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ASA MOVIES:
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Fleas Bark Too, Don't They, 1996
The film takes place in a small provincial
town in Jutland, Denmark. Rosa, a 13-year-old, lives here, and
despite the fact that she wears a prosthetic leg, she is very
vivacious. Here she experiences the up and down sides of provincial
life. Rosa has many irons in the fire. She delivers groceries
for the local grocer Jorgensen to his customers who don’t
frequent the discount supermarkets. She visits the grocer’s
son Knud who suffers from Down’s syndrome. She also takes
care of other eccentrics in the town, such as the old nutter
Rimkjaer, whose best friend is Verner, the hamster, and she
delivers groceries to a posh old lady named Ellen who seems
to have a drinking problem. Rosa loves to sing and is in the
school choir which is preparing for a Christmas celebration.
Rosa lives with her father, the artist Karsten. They have been
on their own for some time, since Rosa’s mother is an
opera singer who travels the world.
Yet everything is not perfect. Rosa’s energetic activities
hide her insecurity about her leg. She feels that in comparison
to her friends she must make an extra effort to be accepted.
And that’s why she often falls out with others. She gets
easily upset and angry. She has a crush on Mads, the most popular
boy in the class, and this gives her problems with prettiest
girl in the class, Henriette. Rosa tries to show off by climbing
a tall tree to rescue a kitten.
She is determined that she will
be the head of the Christmas procession, not Henriette. She
also has an unrealistic dream of her mother, who’s home
on a short visit, coming to the school too hear the choir
rehearse – and of course this doesn’t happen.
When she visits the elderly, she often scolds them and gives
them good advice. It all comes to a head at the school prom
when Henriette cuts in on Rosa and Mads’ dance, and
Rosa runs home in anger and despair and locks herself in the
shed. But help comes from an unexpected place: Henriette follows
Rosa and wants to talk to her, and the two girls bond: a true
friendship has been made.
Prices:
Fleas Bark Too – Don’t They was directed by Stellan
Ollsson and won the Golden Slipper, Zlin, and the Adult Jury
Award, Chicago.
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