Review of Roma (2018) by Mattbrady99 — 31 Dec 2018

“I like being dead.”.

‘Roma’ is poetic film making at its finest. One of the beautiful and unique movies of 2018. Such an experience that after it was over, I struggled to utter a word. A masterful portrayal of joy, loss, betrayal, birth and heartbreak.

I’m honestly flawed by this. I cherish these type of movies.

I love the long tracking shots that lets the audience soak in the environment and scan every corner of the frame. The cinematography is so stunning and evocative, it implanted a image forever stuck in my mindset. Every frame is so carefully precise, I could make a picture frame out of them and hang up on a wall.

None of it felt fake, just real and raw. Same thing with the performances from everyone. Yalitza Aparicio is absolutely fantastic in this movie. However, what surprised me is finding out that this is her first big role, because I, not for one second would have never guessed that. If you thought that was impressive, Aparicio was told at the last minute by Cuaron about the birth scene and how that escalates (without spoiling anything). This being her first role and given such a tricky task, which she effortlessly pulls off - it makes me question if there’s any point of going to drama school. Simply amazing.

Alfonso Cuaron is a gift to cinema. The forest fire and beach scenes proves he’s the Tarkovsky of this generation.

I won’t say no more. See it for yourself if you’re interested.