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

Debut theatrical feature film of actress Alice Englert.

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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

Fantasie
Performed by Vitya Vronsky, Victor Babin
Written by Franz Schubert
Courtesy of Decca Label Group (United States)
Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd
Thanks to Naxos Licensing

User Reviews

"There is poetry in small spaces, isn't there?"

GINGER & ROSA is a quiet, relatively uneventful coming-of-age tale about two British girls growing up during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Those who want a conventional storyline with plenty of fast action will, understandably, find it rather dull: GINGER & ROSA is driven almost entirely by character, themes, and dialogue. Yet, there is an indescribable magic to this film. After a slow, uncertain start, GINGER & ROSA slowly hypnotizes its audience with very real characters and multiple issues. The "big" global issue of the "the Bomb" is juxtaposed very well with the "smaller" interrelationships between the characters.

Ginger, the protagonist, is an aspiring poet, and the film itself is structured a bit like a poem. It addresses the complexities of growing up, inseparable friendship, the pain that comes when something disrupts it, and many other things. As one who's battled with depression on and off for most of his life, I found GINGER & ROSA very illuminating about the nature of despair, melancholy, and all of that.

While intrigued, I still wondered for most of the first 80 or so minutes, "Where is all this supposed to be going?" Nothing terribly dramatic ever happens, but, like a good poem, the fine ending and resolution made me glad I'd stayed with it.

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