Directed by:
Alfonso CuarónScreenplay:
Alfonso CuarónCinematography:
Alfonso CuarónCast:
Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, Carlos Peralta, Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa, Nancy García García, Verónica García, Andy Cortés (more)VOD (1)
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Alfonso Cuaron writes and directs this drama starring Yalitza Aparicio as Cleo, a maid in the household of a middle class family in Colonia Roma, Mexico City. Sofia and Antonio (Marina de Tavira and Fernando Grediaga) live with Sofia's mother Teresa (Veronica Garcia) and their four children. With Antonio away a lot on alleged business, Sofia turns to a special friendship which she has with her maid, Cleo. When Cleo finds out that she is pregnant, Sofia and Teresa offer to take care of her in her time of need. (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (13)
Roma isn’t love at first sight, it’s not a film that would hook me in the first minutes keep me hooked all the way till the end. But, after two or three days, it did grow on me. Cuarón this time delivers a detached view into a couple of months of the life of a broken Mexican family, mainly that of their maid, Cleo. The story takes place in a sort of by the way manner, with the camera following relative “non-stories”. But each of those fragments compose a surprisingly rich mosaic of human destinies and by the end the viewer must acknowledge that a lot has actually happened. The similarities with Czech films that in the microcosm of one family tell wider stories with a universal reach are not entirely out of place. Watching it in the cinema is certainly worth it, the camera work and, in particular, the sound are top-notch. One of the films of the year. #svetozorcinema
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A film with the very distinctive signature of its creator, Roma tells a story about the fragile aspects of life more through its visual art than through the faces and dialogue of its characters. Though it does work with dialogue and facial expressions (and Yalitza Aparicio is great), it does not offer the audience a universally appealing, traditionally emotional message (the film doesn’t even have any “viewer-manipulating” original music). After using his extraordinary filmmaking talent for the commercial blockbuster Gravity, Cuarón wanted to enjoy some pure filmmaking pleasure, without any obligations to studio investments. Roma is a brilliant piece of art in which I admired every shot (three or four scenes were quite disturbing to me) and perceived and acknowledged all of the social references (class-based society, the extraordinary strength of a woman with a difficult fate), but it did not engage me emotionally as much as Gravity or Children of Men.
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The surreal power of this film, I think, stems from three things. The first is actually a very ordinary story of a completely awkward main protagonist, which is almost documentary-authentic, personal and 100% impressive thanks to the ordinariness and the awkwardness. The second thing is, without exaggeration, the masterful direction of Alfonso Cuarón. That really needs to be seen. You could create the perfect art photograph from perhaps every shot, it's all thought out to the smallest detail and the black and white camera with the hearty help of sound (something we can't see at all, just we hear it) makes it a feast for the eyes (for example the monumental forest fire scene). The third thing is how the story and presentation “work together" - everything is natural, long camera rides or still shots do not distract from what's happening right now, the scenes beautifully complement each other, form a single whole, etc. I was originally expecting something from Roma in the style of Tornatore’s Malena. It's a completely different film though, completely great in a different way. And the scenes in the maternity ward or on the beach... You simply do not forget them.
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I feel like I have to like Roma if I want to consider myself a film connoisseur. I'm not even close to being one. I'm just a casual viewer. I watch movies that I assume I might enjoy, or ones I want to see if I might happen to enjoy. This movie was in the latter group. I found the answer. I didn't much enjoy Roma. It was too "artsy" and lethargic for me. What I can't deny this film, however, is the atmosphere and the interesting cinematography. The film certainly has other bonuses, but unfortunately I can't appreciate them properly, at least not yet.
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The best works of the Czechoslovak new wave (although Fellini would know one in that) has just grown to include a related Mexican cousin, who in the circles of “more demanding" viewers can perhaps not even evoke many captivating Mexican waves. Which is so telling that I will forgive the originally intended hymns for every single aspect, from non-actors through filming and sounding to the sophistication of the narrative, which completely fulfills the saying “the devil is hidden in the details". What Cuarón, as a screenwriter / cinematographer / director, can “as if inadvertently" do in mise-en-scène (or purely noise outside the picture) in mere hints, is more than admirable. To make matters worse, despite the seemingly primordial coldness, this “celebration of ordinary strong women in our lives" is also captivating and arousing emotions like a few movies in recent years. Roma looks like a film that was five decades earlier. However, thanks to its qualities, it would not be forgotten, even if it was actually created fifty years ago. On the contrary, it would be lovingly remembered in the intentions “such master pieces are unfortunately no longer filmed today". Thanks to Cuarón, however, this is not the case; and for that one must be infinitely grateful, whether ultimately Roma is his cup of coffee or not.
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