'Le Monstro' Unveils Inner Beauty, Tragedy, and Silenced Voices

Beauty comes in all forms.

Le Monstro is a short film directed by Gabrielle Rosson. Based on true historical accounts, the film focuses on Juliet, a female circus performer with a beard. Her husband, Jonah, deprives her of love, only using her talents for his own monetary gain.

I was transfixed by this beautifully directed short film and explored the emotional depths behind its story. The film examines themes of unrequited love, acceptance, and inner beauty. Le Monstro is darkly captivating, bringing to light a powerful historical story and providing a window into silenced voices.

Gabrielle Rosson wore several hats, serving as director, writer, editor, and also starred in Le Monstro. Rosson was inspired to make a historical fiction short film based on the tragic life of Julia Pastrana, also known as the Victorian Ape Woman. Her research is the most important attribute of her direction, paying deep respect to Pastrana.

Pastrana had a condition that caused excessive hair growth on her face, along with deformities in certain facial features. It’s heart wrenching what she endured, especially at the hands of her husband, Theodore Lent, who continued to exploit Pastrana after her death.

In Le Monstro, Rosson portrays Juliet, a 19th-century performer. Rosson drew from her own experiences to manifest her character’s broken mind, while also encapsulating Juliet’s determination to stand her ground.

Rosson studied opera with John Murelle and sought help from a French dialect coach to match pronunciations of words when singing. The musical score was dictated by Ian Rashkin who arranged the song, Soiree En Mer (Camille Saint-Saens).

Her husband, Jonah (Damien Chinappi) presents Juliet to an audience as ‘The World’s Ugliest Woman.’ Rosson and Chinappi are excellent in their scenes. As Juliet begs for his love and devotion, She desires Jonah to see her beauty within that he inspired. Their dialogue is so poetic, resembling a Shakespeare sonnet.

The making of Le Monstro had several hands in cinematography and editing. Rosson worked with cinematographer Ben Heald to discuss plans on how to edit the film. Rosson decided to do a Wizard of Oz cinematography approach with a black-and-white tone, changing to color in some sequences.

The cinematography is startling, capturing the emotion, beauty, and despair. Every shot in this film is accomplished with a purpose. The filmmaking is exquisite, breathing life and gloom, making the weight of the events resonate with viewers.

The film is a gorgeous period piece featuring splendid costumes, hair, and makeup designs that match the 1850s. The gown Juliet wears in the film was actually bought on Etsy and Rosson re-designed it herself.

The Horace Mann Theatre on the Bridgewater State University Campus played as the setting for Le Monstro. The set was designed by Rosson and design partner, Christian Sherman. Everything was filmed in two days.

Just as she intended, Rosson inspired me to learn more about Pastrana and carry this story to others. I looked up more information on the life of Julia Patrana and was horrified that she didn’t didn’t get peace until over one hundred years after her death.

This film reminded me of Freaks (1932), a film directed by Tod Browning. It was very controversial for its time, but it gave life to people with real physical disabilities. We need to tell stories like these to give recognition to those whose voices were silenced.

Le Monstro has several key themes, the most important to Rosson being inner beauty. We are all beautiful. Le Monstro is a remarkable short film that haunts viewers with an effective story and evocative filmmaking.