Roma is directed by Alfonso Cuaron and stars Yalitza Aparicio and Marina De Tavira.
Drama. Released 2018.
Roma is a semi-autobiographical story that chronicles a year-in-the-life of a middle class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.
Quite frankly, there is nothing like this film. Watching this was one of the most unique and enthralling experiences I have ever had. Roma is a masterpiece, and will be remembered and talked for decades to come as one of the greatest cinematic achievements. It is abundantly clear that this film is a monumental part of Alfonso Cuaron's versatile and breath-taking body of work, but also a film which, like no other, he has an incredibly strong emotional, sentimental attachment to it.
Roma has three notable sequences which all have the potential to be dissected, analysed and taught for decades to come, and images that I will never shake. Some truly harrowing, beautiful, honest and devastating imagery is used here.
The performances from Yalitzia Aparicio and Marina De Tavira are absolutely deserving of all the awards praise they are receiving. The nuanced subtlety of Aparicio’s delivery opposite the blatant realism of De Tavira’s initially makes for a compellingly harsh power-dynamic, but the way their dynamic progresses from something distant to something incredibly dear in such a subtle, silent manner is incredibly powerful and allows the audience’s reflection and realisation to fill these gaps of silence, therefore the relationship between these two individuals never ceasing to progress.
The one and only fault of Roma is its pacing - although it is meant to be a slow-paced, realistic drama, nothing of major significance takes place within the first hour or so. I am very aware that this kind of film is not plot-driven and its not supposed to be, but for general audiences I think the first half will be a struggle to get through for some people. However, this could also be considered a strength of Roma, since there's something uniquely compelling about watching the very mundane, day-to-day process of this introverted woman's life through Cuaron's masterful, visionary eye. In addition, this day-to-day process we witness makes the world which Cuaron creates feel lived in, and upon reflection, you as the viewer will feel like you lived there too.
A+
Roma has three notable sequences which all have the potential to be dissected, analysed and taught for decades to come, and images that I will never shake. Some truly harrowing, beautiful, honest and devastating imagery is used here.
The performances from Yalitzia Aparicio and Marina De Tavira are absolutely deserving of all the awards praise they are receiving. The nuanced subtlety of Aparicio’s delivery opposite the blatant realism of De Tavira’s initially makes for a compellingly harsh power-dynamic, but the way their dynamic progresses from something distant to something incredibly dear in such a subtle, silent manner is incredibly powerful and allows the audience’s reflection and realisation to fill these gaps of silence, therefore the relationship between these two individuals never ceasing to progress.
The one and only fault of Roma is its pacing - although it is meant to be a slow-paced, realistic drama, nothing of major significance takes place within the first hour or so. I am very aware that this kind of film is not plot-driven and its not supposed to be, but for general audiences I think the first half will be a struggle to get through for some people. However, this could also be considered a strength of Roma, since there's something uniquely compelling about watching the very mundane, day-to-day process of this introverted woman's life through Cuaron's masterful, visionary eye. In addition, this day-to-day process we witness makes the world which Cuaron creates feel lived in, and upon reflection, you as the viewer will feel like you lived there too.
A+
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