Roma (2018)

[Ezen Baklattan]

Review, Discuss, Debate, Celebrate.

[Deja23]

Really liked this. Thought it was very good. Predictable, and lags a bit towards the end, but such a sweet story. And beautiful to watch. A

Edited December 15, 2018 by Deja23

[CoolioD1]

great movie. an intimate, personal, somewhat autobiographical story told in the most epic way possible. real hypnotizing watch. EXCELLENT sound design. kinda thing most filmmakers wouldn't think to get creative with like that telling this kind of story.

 

they really were terrible maids though. they just leave the place littered with dog turds? that's gotta be a priority one job.

Edited December 16, 2018 by CoolioD1

[titanic2187]

A slow paced, subtle yet noticeable drama told in a epic scale.

Camera panning like a moving fans.....capturing all the visual detail and the atmosphere of the scene.

Air Plane, Disaster, water, all are metaphor in the movie.

The noise of airplane that constantly heard in throughout the film, suggest that once in a while, huge noise may strike in your life but they will be gone no matter how.....

 

[The Panda]

Very good, the baby daddy was a douche though and I think he deserves a best villain nomination.

 

The beach scene at the end brings the whole thing together, emotional and well-done.  Cuaron’s fingerprint is all over it, a personal story that he finds all sorts of creative ways to make resonate.

[Rorschach]

Fantastic and powerful all around. It's an incredibly intimate and personal film told at such a large scale that really resonated with me. It's hard not to get invested in the life of this family thanks to the brilliant writing and direction of Cuaron. Sometimes, just watching people live their lives can be just as interesting as your typical summer blockbuster. Easily my favorite film of the year and without a doubt my favorite film that I've seen from Cuaron.

 

10/10

[FantasticBeasts]

Fantastic! Absolutely powerful. Cuaron's best film by a big margin.

10/10

[filmlover]

This is definitely a movie that isn’t plot-heavy and requires a ton of patience for it to really get going, but once it does, I was completely mesmerized by the day-to-day events of this family. It’s obvious that Cuaron drew from real life because of how authentic it all feels. And the use of unknown actors is perfect too. Most of all, this movie is just incredible to look at: I watched this on my plasma but can only imagine how great it would look on the big screen. Cuaron would be deserving of another Oscar. Only thing that really prevents me from completely loving it is that it felt a little too clinical for me, at least during the first half. But overall, this is quite great and a total technical achievement. A-

[Webslinger]

Tasked with following up consecutive directorial triumphs, Alfonso Cuaron delivers another stunning viewing experience in Roma. A deeply personal, reportedly semi-autobiographical film for Cuaron, Roma is a captivating slice-of-life period drama that immediately immerses viewers into its world and remains hypnotic and beautiful all the way to its concluding shot. For all the talk about the deliberate pacing in the first half of the film, I was captivated throughout the whole running time thanks to the unhurried approach Cuaron takes to making the world the protagonist lives in feel vivid. The cinematography is the most striking and beautiful work I’ve seen in any film this year; taken with the expert sound design, it makes the film feel like something that absolutely should have been readily available in cinemas before hitting Netflix streaming. As a film driven largely by the experiences of its protagonist, a heavy burden falls on lead actress Yalitza Aparicio’s shoulders, and she nails her role as housemaid Cleo. She gives a wonderfully tender, carefully observed performance that feels entirely natural and provides viewers with an easy emotional window into the film’s world. The rest of the ensemble is uniformly terrific, but Aparicio is the real revelation. Several of her scenes in the latter half of the film are remarkably powerful and become difficult to shake from memory when combined with the impeccable visual and aural power of their staging and execution. Taken as a whole, Roma is an outstanding cinematic accomplishment whose deep authenticity and raw power make it one of the most rewarding viewing experiences of the year and another worthy jewel in Cuaron’s directorial crown.

 

A

 

Stray Thoughts:

- Bummed as I am at not getting to see this film theatrically, I am at least hopeful that the ease of availability on Netflix might persuade more viewers to take a chance on it.

 

- The scene in the department store is masterful in its tonal shift, acting, and composition.

 

- I'm sure some viewers won't respond as well to the length of shots between edits, but I loved Cuaron's commitment to developing a fly-on-the-wall feeling with the cinematography and editing style. It definitely makes the film feel more intimate - and it makes the more emotionally draining scenes (like the scene where Cleo looks on at the doctors' efforts to resuscitate her baby) all the more uncomfortable and heartrending.

 

- I should be mad at Netflix for spoiling that shot of the children embracing Cleo on the beach near the end of the movie, but it's an image that works so powerfully both in and out of context that it seems like the perfect visual representation of the film. Seeing the family recognize her as indispensable in the final portion of the film feels hugely rewarding after seeing them keep her at arm's length earlier in the film. 

[Alpha]

My biggest regret is that I didn't get the chance to see this in theaters. Truly magnificent. 

 

(I'd also prefer this over A Star is Born for Best Picture, BTW.)

 

A

Edited December 30, 2018 by Alpha

[ainsleyb]

Very well directed, great cinematography.... but what a chore to watch.

 

A maid who is not very good at her job and works for an annoying family (no wonder the dad left) gets pregnant and ditched. The baby dies but she helps save two of the children from drowning, the end.

 

I was not interested in the story or her character at all, she says about 10 words throughout the whole film and it moves at such a slow pace going from one mundane scenario to the next. The opening scene is literally almost five minutes of watching water going down a drain. At least 90 minutes of this movie is watching people clean, kids running around shouting or trying to park a car.

 

The Oscars wont do them selves any favours with the general audience if a slow, black and white, spanish language film wins best pic.

 

5/10

[Plain Old Tele]

Lordy, what a movie.

[Jake Gittes]

Too in love with both its heroine and its own virtuosity. For all the love Cuaron feels for Cleo it would have been nice if he'd given her a shred of personality or expression not tied to the family. But no she's just virtue personified. What's even more frustrating is that he clearly sees e.g. the class-related complexity, and even seems to admit that he is himself not from Cleo's world and never experienced what she did... but then he chooses not to engage with that at all and keep the respectful distance to no productive end. Saw someone comment that at some point all the elaborate panning shots start looking like security footage and that's about how I felt. Only the stillbirth scene really got to me.

[TheBigYawn]

Finally got around to watching this and sadly it was a disappointment. Drama is life with all the dull bits cut out. Roma feels like life with all the dull bits that come with it. Certainly there are some good or even great things about it, but a movie that's supposedly just about the way of life isn't particularly interesting narratively. 

Edited February 6, 2019 by TheBigYawn

[filmlover]

5 hours ago, TheBigYawn said:

Finally got around to watching this and sadly it was a disappointment. Drama is life with all the dull bits cut out. Roma feels like life with all the dull bits that come with it. Certainly there are some good or even great things about it, but a movie that's supposedly just about the way of life isn't particularly interesting narratively. 

The completely natural and "dull" feel of the movie is what makes it though. To show that everyday life often really does provide the most fascinating and moving stories.

[Joel M]

On 1/24/2019 at 11:51 PM, Jake Gittes said:

For all the love Cuaron feels for Cleo it would have been nice if he'd given her a shred of personality or expression not tied to the family. But no she's just virtue personified. 

 

At first I thought I didn't love Roma because I was overhyped and found it less than the best Cuaron movies, but this is probably my real problem with it. Even if the movie was more obviously about young Cuaron, Cleo should still have been a real character.