Summaries

A mother deals with bootlegging, violence, stealing, and a social worker.

With her husband and children there as well, francophonie Rose runs a boarding house in a working class neighborhood in Toronto. She runs the house with an iron fist, but she also does everything, like all the cooking and cleaning, for her disparate group of tenants. The running of the house is not without its problems. One tenant, who lives by betting on the horses, can only pay his rent if he wins. A new young female tenant causes a bit of disruption by getting drunk her first night there with a resulting loud behavior during sleeping hours. Another tenant is accused of stealing some money. And another is thought to be bootlegging, which if caught could cause problems for Rose. But her main problem may be with her son, who is accused of stealing a bike. She associates his supposed crime with the courts believing her a bad mother. Through it all, she doles out her own brand of justice since it's her house.—Huggo

-This fiction film takes an unvarnished look at life in a working-class boarding house. Based on the filmmaker's memories of his own mother's boarding house in Cabbagetown, Toronto, the story revolves around Rose and how she runs her establishment. With a household as full and varied as hers, domesticity clashes with disputes about bootlegging, violence, and stealing. Even authority isn't exempt: she does battle with a social worker over her son's theft of a bicycle. Rose is the queen of her castle, and delivers her own brand of justice.

Details

Keywords
  • independent film
  • mother
Genres
  • Drama
Release date Sep 16, 1977
Countries of origin Canada
Official sites -The original film
Language English
Production companies National Film Board of Canada (NFB) Cabbageroll Productions

Box office

Tech specs

Runtime 58m
Color Color
Aspect ratio

Synopsis

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