"There are periods in history that scar societies and moments in life that transform us as individuals." This is the story of Roma. This Mexican drama film written, co-produced, co-edited, photographed, and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. A story that chronicles a year in the life of a high-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.
In early September 2016, it was announced that Alfonso Cuarón would write and direct a project focusing on a Mexican family living in Mexico City in the 1970s. Cuarón has been talking about making this film since 2006. According to Cuarón, he has been building towards Roma since his debut, Sólo con Tu Pareja (1991). The film marks Cuarón's eighteen-year return to Mexico to make the film, a first for him since Y Tu Mamá También (2001). Cuarón calls Roma the "most essential movie" of his career. In the fall of 2016, production begin. The film was shot in sequence in 65mm black-and-white. Cuarón decided to shoot on location in Mexico City. This is one reason for the several appearances of airplanes, because they had a plane passing by every five minutes. Every scene of the movie was shot where the events depicted took place or on sets that were exact replicas. Roma is the first time that Cuarón became his own cinematographer on one of his own films. Cuarón originally intended for the film to be shot by his collaborator, Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki. Because of logistic reasons Chivo couldn't do it after he had already done some preparations. Also Cuarón didn't want to hire an English-language DP and have to translate his own experience which is why he ended up as a cinematographer. To avoid a "subjective depiction" of the period, Cuarón chose to shoot the bulk of the film in wide shots, slowing panning over a scene, taking everything in.
Roma is a powerful, mature film. It is a serious and profound drama that has something to say. Beneath the typical family drama movie that the movie is happy to advertise is another level—and below that, a much more profound level. It is a drama with startling emotional depth and complexity, set against the backdrop of class differences in Mexico. Part family album, part history class, part meditation on class, mortality and intimacy, this extraordinary little movie might be the perfect harbinger of Mexican culture. The movie has an emotional kick that lingers like a primal memory. When the year is over, Cuaron's film will be remembered as one of 2018's finest. The film will also go on to become one of Cuarón's most fascinating work - and, increasingly, an outlier in his idiosyncratic filmography.
Simon says Roma receives:
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