Roma- A Cinematic Milestone
How do you describe a film like ‘Roma’? There’re some films that come around and seem to burst onto the screen with universal praise and storm their way through the awards season. This year we got something different, we got a film that I can confidently say is downright beautiful, personal and exquisitely crafted. Alfonso Cuaron is a director whose films tend to be incongruent, as he goes from a Harry Potter film to a film like ‘Children of Men’, it's clear he's a decisive and visionary director, he wants to make the film that he wants to make. This is especially prominent when it comes to ‘Roma’, as Cuaron revisits his childhood experiences and tells a personal and emotional story with an astounding amount of auteur precision.
‘Roma’ puts you directly in the story of its protagonist Cleo with its immersive qualities, as we experience the complexities of her life and we witness Cuaron retracing this story with a sense of poetic reminiscence. He finds this excellent balance between aspects of symbolic subtlety and raw unfiltered representation, constantly wavering between scenes which are genuinely unwatchable and scenes that feel real and pure. The tone is so strong, you drift through every scene with an almost melancholy yet human feel to it. This is due to the fantastic duality of this society that Cuaron explores, Cleo's story intertwines through the story of this Mexican family as they go through their own struggles and conflict. In many ways, the audience understands the complexity of each situation and the broad range of emotions these characters must be going through. Superbly realised, often disturbingly honest but deeply personal, a film which is not afraid to tell its story how the story deserves to be told.
I find it’s always really difficult to fully appreciate a performance if you don’t speak the language they are speaking. But there is something about the way this film is written that relies so much on subtlety and visual storytelling that every single character feels realised and compelling. Cleo goes through such a vivid story that by the end of the film you are left knowing her strength and her resilience as a character through simplistic and experimental means. This film features some of the best child actors of recent memory, all full of realistic quirks and genuine compassion, Cuaron obviously put a lot of effort into understanding the diversity of personalities that children have and portraying this through his writing. The parents of the family stand out in the film, the Mum is one of the most honest portrayals of parenthood I’ve seen, avoiding clichés and managing to maintain the pleasures and hardships that happen without even being the Centrepoint of the narrative. Cuaron is economic with his character writing, there is no time wasted on telling the audience what he’s already shown, he picks exactly what he wants to show in order for the emotional impact to land.
Not only is the film incredibly personal, and beautifully directed it is also one of the most stunning technological achievements of the year. Cuaron did the cinematography himself and I think that is the best decision, there is a distinct vision in the films visuals that wouldn’t work without such a visionary idea. In a surprising turn of experimental filmmaking, Cuaron chooses to utilise this repeated style of shooting each scene; often fixing the camera and utilising very slow pans that reveal key narrative beats. Shots last for minutes as the camera seems to float omnisciently, Cuaron doesn’t cut away for the toughest moments and we are left suspended in every scene as we view the events without a second of restraint. He also manages to create beauty out of every situation, like his writing he doesn’t restrain himself and pushes every frame to be the most impactful it can. To shoot a film in monochrome is often seen as cliché nowadays, however I think Cuaron uses it as a thematic device to give the film that feeling of a memory, I can’t see the film working in colour as the beauty of the images he presents feel cold and distant to immerse the audience in Cleo’s experiences. I think the cherry on top is a sound design that I can confidently say I have never experienced before; the film utilises very specific sound queues and a lack of score to create an incredibly immersive experience of Mexico City. It feels so crisp like Cuaron is nostalgically remembering what the sound of his Dad’s car or his Dog’s bark sounded like, and wanting to vividly portray this to the audience, so they are placed in every moment as raw as possible.
‘Roma’ has been the film I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I watched it. This review took me longer than usual because ‘Roma’ feels more than a film, it’s a very personal tribute that is masterfully crafted and I can’t put that into words. Cuaron doesn’t hold back, he has a straightforward approach which is to tell the story because at the end of the day he is a director that tells stories. But unlike his previous work, this is the film where he wanted to tell a story that held great importance to him, and he wanted to show the audience a very specific emotion. Understanding those who helped you. He shows the audience how people are the stories they carry, that we go through life facing obstacles and hardships yet sometimes we have to place these to the side to help another person who might be facing obstacles and hardships themselves. It’s an incredible and beautiful achievement and my personal favourite film of the year.
Thanks for reading!