Review of Roma (2018) by Everett — 16 Dec 2018

I'm amazed that few, if any, critics have been talking about the great divide in this beautiful, poignant film: The disparity between men and women. It is a tribute to women - Cleo, the protagonist, but also all who prominently appear: The other housekeeper, Adela, as well as the two patrician women in the household (though they are flawed, they are kind and loving overall), right down to the female obstetrician. On the other hand, we have the men who abandon them and their families; the shooters; the posers like Fermin who show off to a point that becomes downright ridiculous (you will remember that scene); the ones in military bands who march through the streets for no apparent reason at all ... and who of course are flying the planes that intersect the sky throughout. In the big martial arts demonstration in the field, who among them is able to execute the pose demonstrated by the teacher? The martial arts students are all falling over, while (did I see this wrong? The movie begs repeat viewings) isn't it Cleo, among the women on the sidelines watching all this, who pulls it off? Is there one likable male character here at all?

The ultimate message I got was that it is women who know how to love, while men are absorbed in themselves, to the point of disruption, and the most profound effect of this disparity is on the children. Women save and nurture while men work against them. The betrayed and abandoned wife says bluntly that women are always alone. Here, they are in one sense - that men disrespect them and/or fail to even stick around; but the women actually aren't alone. It's love that binds them to each other, and to the children who could not thrive without them. What an homage to the women who made Cuaron such a sensitive director, and an exception to his gender (as he sees it) in doing so.