MIFF: Rose

Sandra Hüller’s knockout, Silver Bear–winning performance anchors this tragic folktale about a woman who poses as a male soldier in 17th-century Germany.

From the battlefields of the Thirty Years’ War, a soldier arrives in a small German village carrying a document proving his inheritance of a local farm. Facially scarred by a bullet wound, this mysterious figure proves himself to be hardworking and brave, and slowly but surely insinuates himself into the community. But the soldier has a secret: he is, in fact, a woman named Rose masquerading as a man. When she is married off to a neighbour’s daughter – with children expected from the union – Rose’s deception is put to the test.

Sandra Hüller, the Academy Award–nominated star of Anatomy of a Fall (MIFF 2023), gives a tour-de-force performance as Rose that earned her the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at this year’s Berlinale. Taking real-world inspiration from the notorious case of Martin Guerre, as well as hundreds of historical accounts of gender transgression, Markus Schleinzer’s (Angelo, MIFF 2019) third feature is a fascinating fictional character study.

“Not since Sally Potter’s breakout feature Orlando has a film explored gender privilege so effectively through a historical lens and via a singularly astounding European actress.” – IndieWire