Reviews

In Roma every aspect of cinema ranging from performance to cinematography to sound design to raw gut punch moments are carried out with such care, detail and love that you can't help but be deeply immersed in the world that Cuarón builds; it's so vivid and detailed it feels like Cuarón was able to trap the past in a bottle and pour it onto the big screen for all to see. There is a strong emphasis on the visual in Roma, as Cuarón has taken the mantle of director of photography, (a position usually reserved for long-time collaborator, friend and three time Oscar winner Emmanuel 'Chivo' Lubezki) and sets out the film's own unique visual vocabulary which is undeniably beautiful but also wonderfully effective at commanding your attention and casting that wonderful spell that tricks you into forgetting that you're watching a film. As the opening credits play out over a singular shot of a tiled floor being mopped, the water reflecting a window of light into the sky where planes can be seen slowly drifting overhead, we know that we are in safe hands and oh boy do these hands feel soft and warm. The film oozes compassion and empathy, as Cuarón is most interested in examining human hardship and how women are, as the mother of the family tells Cleo, completely alone in this world, and cinema as Cuarón imagines it, is super effective at describing the afflictions of the individual. Though the film is dedicated to Cleo, the point of view of the film is not restricted to her's alone, Cuarón often places the eyeline at a child's height which helps create one of the film's most interesting dynamics that children are often completely oblivious to the darker more painful narratives swirling above their heads. The film is not that interested in hitting plot points or setting up character arcs, in fact it takes pride in the way it ignores most of the storytelling tips you'd find in Robert McKee's "Story", and that is one of Roma's biggest triumphs, it is able to devote itself to observing characters slowly change as life has its way, the film has an enormous amount of time for simply watching it's characters behave, a luxury that most films can't afford. Roma is beautiful, unique and full of compassion and fully deserving of your 2 hours 15 minutes.