Review of Roma (2018) by Viniciusbrito — 07 Jan 2019

Cleo works as a maid in a rich people's house, and together with them she goes into some travels, she does have her personal life relationship and goes through a lot of struggle in her life, while the mexican political situation is complicated in that time that the "El Halconazo" have happened. Directed and written by Alfonso Cuarón.

The best thing about this movie, is the outstanding technical part for sure, there are so many fantastic things in this movie about this that I don't think that it is possible to put in words, it is so giant and amazing the job that they have done with immersion, this is probably one of the movies that I have felt more immersed while watching it from all, the movie is slow, but this happens for you to hear every little thing that is happening in that place, to see and feel every little small and single thing. The photography in here is also gorgeous, the camera movimentation is so sweet, is so not intrusive, it feels that you are there, watching from far away, the way that the camera is positioned in this film, so as it is moved, quietly and slowly, all of those things together allows you to almost smell the place.

The choregography in some more agitated and with violence moments are also perfect, because you can't tell that there is one, everything feels so real, in a level that got scary.

The story in this film is, for sure the biggest problem, so as the biggest differential in here, is definely what separate people that gonna love it and find it a disgrace. The thing about the story is that first, it is really real, real in way that everything could be happening inside of your own house, or with your neighbor, so it don't have a big narrative, plot twists, a big construction, it is really simple in a way that, as I said, could be happening to anyone. Another thing about this narrative, the director wanted to make us immerse a lot in this film, wich worked 100%, but in other hand to do it so he had to use some time in order to let us feel the place, a lot of time is in simple things, like Cleo cleaning, or th owners of the house parking the car in the garage, so there a lot of time in really small things, that can make in some moments you get tired, but it works perfectly in the immersion aspect. The narrative overall being so slow does bothered me, in some moments I started having my mind somewhere else, but in others the realism really cought me, fascinated me how that could literally happening in next door.

The story does have different layers and aspects, it talks about the social difference between Cleo and the people that lives in that house, how do they treat her, and how her life is. There is the political aspect of Mexico at that time, with a lot of fights, war and death, moments that shocked a lot. And of course there is the way that Cleo sees all of that.

This is movie for me to be rewatched and get more and more, understand more and more what Cuarón was telling.

This is a story with a lot metaphors, one of the most real stories around there, really remarkable moments and scenes that I would say that already are in the history of movies.