Roma

December 9, 2018 at 6:47 pm | Posted in 2018 | Leave a comment
Tags: Alfonso Cuarón, Black and White Film, Carlos Peralta, Daniela Demesa, Diego Cortina Autrey, Drama, Marco Graf, Marina de Tavira, Movie Review, Period Piece, Verónica García, Yalitza Aparicio

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Alfonso Cuarón has given the world some wonderful movies. There is the sweet, sexy “Y Tu Mamá También,” the bold and frightening “Children of Men,” the best “Harry Potter” in the series (“Prisoner of Azkaban,” of course), and the beautiful “Gravity.” Cuarón is a master filmmaker in his prime and “Roma” is his masterwork. Perhaps like Jodorowsky, he is at his best when he is at his most personal. Here he is digging into his own childhood in La Roma district of Mexico City where he grew up. The film follows a well-to-do Anglo-Mexican family and their Indian housekeeper in 1970 and ’71. Ultimately, it is about how women of two different socio-economic classes deal with betrayal by the men in their lives, and how they find the strength to persevere. Not only did Cuarón write and direct the film, but he was his own cinematographer and he should absolutely win an Oscar for the job he did. This was a stunningly gorgeous film! Filmed entirely in black and white, each scene was nevertheless so full of color and energy. Despite having no musical score at all, this was not a quiet film. Things were happening on screen constantly. In fact, one of the truly brilliant things Cuarón did was to force a conflict in the audience between the foreground and background– what should we be paying attention to? In an amazing scene early on, we have two people tightly framed in the foreground, on the left, in a dark movie theater. Meanwhile, a very dramatic film plays behind them and fills most of the screen. Our eyes are constantly being drawn to the slapstick action comedy (which happens to be in English) and away from the real drama happening quietly in the corner. He does this over and over and over throughout the film (eg a singing man and a forest fire, a loud dynamic crowd and a sad young woman, a mother on a hospital table and her child in the background, and on). This technique keeps the audience on edge and suggests that so many of life’s important moments are happening underneath the flashy stuff. Also, scene after scene had an amazing depth of field: a huge crowd in the streets, a beautiful valley, a roiling ocean. There was just so much to see in every scene. This film is a visual feast that demands rewatching again and again on the biggest screen you can find. But there is more than just imagery here. There is also warmth, genuine humor, heartbreak, strength, and healing. The film is filled with so many small moments. Moments that feel absolutely real. Moments that bring depth to all the central characters. You’ll love this family just for being like so many families we all know. You will root for them and you will feel their very real pain. There are no cataclysms here, just moments of life being lived and survived. But it is that normalcy that gives the film its weight. And it also gives us one of the most heart-wrenching scene I have seen in years. Every moment of every scene felt exactly right to me. And the ending felt perfect. This is not a traditional story with a traditional story arc. It is something far more than that. This is an homage to strong women and the families they raise.