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

I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
Performed by Thelonious Monk
Written by Ned Washington, George Bassman
© Catharine Hinen Music, administered by Moncur Street Music Ltd
EMI Music Publishing Ltd. / Chester Music Ltd. trading as Dash Music
Co (by kind permission of Music Sales Ltd.)
Courtesy of Concord Music Group
Universal Music Group International
Under licence from Universal Music Operations Ltd.

User Reviews

A well-told tale of teenage rebellion and anguish in 1962, but it could be NOW!

Ginger & Rosa is a deceptive title because this slight tale is intensely about Ginger (Elle Fanning), whose life is affected by Rosa (Alice Englert), but still defined by her own sense of herself and her notions of right and wrong.

A minimalist treatment of seventeen-year old Ginger as she faces crises personal and global, this portrait captures her emergence from happy childhood, certified by a perpetual smile, into a thoughtful young woman whose demeanor reflects her growing cynicism about the world and the people she loves.

Her London and the world in 1962 are awash in nuclear fear, crystallized in the Cuban Missile Crisis; Ginger is deeply concerned about the potential of the end of that world, so much so that she attends a rally for nuclear disarmament. Her father, Roland, is a free thinker who has influenced her autonomous thinking but whose own libertarian ways threaten Ginger's sense of the right balance as she sees it.

Leaving her mother to stay with her father in effect untethers her from maternal protection and throws her into a world where even her best friend, Rosa can no longer provide her a sense of security. As Ginger loses faith in her father, her best friend also threatens to blast her sense of proportion in a growingly hostile world.

The common antidote for this cynicism is forgiveness, as the world both macro and micro, is rife with disappointment. The minimalism doesn't always work in the film's favor, for the development of the plot, begging a full resolution of Ginger's relationship to the world, her family, and her friend, leaves me needing another ninety minutes.

Ginger and Rosa, better than any other films of its kind in recent memory, carries the angst of the '60's in to 2013, and while obsession with the bomb has faded, the disappointments of young teenage girls over the imperfect world are constant and their optimism still intact: "Despite the horror and sorrow, I love our world." (Ginger)

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