A Potpourri of Vestiges Review
By Tanmay Shukla
By Tanmay Shukla
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
It is not often that a new film leaves me speechless,
it usually happens when I pick a title from the all time greats list. However,
it happened last year when I saw Zvyagintsev’s Loveless, and it has happened
again with Roma. Alfonso Cuarón having already made great films like Children
of Men and Gravity comes back after five years with his most personal film, Roma,
which is without a doubt a masterpiece.
Roma opens with the camera pointed
downwards, at the tiled floor which is slowly washed over by water and soap,
over and over again as the title sequence rolls in. I wonder if Alfonso had the
foresight that his film was also going to do the same with his audience, swamping
them with unfeigned emotions.
Roma revolves around a functional family in
1970s which gradually becomes dysfunctional. Antonio is a doctor in Mexico City
with a beautiful wife and four lovely young children. The movie is not about
them exactly. It closely looks at one of their maids, Cleo. This is what
separates Roma, makes it novel and an audacious attempt. Where other films
would pay attention on the owners, Cuarón finds a hero in a maid.
Sofia is the mother, played by Marina Di
Tavera. Antonio runs off with his mistress. Fermin who shows off his martial
arts skills to impress Cleo leaves her when he learns she is pregnant with his
child. Sofia announces one night when she is inebriated: “Women are always
alone.” No matter where they come from and what their status is they share this
one, important similarity.
Cleo, played by Yaritza Aparicio is a kind,
shy, sincere and a brave woman. She and Adela (the other maid) take care of
every work. Cleo loves the children and children love her too. She has a family
in her village where she doesn’t want to go. She has people but in many ways
she is alone. In one scene where she is playing dead, she says: “Hey, I like
being dead.”
Technically too, Roma is flawless. It is
shot in black and white and those compositions are outstanding. Cuarón shot on
large format digital Alexa 65 instead of celluloid. He said, “If this is a film
that’s a look at the past through the prism of the present — it needed to be
contemporary: pristine, not grainy.” The camera in Roma has a mind of its own. Super
slow, slow or fast, it moves a lot which was made possible by the production
design of Eugenio Caballero, who recreated Cuarón family home with movable
walls. Production values and art direction are also meticulously done which
make Roma visually exquisite and rich.
Cuarón decided to be his own DP when academy
award winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity) wasn’t available. He has
made use of mid shots throughout the movie. Some of the best shots you are ever
going to see in modern cinema featured in Cuarón last two films, and in Roma
the tracking shots are again on a very different level. The camera moves in a
heightening frenzy. Roma achieves its rhythm from the camera movement which
more than compensates for the lack of a dedicated soundtrack.
Apart from the family, Mexico City is also
an object of Alfonso Cuarón focus. 1970s was a tumultuous period where the city
was undergoing through rapid political and social changes. This happens in the
backdrop of the disintegration of the family.
Roma is poetic—delightful, nostalgic and
deeply affecting. It is also incredibly human and has the truthfulness of
documentary filmmaking. Part of that comes from Cuarón’s decision to cast
non-actors (who resemble the people in his childhood). The passion and honesty
comes from the fact that it is rooted in Cuarón’s own life which is why it
gives a feeling of a lived experience, a reflection on observations and
experiences. Sometimes a directors’ best work is not their most personal, and
the most personal work can at times err on the indulgence side. Cuarón’s Roma
is both uncompromising in vision as well as in execution.
The ending of Roma is sublime. Cleo can’t
swim but she risks her life to save the two drowning children. Then, she has an
epiphany and she bursts into tears. She blames herself for the loss of her own
child. Afterwards, she is better. There is a hope in eyes of both the women and
so in ours. A must watch film!
Rating: 9/10
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated!
Roma - Official Trailer
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated!
Roma - Official Trailer
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