What a shame that the comments here reveal the complete ignorance in the U.S. about Mexico City and the Mexican people. The film was beautiful, I cried and cried at the end, it was so moving. No, it’s not an action flick nor, is there a lot of dialogue, but just be a little open-minded, for Pete’s sake. This is an extraordinary film in the tradition of the old French and Italian directors of the sixties and seventies. Maybe that’s why Americans don’t get it. It’s over their heads.
30
Sorry, folks - I tried watching this film for about 45 minutes, and found it so slow and boring, I ditched it!! Maybe the critics and bigwigs in Hollywood love it, but this average movie goer found it unworthy of all the hype.
3
In 1972 my best friend and I went to Mexico. She was Jewish but had long black hair, olive skin, and spoke Spanish.
We spent time in Mexico City, then took a bus to Oaxaca. In a zolaco (town square) we met a man who was selling beautiful jewelry and alpaca woven garments.
He invited us to his home. We had no fear. He drove us up in the mountains, his wife cooked us a wonderful dinner, and my friend talked with both of them. (I had one semester of Spanish, but could speak a little.) I realize now that they probably spoke a dialect, but learned enough English to sell things.
We both bought some lovely things. I still have a hand-woven purple and silver scarf (forgot Spanish name for it) that women use to carry their babies on their backs. Reading this article brought it all back. Can't wait to see the film.
11
Stop the press. Be warned. So called award winning movie Roma is BORING!!!. If you have a terminal condition and want to prolong your life watch it . As much as you hope it never seems to end, The artistic hysteria around this movie is a hoax. Do not say you were not warned.
2
Watching Roma was like watching paint dry. Sure, it's a masterpiece on which the pain is drying, but you are still watching paint dry. A move needs a plot to actually be considered for best picture.
2
I took two young people (mid twenties) to see Roma. The film did not resonate with them at all (an outcome that is echoed in comments here). Art house films, which were a big part of modern cultural literacy, now seem to have lost their hold on the young. The audience where I saw the film had an average age well above the expected lifespan of just a few generations ago.
I was so surprised by my friends reactions that I started a film night playing old art movies for my children, simply to ensure some reasonable level of literacy in this particular art form.
14
@AReasonableMan,
Understand but in this day and age, young people in their mid-twenties might have a preference for 'Gravity':
1) Roma is in black and white;
2) With subtitles;
3) Twitching to be expected in the introduction, showing water flowing into a drain (many of us do not realize that our water resources are dwindling);
4) What your idea of a plot, is not theirs; the scene where Cleo is accompanied by her employer's mother to look for a crib in a furniture store is beyond frightening and real.
Before watching this masterpiece, and being invited over to the neighbors for a holiday toast, the joke was 'She goes to see foreign movies that nobody wants to see'. Here I gave a nod of appreciation to 'Chevy Chase at Christmas' playing on their big screen.
In the 60s at school we had a mandatory viewing of 'Wild Strawberries' by Bergman, 'The Harder They Fall' with Humphrey Bogart, and 'The Third Man', with Orson Welles. These were not considered art movies but a way of instilling a sense of morality into uninformed heads, and could be dreary.
In summary, your children will remember that you tried to show them something important. We are moving into another generation, a particularly lively one, where our concentration and attention-span are weaker.
On another note, con AMOR to the director for he reminded this viewer of summers long ago, where 'Catalina' in Spain looked after our family and we felt safe in her care.
8
Best film? Best Foreign Film? Good lord - three minutes of washed concrete and multiple views of dog poop in the gated driveway!
Yalitza Aparicio was lovely as Cleo, and the film was beautiful but overindulgent and about 30 minutes too long.
7
Can you also link to the Enrique Krauze essay you reference in English? It would be great to read that.
It doesn't come up in a search on the opinion page.
3
Former Polanco boy amazed to be pointing out to the Times that it's "farther':
..to increasingly fashionable areas further from the city center..
2
What a ridiculously overrated film! Everyone just follows the press hype on it. No character development whatsoever, just regurgitated personal history for selfish, nostalgic reasons. It is not a film for anything but an audience of one. True, the camera movements are fluid and lovely, the black and white treatment adds a layer, and a few actors are good. Take that away and you are really left with nothing. It is a big cipher of a film. And not because there is no gravity!
6
After my wife, and I watched this film we came away stunned by all the undeserved hype it was getting. Is this really the state of filmmaking today, a black and white boring account of a family in Mexico. There is simply no comparison between this film and Cinema Paradiso a truly emotional and ingaging pleasure to watch.
6
After reading this article, I'm obligated to revisit the film:
"We make our way back to the car, once again slaloming through the dense crowds of pedestrians and vendors on the sidewalk of Insurgentes."
The use of the verb to "slaloming" here, and by extension with respect to the whole of the article, and what you can see--and experience-- of Mexico City in "Roma" is masterful.
10
I saw the film last night. The narrative, the casting, the cinematography, the pacing--all are brilliant. I'll be thinking about "Roma" for some time.
27
Such a stunning and unforgettable film in every way--and in total agreement that it should win for Best Picture--not simply for Best Foreign Film as it has universal beauty & appeal. Living currently in Greenwich Village--and growing up in the Village in the late 50's/early 60's--childhood memories of special places will remain within our hearts and souls forever. A true masterpiece--thank you to all involved in its creation!
29
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie having lived in Polanco in 1966 for a few months as a child and then going back for every holiday to Mexico City to stay with our family friends who lived off Reforma near the Angel. I would have love to have seen more of the city itself, but that is just me waxing nostalgic. No other place has such sense memory for sounds and smells then Mexico City for me. And I don't mean that in a disparaging way. I loved it.
15
A true masterpiece of nostalgia. I grew up in Buenos Aires and lived for a number of years in Brazil. Mr. Cuarón brilliantly captures the sights and sounds of growing up in Latin America.
I knew from the opening credits with the cleaning of the garage and courtyard that I would be taken back to a time and place of still haunting yet meaningful memories.
Thank you.
29
This movie is simply the best I have seen in years. I grew up in Guatemala City in the seventies. The relationship between the children and the maid is exactly as I recall. For my Nana, Spanish was a second language. She even had an accent when she spoke it. She was the one bathing me, putting my clothes on, taking me to school, tucking me to bed. The relationship is so complex, surreal and contradictory that you have to live it to really understand it. There is the class and racial divide but there is also genuine love. The film makes subtle comments on this disparity. When the family and Cleo are watching tv and she is part of the family but she still has to get up to prepare the tea. When they are all eating ice cream and they are all sitting down but she is standing up a few days after giving birth and losing her baby. This film deserves the Oscar for best picture.
47
Bravo Alfonso Cuarón! What an amazing job in capturing the images and sounds of early 1970’s Mexico City. Me and my family were surprised and very moved while seeing the movie and realizing that the production team built a replica of my grandfather’s and uncles’ veterinary clinic on Avenida Insurgentes (“Clínica Veterinaria Dr. Malvido“), that appears on the background of a scene where Cleo is running after the children. Incredible attention to detail and an extraordinary movie!
53
@Pecos0 wow! this is beyond amazing. Who pays attention to such fine details these days?
8
I’m rooting for Roma, I love it, it’s the kind of movie that I would stand in stand by line if it was sold out at the movie theater ! Good luck !
33
We closed our eyes for a few seconds when the itinerant sweet potatoes vendor used his signature call, and we felt that we were in Bogotá. We loved the sounds, including the nostalgic aroma of the car entering into the garage.
Some movies are made to be enjoyed with all the senses. Not only with the eyes and ears.
If you write Roma backward, you'll have Amor. Love in Spanish. We noticed that the movie is an act of love.
Good luck in the Golden Globes and Oscars Mr. Cuarón!
Thank you for this very well written article.
58
I have nothing to add to the encomiums of Cuaron's ode to the city and people of his youth, except (if I'm right) that he filmed in HDR video, which took some guts, as did going with b&w, the quality of which is gorgeous, in the realm of directors like Rohmer and Bergman, and master cinematographer Gordon Wills.
Beautiful camera work in the service of a superb script.
41
The Academy always honors movies that nobody would want to see.
On the other hand the very well made Avengers Infinity War was the most popular film of the year..
I will skip Roma and rewatch Avengers #3..
2
@Pw Be my guest. You have every right to enjoy the kind of movies that best suits you, subtlety and deep reflection is not for everybody.
Just remember not everyone has the same tastes. Some of us are actually struggling to find tickets to enjoy it in a theater even after having watched it more than once in our own homes.
26
@Pw What's better, an awards show that brings attention to quality films that were likely missed by the ignorant masses, or a popularity contest? There's no need for capitalism when judging art.
10
You should skip Roma. I don’t get the hype. It was sooo boring. And I’m a raging cinephile, and have been for decades.
2
I seem to remember feeling great nostalgia for my childhood home, our town and how it was, and the people, most of them long gone, when I was Cuaron's age. It was as if I had never looked back, and then suddenly that's all I wanted to do.
29
'Roma' continues to haunt this viewer. It is not all sorrow, and in the evening at the remainder of the day, Cleo and her cousin are still able to smile, while getting ready to rest and lying on the floor of their shared room, practice reaching their feet to stay flexible.
Later, when she goes in search of the father of her expectant child, walking through mud and mire, there is a vast army of young men following the orders of a famed magician. She watches with other women standing on the side-line, and when the commander asks that he be blindfolded, his arms stretched above his head in a Buddha pose, his eyes closed, and standing on one leg, his followers are not able keep their balance. Only Cleo, who tries the above, is seen in this stance of equilibrium.
One might feel on viewing that this is not only a documentary, a testimony to the 'Cleos' of this world and their love for children, but Mother Nature in a different role, protecting the plight of women versus the power of men.
61
@Miss Ley, just loved your comment. Thank you.
Roma contains a plethora of messages in so many dimensions...
16
I’ve lived on and off since 1982 in this wonderful chaotic city. Whenever I’m here I curse the hectic pace and traffic but when I’m away I miss it with all my heart.
I’m so grateful I was able to see Roma in Mexico City or else the whistle sound of the sweet potato vendor as well as the images of planes flying over our city would have made me yearn to be here again.
I wish my mom were still alive because I know we would have shared so many nostalgic memories seeing her City on the big screen.
If the film receives an Oscar is beside the point because it’s a classic masterpiece that will endure the test of time.
50
A terrifying film. Along with Ruben Ostlund and Lucrecia Martel their films are defining the horror of what began and became our/these times.
9
@rubbernecking And Dardenne brothers.
2
@rubbernecking terrifying? Really? you must a low threshold for terror.
2
@Newport Iggy An earthquake, a riot, a baby born dead, a husband leaves a family behind that finds a beach with wild surf that nearly drowns 3 of them. You must have a low threshold for sensitivity, care and love.
4
I loved this movie, and think it deserves best picture.
I'm less enamored by the press coverage of it which in all cases describes the family as "middle-class" (one review said upper-middle class, which is at least defensible). The family depicted, that of a doctor whose friends have large country estates, is wealthy for 1970s Mexico. It would be wealthy by the standards of Mexico today. Yes, Mexico also has the SUPER wealthy, but I can assure you the tail of the bell curve is much longer in the other direction. I don't fault Cuaron, who would probably concede he is the epitome of Mexico's racial caste privilege (and thus has the resources and audience to tell the story of his indigenous housekeeper) but do fault the clueless coverage that ignores the socio-economic structure of Mexico. I hope the NY Times corrects this in its coverage.
54
@Steve I too, have been struck by the "middle class" descriptions of the family's home and lifestyle. This is a rich family in a rich neighborhood.
21
@Steve SPOILER - If I remember correctly, the mother in the movie had been working as a teacher all along, but had to find higher paying job at the end because there wasn't any money left. I think that might have been a giveaway that this family is middle-class, but then again, throughout the whole movie, they lived lavishly!
14
@Steve, I understand your point but, having being born in Mexico City in 1966 and spent my teenage years in a house similar to Cuarón’s - only nicer, if I may say this - in Narvarte, a neighborhood next to Roma and similar to it, I can attest that at the time of the movie most rich people were moving away to Pedregal de San Ángel and other neighborhoods. I’d stick to the “upper-middle class” label.
With respect to the large country state whose owners I’d undoubtedly consider rich, I’d just say I was lucky enough to visit frequently the Hacienda of my uncle Alfonso, but he, not my parents, was the wealthy one. Even within the enormous class segregation existing in Mexico it is not that rare to see educated middle-class people interacting with wealthy ones.
21
It’s becoming clear that this is the golden age of Mexican film, much as the 60s were for France, Italy and Sweden. Indeed, mr. Cuaron’s amazing movie reminded me at different times of Fellini and Antonioni. This film shouldn’t get an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. It should get an Oscar for Best Film. Both the balletic camera work and editing and the astonishing, nearly silent performance by the lead actress deserve the Academy’s recognition as well.
75
@Patrick Gleeson I agree; the Oscars are not really important but I think this film deserves Best Film, not Best Foreign Film, partly because it has no sound track and achieves its impact without the emotional manipulation of music. I haven't seen that since "M" and later "Rear Window".
35
@Shanti
While the film may not have a composed musical score, it most certainly has a "soundtrack." Some thirty-eight musical pieces from the time appear in the film. Furthermore, Cuarón uses the sound-layering digital technology called Atmos to render the soundscape of 1970s Mexico City in all its chaos and splendor.
24
It would be Mexico’s Second Golden Age of cinema.
8
The movie is a true piece of art, exquisitely photographed. My husband and I watched it this past weekend and were moved, not only by the narrative, but also blown away by the set up of each shot, the angle of the camera and the richness of the visuals. Bravo to Mr. Cuaron!
49
Thank you for the background article on the excellent film “Roma”.
23
So true... the sounds are what brought me back to my childhood as well. I was born and raised on a different neighborhood (Coyoacan)... however, the sounds were there as well.
Well done Alfonso. Great job!
35
Grew up in Mexico City, 1950-1974, Colonia Hipodromo-Condesa, almost next door to Alfonso Cuaron's Roma.
I will always remember all the sights and sounds, including the night watchman's whistle around 4am every night, riding by on a bicycle to let us know all is well on the street. It would cost $5 pesos a month. Everything in ROMA hit so close to home. It's amazing and very nostalgic.
51
I remember hearing a voice bellow,2 blocks away,coming nearer,asking households if there might be"papel!, periodico!,revistas! que vendan!" (Used paper, old newspaper, old magazines to buy). This,from an old DF man pushing a giant wooden cart loaded with used paper,rolling down the street.
The various organ grinders playing tunes in the park next to the "chicharrones, and jicamas con chile y limon ".
The guy on a bicycle with a dozen bird cages strapped to the back selling canaries.
13
Roma is a great film and you can feel Cuaron's personal experience and emotion come through in every scene. I was pretty stunned by the focus on Aparicio and how her character made me feel. These are very marginalized people in Mexican society and yet on a recent trip to DF where we stayed in Condesa but ate and played in Roma, everyone was so incredibly friendly and welcoming. Life is happening in DF, right in your face and all mashed together in a cacophony of wonderful madness. But quiet little side streets are just around every corner, And the food of course was so simple and delicious, like Aparicio's character I suppose. I grew up in 1970's and 80's Madrid and that was a period of radical change in Spain. We were so excited back then looking at the future, but now when I go back all I think of is how simple it all was (or seemed to me). That's probably the yearning for one's childhood more than anything, and it's something Cuaron captures so sublimely in Roma. A truly great film.
34
Oh my gosh, I loved “Roma.” I grew up in suburban L.A. with a series of Latin American housekeepers in the ‘60s. Here I am in my 60s, finding fresh perspective in the familiar settings. “Roma” felt authentic in every detail — sounds, look, naturalistic performances — and this piece confirms it for me. Bravo, Sr. Cuarón!
22
You can't go home again, but that's never stopped us from trying. Great movie.
31
I lived in Mexico City in the late 60's and the movie brought back a lot of memories. I was in high school at the time and we lived in the Lomas area but I remember hanging out in Roma when I was in a bowling league and there was this huge two level bowling ally on Insurgentes.
It was an exciting time to be in Mexico City, the good being the 1968 Olympics and the bad being the student protests and the Army gunning down the demonstrators.
15
This film shows, as have a few other films in the past, that ordinary life, closely and empathetically observed, can be entertaining, interesting, and even moving.
Or am I missing something here?
27
This is the best movie I have seen in years. I grew up in Mexico in the 1950's. I was glad to see the very real and persistent racial divide between indigenous people and those with lighter skin and European features shown so accurately. The maid saves her employer's children's lives. The employer is grateful and even kind. But the maid still does the laundry and has no chance of building a life of her own.
72
In fact, in real life Mr Cuarón’s childhood maid has built a life of her own.
6