and to obtain the best jobs, you have to pass competitive exams and often come from a good family. From this similarity, I saw the basis on which I could build a film, and I started to imagine a script.

For the screenplay of THE ROSE MAKER, I thought a lot about Ken Loach’s THE ANGELS’ SHARE, which, through the portrait of petty criminals in a region blighted by poverty, manages to show, among other things, the marvelous world of whiskey, and I imagined the character of a rose creator who, on the verge of bankruptcy and unable to pay real professionals, has to accept the help of three employees in social rehabilitation, three unfortunates who, like her, were not lucky enough to be born in the right place.

Since the 1980s, the horticultural field has been undergoing a crisis, especially in roses which have declined since their golden age. In a few years, the rose market has shrunk considerably, which has led to many bankruptcies, especially among small producers.

Q: Basically, THE ROSE MAKER is a David and Goliath story, with social and sentimental ramifications...

A: In a way, yes. It begins with the story of a struggle, one that a stubborn craftswoman fights alone against industrialists and market laws, rejecting modern techniques that lower the standards of quality according to her.

It continues with this woman opening up to the world thanks to people she initially treats with condescension, because they know nothing about her field (horticulture). And, because the theme of legacy is very important to me, it ends with this woman reaching out to a young man who has gone off the tracks, allowing him a glimpse of a possible future. If a reference were needed, I would say that THE ROSE MAKER is constructed like a Russian doll. Or like the different layers that make up a flower in bud.