I have finally had the opportunity to watch Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, and I was left with somehow a bitter taste. It was not because the movie is bad, far from that, but it is left unfinished, or, at least this is what I feel. I’m sure I’m not alone. The movie was exemplary acted by everyone involved. Some critics consider Roma the best movie of the decade. Which one, I wonder, 2010-2020, or 2009-2019? 2019 just started and there is time to judge for the next year. I don’t subscribe to this still hazardous affirmation.
Marina de Tavira, Yalitza Aparicio, and all the kids
[source: imdb.com]
Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma – Plot
Maybe I missed something, but I didn’t notice that this movie’s action happens in the certain Ciudad de Mexico’s “Colonia Roma” neighborhood. The title (as a hint) can be relevant for a Mexican, or for someone familiar with the places, I guess. Also, there is an upper-middle-class mention everywhere, about the family status depicted in the movie. If the chorus says that the main subject of this film is Cleo’s devotion, one of the maids serving in the house, I think that it is actually her awakening. Now this “upper-middle-class” thing is disputable. With a very spacious building, two cars, a Volkswagen and a luxurious Ford Galaxy, plus three servants, it seems that the middle class lived very well in those times. It is 1970, and the script lingers through 1971 (there is a New Year party there) when the ’68 European leftist students movements’ finally reaches Mexico.
Marina de Tavira and Fernando Grediaga in Roma
The family of a medical doctor leaves in this house together with the wife’s mother. They are continually helped around by two maids and the chauffeur. The servants have to be always present when someone leaves the house or comes back from the city. The inside maid, Cleo, seems to be the most solicited. She is falsely treated as an adopted family member, but she is bullied around (especially by the house mistress) almost on spot. She wakes up the four kids, she tucks them in when they have to sleep, she tighten after everyone in the house, she switches off all the lamps (which almost regularly the kids are switching on the next minute), she helps with the dishes, and many, many more things, you can imagine. Cleo is a short sturdy country girl. Her mother’s land is abusively requisitioned by the government’s thugs and she can’t visit to console her, you’ll see why if you’ll watch the movie.
Cast
Yalitza Aparicio is Cleodegaria “Cleo” Gutiérrez, the family’s handmaid. Marina de Tavira is Sofía, the house’s mistress. Fernando Grediaga is Antonio, Sofía’s husband, a medical doctor. Jorge Antonio Guerrero is Fermín, Cleo’s boyfriend for a very short time.
Marina de Tavira and Yalitza Aparicio in Roma
There are also four kids: Pepe, Sofi, Toño, and Paco.
Nancy García is Adela, Cleo’s friend, the other maid who mostly cooks and washes the family’s clothes. Verónica García as Sofía’s mother. She doesn’t help around, but she is treated like the Queen Mother, instead. José Manuel Guerrero Mendoza is Adela’s rocker boyfriend.
Trailer
The trailer is a little revealing, but not too much. I have avoided spoilers, as usual.
Some Trivia About the Director, Alfonso Cuaron
The movie is written, directed, and produced by Alfonso Cuarón, presented on Rodolfo Grimaldi Blog with Great Expectations. It was nominated for numerous Oscars, Golden Globes, etc… At this article’s publishing moment, Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma already won 139 awards (open for more) and still has 153 nominations.
Alfonso Cuarón is considered one of the three best Mexican directors, the other two being Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro. I consider him by far, the best of these three. He is very positive by comparison.
Roma – Poster
Roma is tremendously long (135 minutes), but it has a vintage air, because of the black and white image. Alfonso Cuarón won the Oscar twice in 2014, for Gravity: Best Directing and Best Editing. He is famous for Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men. The maid, Cleo, played by Yalitza Aparicio, is an amateur, she never acted before. Great achievement for her, directly a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her first apparition on screen, don’t you think?
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