Roma is a beautifully poignant movie. From the opening scene of the sky’s reflection on the water below to the closing scene of the open sky itself, the movie fills everything in between.
Admittedly, I had to look up 1970s Mexico to have a better understanding of the premise of what was happening in history at the time of this story. Living in Texas, sure, I had bits and pieces of notions of south of our border as a young child, but I had no real appreciation for the turmoil going on. And I’m sure I still don’t—at least not enough.
Roma is breaking the mold of Academy nominees. Granted, it seems at least eight or ten (I did not find a list in my cursory search; I instead found competing numbers) other foreign-language films have received the Best Picture nomination, but none so far has won. I don’t know if any has had the buzz that Roma does. But the bigger issue to me is this film’s predominant release on Netflix. This seems to be a game-changer.
Roma had a US theatrical release in November followed by availability by streaming on Netflix in December. Having not known of the movie in November, I watched it on Netflix. In February. (Whew! Barely in time for the big night.) I wish I hadn’t seen it on my television. This is a film I would have rather seen on a large screen. This is interesting as it’s black and white. This isn’t a wild computer-graphic-laden film. We don’t have sweeping scenery. But the tale would tell better on a large screen. The heart of this film is that large.
This is not to say the decision to stream Roma was a bad one in my opinion. A lot of people I know (this means many (most?) of the people I know) would never have gone to see a foreign film in the theater. And too many would scoff at a film based on an indigenous domestic worker in Mexico. (This alone saddens me, even if I acknowledge its reality.) And so, based on the buzz this film has received, I believe more people watched it. And thus maybe more people learned the story of Alfonso Cuarón* and, more importantly, domestic workers.
But yes, Roma is Alfonso Cuarón’s story. This one, though, isn’t only a film he directs; he also wrote it, shot it, and co-edited it. It’s partially (mostly) auto-biographical. And his emotion that, no doubt, goes into his memories of growing up in Mexico City in the 1970s comes through in brilliant color, even through a black and white film. I felt his love for his Cleo and his family.
What makes this a better-told story is that it’s not from the viewpoint of a young boy (based only on Cuarón’s memories). Instead, it’s told from the viewpoint of Cleo, the domestic worker who served the family as nanny. And as I’ve since learned, he interviewed his real-life Cleo extensively. This, as an adult, gave him an appreciation for her as an individual person who was going through her own struggles as his family faced a defining shift. And so the story was about her—Cleo—as she lived through a defining moment in his family’s life. Now that is art. That is perspective. That is great story-telling.
No doubt, of course, Cuarón remembers what happens with his parents more so than what was happening with Cleo. This, then, makes the movie even better — his ability to tell the story from Cleo’s perspective and making her narrative the focus. That story-telling allows Cuarón to tell the story that upends his family as a supporting role to Cleo’s story. And how unselfish for him to realize her story needed more so to be told.
I repeat the point about not knowing always what I think until I write. When I sat down to type these reflections, I thought I didn’t have much to say. But as I typed and thought back more and more on the film, I kept typing. I kept feeling emotions roll. And I kept feeling the great heart that Roma is.
Will Roma win Best Picture? I never know these things. Personally, it wasn’t my favorite. Then again, did the film get a fair shake with my watching it on a small screen? I don’t think it did. But at the end of the day, I don’t think even that would have elevated it above my favorites.
*If the name doesn’t ring a bell, how about Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban or maybe Gravity? He directed both (among many others) and won for Best Director for the latter.