Roma 2018
I have been waiting for the Oscar bait movies to come out and Roma seems to be one of the first in a group of them here in December. Directed by Alphonso Cuaron, who also did Children of Men and Gravity, this movie is a classic art film, filmed in black and white and spoken in Spanish with English subtitles about an upper middle class family and their two domestics in the suburbs of Mexico City during 1970. This is basically Cuaron making a movie about his childhood. While it seems like nothing much is happening, there is actually quite a bit going on, both within the lives of the people in the movie as well as in Mexico. It is topping a lot of Top 10 lists now being published by critics. And while it is a solid film, it seems so much like many, many other personal artsy foreign language films I have seen. I think you could tell people it was made in the 70’s and most people wouldn’t know it wasn’t. It is a story about what should be a comfortable life, but visited by a tough reality. The acting seems good, but it is always hard to tell when you don’t know the language. The main character, the maid, doesn’t speak much so there are a lot of shots of her just being concerned. There is no real plot, but there are events. It is a nice peephole into Mexico during 1970 and will certainly be much appreciated by those who can remember that place and period. For me it is good, but maybe a little too personal for my tastes.
Written: 09 Dec 2018