Line #8 Film/MadameRosa


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0615.JPG]]
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3	''Madame Rosa'' (''La vie devant soi'' in France) is a 1977 film from France, directed by Moshe Mizrahi, starring Creator/SimoneSignoret.
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5	Madame Rosa (Signoret) is an ex-prostitute now in her sixties. She is Jewish, and when she was younger she was an inmate at Auschwitz. She was still servicing clients when she was north of 50, but eventually she had to quit, and now she has a little orphanage/day care center business that she runs out of her apartment. She specializes in taking in the children of working prostitutes.
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7	Momo is her oldest charge, although he's still a boy. Madame Rosa tells him that he's only 11, although he appears to be older. No one has ever shown up for Momo since he was dropped off at Madame Rosa's years ago, and at some point the money orders paying for his upkeep stopped coming, but he stays with Madame Rosa anyway. Momo is fiercely loyal to his substitute mother. When Madame Rosa's health starts to rapidly decline, Momo becomes her protector.
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10	!!Tropes:
11	* DyingAlone:[[spoiler: Madame Rosa retreats to her secret hideaway in the staircase to do this but Momo stays with her]].
12	* TheCameo: The minor role of Ramon, Nadine's husband, is played by [[Creator/CostaGavras Costa-Gavras]]. Costa-Gavras is far better known as a film director of movies like ''Film/{{Z}}'' and ''Film/Missing1982''.
13	* ComfortingComforter: Madame Rosa is shown tucking in her young kids, showing that she really does care about them.
14	* DeusExMachina: Will Momo be left as a homeless urchin after Madame Rosa dies? Well, no, because Nadine the well-to-do film editor has agreed to take him in.
15	* HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier: Nadine and Ramon start talking to each other in English when they want to discuss Momo's highly agitated state.
16	* ISOStandardUrbanGroceries: Well, maybe if you actually live in France, it's OK to bring home a baguette sticking out of your grocery bag.
17	* IWasQuiteALooker: Madame Rosa shows Momo some pictures of her when she was younger (pictures of the real and ridiculously beautiful young Simone Signoret). Later, she looks in the mirror again and bemoans how ugly she's gotten.
18	* OnlyKnownByHisNickname: Momo's real name is "Mohamed"
19	* OrphanageOfLove: Madame Rosa obviously loves the little children in her care.
20	* SecretTestOfCharacter: A man shows up claiming to be a Muslim, like Momo, and Momo's father. Madame Rosa tests him, telling him that there was a mixup and her son was raised as a Jew. The man freaks out so badly that he dies on the spot of a heart attack. Then again, since he's already admitted to murdering Momo's mother in a jealous rage, maybe the secret test wasn't necessary.
21	* SonOfAWhore: Most of the children in Madame Rosa's care. It turns out that Momo's mother was murdered by her pimp.
22	* StreetPerformer: When money is tight in the Madame Rosa household, Momo earns a little bit extra by doing a puppet show out on the street.
23	* {{Streetwalker}}: There are quite a few around; evidently Madame Rosa does not live in the best neighborhood.
24	* TellMeAboutMyFather: Momo pesters Madame Rosa for information about his parents. She's reluctant to tell him, because the news isn't very pleasant.

Context Film / MadameRosa