Roma Movie Review - Slice of Life
Director Alfonso Cuarón's Roma is a semi-autobiographical which is inspired by Cuarón's upbringing in Mexico City. It follows a live-in housekeeper who works in a middle-class family and how they face some difficult situations in life.
Cast - Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Fernando Grediaga, Jorge Antonio Guerrero, Nancy García
Directed By - Alfonso Cuarón
Genre - Drama
How do you even begin describing something as breathtaking as Roma, the new film by Alfonso Cuarón, which depicts the life of a family and their live-in maid during the 1970's Mexico City? The film opens with a shot of water cleaning up the driveway. The water reflects the big sky under which a plane flies by. After the opening credits, we are introduced to Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), the housemaid who was cleaning the driveway. She works for Sofia (Marina de Tavira) who has a husband named Antonio (Fernando Grediaga) and four children. Everything appears to be calm and quiet as the camera moves sideways giving us a view of the surrounding area. It seems as if it is looking around like a spectator making a mental image of the surrounding as if it wants to look at it one last time before everything changes. And everything does changes.
Roma is said to be Alfonso Cuarón's most personal movie. It is based on his upbringing in Mexico City. It is one of those films that speaks visually. The dialogues are normal, everyday conversations that you have with one another which becomes serious as the film progresses. There are no loud musical cues to underline the drama. Everything takes place in real time with mostly a wide-angle shot that sucks you inside the 1970s Mexico. The use of black and white frames further deepens the world we are taken in. The camera observes and not judges the disturbed times and the characters situations. In an interview, Cuarón said that this is a modern movie that looks into the past. As for the colour of the frames, he said that the film is about Cleo, the tune was memory, and it was black and white.
Since Roma is partly inspired by Cuarón's nanny Libo, the main character here is Cleo who tends the house, plays with the kids and cleans the poop. Her relationship with the family members appears to be friendly, but she is reminded of her status now and then like in a scene where she while cleaning up the table sits down to watch TV when Sofia asks to get tea for the doctor. At the surface, everything seems normal, whatever happens, takes place very deep inside. For instance, Cleo gets pregnant, and the boy leaves her. But instead of crying and locking herself in a room, she continues to go on working for the family which doesn't give her a chance to grieve. She smiles in front of the children while deep inside she mourns for her baby which reminds me of that masterful intense scene that takes place in the operation theatre at the time of delivery. The camera remains still and focused on the subject while we helplessly watch the pain and suffering of the character. It doesn't let us look away from the situation.
But perhaps the most powerful scene for me was the one which took place on the beach where everyone finds closure with one another, and Cleo finally gets the much-needed breath of air that allows her to finally let go of the burden which she carried for the larger amount of time. She goes in the water due to some reasons which clear the hurdle that earlier prevented her feelings to come out. Everybody sits there holding one another while the waves wash down the shore and the beach gives them the space to be with one another.
The acting on display is raw, and the performances of the actors feel very real as if they had forgotten the presence of the camera like they had become oblivious of the fact that they are "acting" in a film. All of them were outstanding in giving a flawless performance.
Alfonso Cuarón is not only the director but also the writer and the cinematographer of this movie. He had made the film according to his rules and requirements. His love and dedication become evident from the very first to the last shot of the film. No wonder critics are calling it as one of the best films of this year. It deserves every praise from all the corners and some more that it will get now that it is out there streaming on Netflix where everyone could watch it. In his review, Brian Tallerico said that he missed Roger Ebert while watching Roma and felt overwhelmed by the thought of him writing the review for this movie. I do feel the sadness behind his statement as it's not every day you get to see films like Roma which pushes the boundaries of storytelling through the medium of cinema. A "Great Movie" indeed.
Rating - 5/5
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Cast - Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Fernando Grediaga, Jorge Antonio Guerrero, Nancy García
Directed By - Alfonso Cuarón
Genre - Drama
How do you even begin describing something as breathtaking as Roma, the new film by Alfonso Cuarón, which depicts the life of a family and their live-in maid during the 1970's Mexico City? The film opens with a shot of water cleaning up the driveway. The water reflects the big sky under which a plane flies by. After the opening credits, we are introduced to Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), the housemaid who was cleaning the driveway. She works for Sofia (Marina de Tavira) who has a husband named Antonio (Fernando Grediaga) and four children. Everything appears to be calm and quiet as the camera moves sideways giving us a view of the surrounding area. It seems as if it is looking around like a spectator making a mental image of the surrounding as if it wants to look at it one last time before everything changes. And everything does changes.
Roma is said to be Alfonso Cuarón's most personal movie. It is based on his upbringing in Mexico City. It is one of those films that speaks visually. The dialogues are normal, everyday conversations that you have with one another which becomes serious as the film progresses. There are no loud musical cues to underline the drama. Everything takes place in real time with mostly a wide-angle shot that sucks you inside the 1970s Mexico. The use of black and white frames further deepens the world we are taken in. The camera observes and not judges the disturbed times and the characters situations. In an interview, Cuarón said that this is a modern movie that looks into the past. As for the colour of the frames, he said that the film is about Cleo, the tune was memory, and it was black and white.
Since Roma is partly inspired by Cuarón's nanny Libo, the main character here is Cleo who tends the house, plays with the kids and cleans the poop. Her relationship with the family members appears to be friendly, but she is reminded of her status now and then like in a scene where she while cleaning up the table sits down to watch TV when Sofia asks to get tea for the doctor. At the surface, everything seems normal, whatever happens, takes place very deep inside. For instance, Cleo gets pregnant, and the boy leaves her. But instead of crying and locking herself in a room, she continues to go on working for the family which doesn't give her a chance to grieve. She smiles in front of the children while deep inside she mourns for her baby which reminds me of that masterful intense scene that takes place in the operation theatre at the time of delivery. The camera remains still and focused on the subject while we helplessly watch the pain and suffering of the character. It doesn't let us look away from the situation.
But perhaps the most powerful scene for me was the one which took place on the beach where everyone finds closure with one another, and Cleo finally gets the much-needed breath of air that allows her to finally let go of the burden which she carried for the larger amount of time. She goes in the water due to some reasons which clear the hurdle that earlier prevented her feelings to come out. Everybody sits there holding one another while the waves wash down the shore and the beach gives them the space to be with one another.
The acting on display is raw, and the performances of the actors feel very real as if they had forgotten the presence of the camera like they had become oblivious of the fact that they are "acting" in a film. All of them were outstanding in giving a flawless performance.
Alfonso Cuarón is not only the director but also the writer and the cinematographer of this movie. He had made the film according to his rules and requirements. His love and dedication become evident from the very first to the last shot of the film. No wonder critics are calling it as one of the best films of this year. It deserves every praise from all the corners and some more that it will get now that it is out there streaming on Netflix where everyone could watch it. In his review, Brian Tallerico said that he missed Roger Ebert while watching Roma and felt overwhelmed by the thought of him writing the review for this movie. I do feel the sadness behind his statement as it's not every day you get to see films like Roma which pushes the boundaries of storytelling through the medium of cinema. A "Great Movie" indeed.
Rating - 5/5
Follow Me On:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/vikas_yadav98
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/vikasy199/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vimovies123/
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