Alfonso Cuaron has been one of the most impressive visual directors of the past 20 years, in which there is a lot of detail going on in the background, so it's no surprise that he assembles some very stunningly done scenes in "Roma". Very mundane endless scenes suddenly become filled with much action in the background, with coordinated movements of extras that invoke the great epic cinema of past decades. There are probably 5 or 6 of these moments in "Roma", which make it applause-worthy. It gets bonus points from me for more realistically depicting Mexico, unlike the Mariachi, narcos, and 'fresa' spoiled drama queens typically seen in Mexican cinema and TV. It even shows non-white Mexicans and depicts more than one language. Unfortunately, there are many scenes that lead to very little or should have required much more editing, as Cuaron creates homages not only to his childhood, but also to Bergman, Fellini, Buñuel, and the New Wave, with great skill but mixed cinematic products. Well crafted haunting and satiric images are intertwined with never-ending images so dull that make you wonder why you are not staring outside your window instead of the screen.
The screenplay is another issue. The story is far too underdeveloped to sustain interest. At it's best,"Roma" touches on themes of women being abandoned by men to manage families on their own, the mixed relationships of a family with its servants, class divisions, and the dangers to which children were exposed more easily in another era. At it's worst, "Roma" mixes in every single cliche of Latin American art cinema, essentially: "let's analyze Latin society by showing scenes in the life of a family through the eyes of the [maid/children]." Maybe this was groundbreaking in the Spanish "Veneno Para Hadas", but for the longest time, it's been every other movie in Latin American cinema, which are mostly plotless, slow, dull affairs by misguided self-proclaimed disciples of Goddard. I'm thus disappointed, as Cuaron is part of the movement to make Latin cinema more dynamic and interesting. Given this movie's accolades, I fully expect more of this same sub-type dull Latin art cinema for the next decade.
The screenplay is another issue. The story is far too underdeveloped to sustain interest. At it's best,"Roma" touches on themes of women being abandoned by men to manage families on their own, the mixed relationships of a family with its servants, class divisions, and the dangers to which children were exposed more easily in another era. At it's worst, "Roma" mixes in every single cliche of Latin American art cinema, essentially: "let's analyze Latin society by showing scenes in the life of a family through the eyes of the [maid/children]." Maybe this was groundbreaking in the Spanish "Veneno Para Hadas", but for the longest time, it's been every other movie in Latin American cinema, which are mostly plotless, slow, dull affairs by misguided self-proclaimed disciples of Goddard. I'm thus disappointed, as Cuaron is part of the movement to make Latin cinema more dynamic and interesting. Given this movie's accolades, I fully expect more of this same sub-type dull Latin art cinema for the next decade.