by Abby Koch–Foreign films have never made a big splash with audiences until this year with Roma. Roma has been receiving praise for its 1970’s Mexican tale of a nanny and the family she cares for.
Roma has a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes with a flood of positive comments from numerous critics. Roma has also received ten Oscars nominations, including a nomination for Best Film. It’s tied with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) for the most nominations for a non-English speaking film.
The film is inspired by the childhood of director Alfonso Cuarón. Cuarón is known for his work on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men, and Gravity.
The story of Roma follows a nanny named Cleo, played by Yalitza Aparcio, who is going through an unexpected pregnancy. The family Cleo works for is facing turmoil when the father leaves due to an unhappy marriage with Sofía, played by Marina de Tavira. The film goes through a year with the characters as they deal with unexpected life problems, political tension, and family drama.
Cuarón shoots beautiful imagery to this story due to his style of cinematography. The entire movie is shot in black and white but the angles and slow moving shots are powerful enough that you don’t need color. The cinematography is a definite strength in this film, exploring entire environments from slow pan shots of a room or off of a puddles reflection.
Along with cinematography, Cuarón takes great care in creating characters that you grow to love and some that you come to hate. Roma is truly a well developed character film, which is why it is so highly loved by audiences and critics.
Roma is a slow burn film, methodically building up the storyline of characters and tensions. The film doesn’t have any intense action sequences until the third act, forcing the audience to wait until then. I think this can be a possible turnoff to some due to that you have to be patient to have the film speed up, but it is worth it if you stick with it.
I was unsure that I was going to enjoy Roma when I started watching. The slow beginning pace and the kind of story I was getting into is not the usual movie I watch. I was pleasantly surprised by this movie and how much I enjoyed it.
Overall, this movie takes commitment and focus to the story that Cuarón creates. It’s a bit slow but Roma builds up the layers of the characters and the storyline. Cuarón has also shot some of the most beautiful shots in cinema history with Roma.
I give Roma 8.5/10 and definitely recommend watching it before the Oscars
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