An aging survivor of Auschwitz, Madame Rosa (Simone Signoret) is a Parisian ex-streetwalker who cares for prostitutes' children in the city's poor Arab-Jewish section. Although she is slowly losing her memory, she is still able to care for her charges, especially Momo (Samy Ben Youb), an
unruly Arab Muslim boy who, although he tends to be rebellious, reciprocates her love. When Madame Rosa has delusions that the Gestapo is coming for her and makes the boy promise to hide her, he does so, sending a doctor away and maintaining that the dying woman has gone to Israel.
MADAME ROSA handles its underlying conflicts--between Arabs and Jews, between Nazis and Jews--well...
Released:
1977
Rated:
PG
Length:
105 mins