The Rose Seller

The Rose Seller

1998 · 115 min · ★ 7.9 · Drama, Crime

Monica is 13 years old and has already created her own world, on the street, where she fights courageously to defend what little she has: her friends, her boyfriend, who sells drugs, and her dignity and pride that makes no concessions to anyone. On Christmas night, like every night, she sells roses to make a living. But life brings her a new appointment with loneliness, poverty, drugs and death.

Directed by Víctor Gaviria · Written by Víctor Gaviria

Your Rating

Cast

Make it a double feature

2h 20m together

The Rose Seller

La Vieja Guardia

Both from Víctor Gaviria.

More from Víctor GaviriaSee all →

Searching for the Animal

Searching for the Animal · 2017

Searching for the Animal

MovieDocumentary

Harassment, kidnapping, isolation, submission, hunger, humiliation, infidelity, psychological manipulation and incest are some of the themes that are the focus of this documentary based on true stories and the work of natural actors who suffered abuse and are marked by abandonment. Made during the filming of "La mujer del animal" by Victor Gaviria.

La Vieja Guardia

La Vieja Guardia · 1985

La Vieja Guardia

A Poet

MovieComedyDrama

An aging poet finds purpose mentoring Yurlady, a talented teen, though exposing her to the poetry scene might be unwise. His own poetic pursuits led nowhere, leaving him a stereotypical obscure writer.

Los Músicos

Los Músicos · 1985

MovieMusicDrama

At the end of the 1940s, when the worst of the Partisan Violence began to worsen in the fields and towns of Colombia, a popular music duo, in search of work, walked the road from the town of Sucre to the town of Liborina. One of them, Cesáreo, is blind, but the other, Antonio, seems to suffer more from the inclement weather of the route.

Buscando tréboles

Buscando tréboles · 1980

Buscando tréboles

Moving and poetic images of the daily lives of blind children at a school in Medellín.

The Animal's Wife

The Animal's Wife · 2016

The Animal's Wife

MovieDramaThriller

Amparo, a submissive young woman, tries to escape from her strict convent school but falls into the hands of “El Animal,” a violent and abusive man who forces her to become his wife. Trapped by fear and constant mistreatment, she clings to her love for her daughter and her hope for a better life. However, her strength and dignity may not be enough to stand against the cruelty of the ruthless Animal.

Rodrigo D. No Future

Rodrigo D. No Future · 1990

Rodrigo D. No Future

MovieCrimeDrama

Rodrigo and his friends, restless teenagers from the marginalized neighborhoods on the hillsides of Medellín, spend their time causing trouble. But Rodrigo dreams of playing rock music and brings his friends together to form a punk band that becomes a lifeline amid a web of disorientation, violence, drugs, and fear.

Addictions and Subtractions

Addictions and Subtractions · 2004

Addictions and Subtractions

A look at the notorious Colombian Medellin cocaine cartel. Former coke addict has built a new life as contractor, but cannot shake off his past on drugs.

Making Birds Act

Making Birds Act · 2017

Making Birds Act

MovieDocumentary

One of the most important Colombian films of the last years revives. With 'The Rose Seller' we learned about the most painful side of addictions: lost youth. What happened to its protagonists? How, against all odds, did they make such a powerful tale? Erwin Goggel's 'Making birds act' is a return to that universe, a look at the most melancholic, surprising, and bleak past from 20 years ago, or a look at today, 20 years after its birth.

The Calm After the Storm

The Calm After the Storm · 2021

The Calm After the Storm

MovieDocumentary

After studying abroad, Mercedes returns to Colombia to work on the next film by her father, the famous Víctor Gaviria. Fluctuating between admiration and reproach, Mercedes constructs a private diary that goes beyond familial conflicts to question the place of women in the film world, which is still strongly ingrained with a patriarchal mindset.

Anhell69

Anhell69 · 2023

MovieDocumentaryDrama

A hearse cruises the streets of Medellín, while a young director tells his story in this city marked by conflicts, violence and paradoxes. He remembers his childhood and the discovery of his sexuality.

Memorias de un País Filmado

Memorias de un País Filmado · 2024

Memorias de un País Filmado

MovieDocumentary

Cinema is a historical, social and cultural document that allows us to understand how a society perceives and defines itself. A documentary in which filmmakers, actors, historians and theorists explore Colombian identity through its cinematography.

Yo te tumbo, tu me tumbas

Yo te tumbo, tu me tumbas · 1990

Yo te tumbo, tu me tumbas

Documentary film about young people in Medellin, Colombia, interviewing actors who appeared in the film Rodrigo D: No Futuro.

Darío Lemos, un Retrato

Darío Lemos, un Retrato · 1989

Darío Lemos, un Retrato

MovieDocumentary

Documentary on nadaist poet Darío Lemos.

More Like This

Curly Sue

Curly Sue · 1991

MovieComedyDrama

Bill is a penniless drifter who scams strangers out of just enough money to feed himself and his partner in crime, an orphan girl known as Curly Sue. Bill and Curly Sue target Grey, a yuppie lawyer, but their con takes an unexpected turn when the successful woman begins to like the ramshackle duo. But there's one problem—Grey's jealous, conniving boyfriend, Walker.

Lilya 4-ever

Lilya 4-ever · 2002

MovieDramaCrime

In a struggling post-Soviet community, Lilya a teenage girl is abandoned when her mother moves to the United States with her boyfriend. Facing neglect and poverty, she meets Andrei, who offers her a job in Sweden, giving her hope for a better life — and a journey that will change everything.

Satantango

Satantango · 1994

Inhabitants of a small village in Hungary deal with the effects of the fall of Communism. The town's source of revenue, a factory, has closed, and the locals, who include a doctor and three couples, await a cash payment offered in the wake of the shuttering. Irimias, a villager thought to be dead, returns and, unbeknownst to the locals, is a police informant. In a scheme, he persuades the villagers to form a commune with him.

Angela's Ashes

Angela's Ashes · 1999

An Irish Catholic family returns to 1930s Limerick after a child's death in America. The unemployed I.R.A. veteran father struggles with poverty, prejudice, and alcoholism as the family endures harsh slum conditions.

Nights of Cabiria

Nights of Cabiria · 1957

Nights of Cabiria

MovieDramaComedy

Rome, 1957. A woman, Cabiria, is robbed and left to drown by her boyfriend, Giorgio. Rescued, she resumes her life and tries her best to find happiness in a cynical world. Even when she thinks her struggles are over and she has found happiness and contentment, things may not be what they seem.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn · 1945

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school...if irresponsible Papa can get his act together.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter