Monday, January 07, 2019

Roma

On Year's Eve, Tom, Sharon and I watched Roma on Netflix. The film began a limited theatrical run on November 21, 2018 and started streaming on Netflix on December 14, 2018. The National Board of Review rated Roma as one of the top ten best films of 2018. At the 76th Golden Globe Awards, it earned nominations for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay; it won Best Director. Roma is on a number of lists as a nominee for best picture at the Oscars.

Roma is a 2018 drama film written, co-produced, co-edited, and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. It stars Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa, Enoc Leaño, and Daniel Valtierra.

Set in 1970 and 1971, the film is a semi-autobiographical take on Cuarón's upbringing in Mexico City.  It follows the life of a live-in housekeeper to a middle-class family. The title refers to the Colonia Roma, a neighborhood in Mexico City.

I have to admit that I struggled more than a little with the film. The cinematography is gorgeous, but the film is in Spanish with English subtitles. Reading a summary of the film afterwards, I realized that I missed a couple of nuances because I was focused on reading the subtitles. Sharon suggested that we might need to go back and watch it again without subtitles... At this point, I give it a luke-warm thumbs up. it will be interesting to see if it actually gets a best picture Oscar nomination.

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