Roma is a Mexican language Black and white film. It is written, directed, shot and edited by Alfonso Cuaron. The film stars debut actress Yalitza Aparicio in the lead role as Cleo, a domestic help. The film is set in the Roma district of Mexico in the 1970s and follows a year in the life of Cleo and her employers. (a family consisting of a Grandmother, a couple and their four kids)
The best movies and characters mostly are inspired by a writer or a director's real life experiences. The real characters or certain characteristics of theirs is what lends weight to the character or work of art and make it seem real and not reel. But, what if an entire movie was literally taken from memory? Like a faithful adaptation of a autobiography with no aim to make it over dramatic for the screen? Director Alfonso Cuaron has said that 90% of the movie is taken from memories of his own growing up years and a portrait of life in Mexico in the 1970s.
The movie has been presented to us exactly as he visualized it.
I do not understand or speak Mexican which leads me to observe the images on screen even more than I would do had the film been dubbed in English. The subtitles are present on screen, but having been conditioned to witness the subtitles as a tool with which to enhance the audio I hear, the subtitles were lost on screen, as I chose to let the visuals convey the story to me.
The movie is in Black and White, which automatically conditions audiences to the fact that the film is set in the past and leads them to decode the content in a manner quite different from what they would have done had it been in colour.
It seeks to eliminate the distractions on screen thus enabling the audience to focus solely on Cleo and her life inside and outside the house.
Such a character is usually a background filler in stories. Even if they are the leads, films focus just on said characters perspective on the house where they are employed and not their life in detail.
This is a film for cinephiles, as it is filled with excellent camerawork and pans that help drive home what the visuals on screen are indicating. You have to be able to spot it and know what it is. Even if you are unfamiliar with the technical terms you can appreciate it.
The life of the help is mostly associated with the silence of the house for a large part of the day. They are a part of the family, but apart from the family.
Their days are spent doing repititive tasks, up and down and up and down in the same manner akin to the motion of a pendulum. The camera work with its positioning and lateral panning drives home that fact to the audience. The silence in the film followed by the sudden cacophony of noise is a nice touch as well.
The scene in the hospital drives home the fact that we don't really know the small insignificant but highly important things about the servant. Yet without them the day to day activities are incomplete.
Throughout the movie Cuaron let's realisation hit us slowly. Like in real life how light dawns upon us so late and so suddenly.
These moments are very relatable for some.
When Alfonso Cuaron accepted one of the Golden Globe awards for Roma he said "
Cinema builds bridges and tears down walls with other cultures. Understand how much we have in common."
The film focuses on the minute details such as the raindrops hitting the floor, breaking into multiple smaller droplets, the drops of water dripping from the clothes on the string whilst she is washing another set of clothes and the translucent nature of wet clothes through which the sun flashes through, driving home the fact that it is a hot day.
For some this film is overhyped, for something so simple. But, isn't this hype needed? Honestly who would've watched it hadn't it been so hyped up. Of course the Academy would've and probably rewarded it as well (in the foreign language category) and there would have been a furore over the Academy rewarding movies that people don't watch. Moving back to the simple. The movie was hyped up and there was buzz about it and it is just so simple, which is what makes it so extravagant. It doesn't strive to make itself dramatic. Roma is just a mirror of our own lives in some way or the other.
Based on the precursor awards, Roma is a among the frontrunners to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and we already know that it has wrapped up the win in the Best Foreign Langauge Film. The film feels like a documentary and almost is, but Netlfix has presented it as a movie. Focus on the word Netflix. The biggest obstacle for the film to overcome with the Academy seeming averse to rewarding work which deviates from the traditional form of movie consumption in the theatres(Netflix did have a 3 week theatre screening before releasing it on the streaming service). Will It overcome? We shall find out. But until then this film must be observed, appreciated and admired by all. Films aren't more authentic than this.
The best movies and characters mostly are inspired by a writer or a director's real life experiences. The real characters or certain characteristics of theirs is what lends weight to the character or work of art and make it seem real and not reel. But, what if an entire movie was literally taken from memory? Like a faithful adaptation of a autobiography with no aim to make it over dramatic for the screen? Director Alfonso Cuaron has said that 90% of the movie is taken from memories of his own growing up years and a portrait of life in Mexico in the 1970s.
The movie has been presented to us exactly as he visualized it.
I do not understand or speak Mexican which leads me to observe the images on screen even more than I would do had the film been dubbed in English. The subtitles are present on screen, but having been conditioned to witness the subtitles as a tool with which to enhance the audio I hear, the subtitles were lost on screen, as I chose to let the visuals convey the story to me.
The movie is in Black and White, which automatically conditions audiences to the fact that the film is set in the past and leads them to decode the content in a manner quite different from what they would have done had it been in colour.
It seeks to eliminate the distractions on screen thus enabling the audience to focus solely on Cleo and her life inside and outside the house.
Such a character is usually a background filler in stories. Even if they are the leads, films focus just on said characters perspective on the house where they are employed and not their life in detail.
This is a film for cinephiles, as it is filled with excellent camerawork and pans that help drive home what the visuals on screen are indicating. You have to be able to spot it and know what it is. Even if you are unfamiliar with the technical terms you can appreciate it.
The life of the help is mostly associated with the silence of the house for a large part of the day. They are a part of the family, but apart from the family.
Their days are spent doing repititive tasks, up and down and up and down in the same manner akin to the motion of a pendulum. The camera work with its positioning and lateral panning drives home that fact to the audience. The silence in the film followed by the sudden cacophony of noise is a nice touch as well.
The scene in the hospital drives home the fact that we don't really know the small insignificant but highly important things about the servant. Yet without them the day to day activities are incomplete.
Throughout the movie Cuaron let's realisation hit us slowly. Like in real life how light dawns upon us so late and so suddenly.
These moments are very relatable for some.
When Alfonso Cuaron accepted one of the Golden Globe awards for Roma he said "
Cinema builds bridges and tears down walls with other cultures. Understand how much we have in common."
The film focuses on the minute details such as the raindrops hitting the floor, breaking into multiple smaller droplets, the drops of water dripping from the clothes on the string whilst she is washing another set of clothes and the translucent nature of wet clothes through which the sun flashes through, driving home the fact that it is a hot day.
For some this film is overhyped, for something so simple. But, isn't this hype needed? Honestly who would've watched it hadn't it been so hyped up. Of course the Academy would've and probably rewarded it as well (in the foreign language category) and there would have been a furore over the Academy rewarding movies that people don't watch. Moving back to the simple. The movie was hyped up and there was buzz about it and it is just so simple, which is what makes it so extravagant. It doesn't strive to make itself dramatic. Roma is just a mirror of our own lives in some way or the other.
Based on the precursor awards, Roma is a among the frontrunners to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and we already know that it has wrapped up the win in the Best Foreign Langauge Film. The film feels like a documentary and almost is, but Netlfix has presented it as a movie. Focus on the word Netflix. The biggest obstacle for the film to overcome with the Academy seeming averse to rewarding work which deviates from the traditional form of movie consumption in the theatres(Netflix did have a 3 week theatre screening before releasing it on the streaming service). Will It overcome? We shall find out. But until then this film must be observed, appreciated and admired by all. Films aren't more authentic than this.
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