Film Analysis Essay on The War of Roses

The Wars of Roses is the love story of two love birds that have been depicted to strive through thick and thin to make roses out of their love life. The least the two would have expected was hatred a feeling of hatred towards each other even after acquiring all remedies for happiness. From the title of the movie, the war of roses refers to the fight between these two couples, Barbara and Oliver Rose. The love story of the two characters sprouts when they were still young. As soon as they approached the much-anticipated future, they got two kids, two cars, two pets and venom of hatred. The beginning of the marriage life of the Roses was perfectly characterized by wealth growth and happiness. Several years down the line, Barbara begins to get bored by the presence as well as actions of her husband, Oliver. One of the major reasons that can be linked to the souring marriage is the egocentric nature of Oliver that. The marriage sours to the extent of Barbara plotting to eliminate her husband as the two battles for house ownership. The fight between the can be attributed to communication breakdown and the same plays a role in the attempts to resolve the situation.

In The Wars of Roses, it is easy to establish various forms of conflicts, but the two major conflicts that have been brought out are man versus man conflict and man versus future conflict. Barbara and Oliver were once lovebirds during their younger years. They never knew what the future holds other than the projected happiness and prosperity. Later, the two brew a nasty conflict that breaks their marriage despite having acquired all remedies for a happy family. The conflict between the two involved a lawyer, Gavin, who was once seduced by Barbara in an attempt to make him shift allegations. It can also be argued that interpersonal conflict is evident in the behavior of Barbara. Whenever Oliver makes an attempt to make things work in the marriage; Barbara thwarts such efforts and propagates hates in any way possible. An example can be drawn from the point when Barbara pushes away Olivers hand at the point of death. Another prominent source of conflict is the conflict between the couple and the fate. While Oliver attempts to make fate dance to his tune, things constantly went out of hand. The love that they initially shared never seemed to have an impact on reducing this type of conflict.

Basing on the conflict intervention process that involved the family lawyer, Gavin, a five stage conflict process can be identified. The first stage is represented by the situation where the Roses become antagonistic and incompatible. The second stage is of cognition and personalization occurs when the both the Roses decide to engage in a legal battle. The fact that the two engage in such a battle, it implies that they recognize the presence of a conflict as well as interests. The third phase is the intention phase that involves either assertiveness or cooperativeness. Oliver attempts to cooperate while Barbara makes all efforts to prove that she was assertive.

Five major points notable in this phase include competition, collaboration, avoidance, accommodative and compromise. The fourth phase is the behavior phase which can be seen at the event where the Roses were trapped in the Chandelier. At that point, the two had become physically aggressive towards each other. The final stage of the conflict is the outcome phase where the Roses come to a nasty fall. Gavin gives the Roses two options, and they choose to settle the case outside court amicably. It is evident that the two fell apart due to poor communication at the initial stages of the conflict. Barbara was never willing to communicate her feelings or predicaments to Oliver

Some of the styles that the Roses assume to managing conflict are separation and divorce. The two constantly engage a lawyer in a legal battle for a long time before finally choosing to settle the matter amicably. Another approach that the Roses use to settle their conflicts is a physical fight which at one point ends tragically. In most cases, the styles adopted by the two depicted egocentrism and intolerance on either party involved which the made the solving process an almost an uphill task.

In conclusion, the interpersonal communication evident among the Roses was the major cause of conflict. Poor communication between the two ensured that the situation gradually and steadily got out of hand. Therefore, the major lesson from the movie is that there is a need for constant and healthy communication. Poor communication is weapon enough to bring down to even the best love story. IT so happened that the Roses shared a good love story, wealth as well as children and hatred brewed in the midst of poor interpersonal communication. Communication has always been the best remedy not only in the prevention of conflicts but also in the resolution of conflict. Excellent communication requires engaging parties to apply the rules of turn-taking effectively.