Ginger & Rosa (2012)

A look at the lives of two teenage girls - inseparable friends Ginger and Rosa -- growing up in 1960s London as the Cuban Missile Crisis looms, and the pivotal event that comes to redefine their relationship.

Director:

Sally Potter

Writer:

Sally Potter

Stars:

Elle Fanning, Alice Englert, Annette Bening

4 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christina Hendricks	...	Natalie
Jodhi May	...	Anoushka
Alessandro Nivola	...	Roland
Luke Cloud	...	Rosa's Father
Poppy Bloor	...	Young Ginger
Magdalene Mountford	...	Young Rosa
Elle Fanning	...	Ginger
Ray Lonnen	...	Radio Announcer
Alice Englert	...	Rosa
Brock Everitt-Elwick	...	Beatnik
Max Scully	...	Beatnik
Marcus Shakesheff	...	Teddy Boy in Car
Charlie Smith	...	Teddy Boy in Car
Rupert Rixon	...	Boy on Beach
Timothy Spall	...	Mark

Storyline

London, 1962. Two teenage girls - Ginger and Rosa -- are inseparable; they play truant together, discuss religion, politics and hairstyles, and dream of lives bigger than their mothers' frustrated domesticity. But, as the Cold War meets the sexual revolution, and the threat of nuclear holocaust escalates, the lifelong friendship of the two girls is shattered - by the clash of desire and the determination to survive.

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Plot Keywords:

cuban missile crisis | friendship | marital problem | dysfunctional family | marriage problems | 

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Taglines:

Friendship pulled them together. Love tore them apart.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature disturbing thematic material involving teen choices - sexuality, drinking, smoking, and for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the Kent Film Office, "The Ginger and Rosa crew filmed at many locations in Kent, including the unique and striking sound mirrors on Dengemarsh, which look out over the shingle desert and were built in the late 1930's for the early detection of enemy aircraft before the discovery of radar. The production also used Lade Beach and boardwalk which is near the Romney Sands and changes from shingle at low tide to sand and mudflats as the water recedes. Also featured in the film are nearby Lydd Ranges, a military training facility. Locations on and around the Isle of Sheppey were also used for various boating scenes, including a floating jetty at Queenborough jetty and the Swale estuary for the open water shots."

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Goofs

Ginger and Rosa supposedly ride upon a whirling children's roundabout, and yet their hair isn't blown about by the wind.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Natalie: I think Rosa's a bad influence.
Roland: Meaning what, exactly?
Natalie: Anoushka worries about her. She says she's disturbed.
Ginger: [interrupting] So would you be if you'd been told you were a failure when you were 11 years old!

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Connections

Referenced in The Late Late Show with James Corden: Annette Bening/Elle Fanning/Niall Horan (2020)

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Soundtracks

L'il Darlin
Performed by Count Basie
Written by Neal Hefti
© Cinephonic Music Co Ltd
Courtesy of EMI Records Ltd

User Reviews

Any frame could be a photo to hang on your wall

I bought this DVD months ago, but before I could watch it my dog ran off with it and buried it somewhere. I finally found it the other day (remarkably preserved) and read the DVD box to refresh my memory. Well the description doesn't exactly leap out at you: "Two teenage girls dream of lives bigger than their mothers' frustrated domesticity as the Cold War meets the sexual revolution..." Yawnsville, right? I was tempted to give it back to my dog. But I'm glad I didn't.

Right off the bat, "Ginger & Rosa" is an absolute feast for the eyes. I have no idea what special filters, lenses & lighting techniques were used to achieve it, but writer/director Sally Potter puts us in a hazy, nostalgic state while maintaining crisp shots and vivid colors. She used Elle Fanning's red hair to the fullest, complimenting it with an equally glowing, autumn-like palette in the background. Contrasting scenes, the colder ones, seemed bleached & blue, bringing to mind the memorable Beatles lyric "If the sun don't come you get a tan from standing in the English rain." Why am I harping on colors so much? Because, although subtle, the colors are what bring this film to life, and like my review title suggests, you can take a snapshot of any scene and hang it on your wall as art.

The story is equally captivating, not in a bang-em-up action way but in a quiet, uneasy "Catcher in the Rye" sort of way. Ginger (Elle Fanning) is reminiscent of the iconic Holden Caufield, a character with deep sensitivities coming to grips with feelings of confusion toward a human world full of hypocrisy and apathetic phonies. In "Catcher", Holden was obsessed with the impossible task of protecting all the children of the world. In "Ginger & Rosa", Ginger is obsessed with saving the world from a nuclear holocaust. As the missile threat looms with no rationality from political powers, and as her home life becomes increasingly troubled with no rationality from parental authority, she starts to come apart at the seams.

Elle Fanning truly knocks this one out of the park. I haven't seen this sort of emotional performance from a young actor in ages, if ever. Everyone did a great job of acting, but it was Elle who really took the cake. Her final scene is so powerful it makes you wonder how she conjured up that sort of emotion and if she can ever do it again. I'll definitely be following her career to see.

If you like artistic films with powerful visuals that transport you to a nostalgic, not-too-distant past, films like the Italian masterpieces "I'm not Scared" (2003) and "Denti" (2000) by Gabrielle Salvatores, maybe "The Squid and the Whale" (2005) by Noah Baumbach, another 60s British coming of age flick "An Education" (2009), and dare I mention the Spanish masterpiece "Spirit of the Beehive" (1973), then you'll really like this. Don't let your dog run off with this DVD.

Details

Official Sites:

Kent Film Office Official Facebook

Country:

UK Denmark Canada Croatia

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 2012 (UK)

Also Known As:

Ginger & Rosa

Filming Locations:

Dungeness, Kent, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$42,838, 17 March 2013

Gross USA:

$1,012,973

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,674,776

Company Credits

Production Co:

Adventure Pictures, BBC Films, British Film Institute (BFI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color Color (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1