Alfonso Cuaron's 'Roma'

[Kane52630]

 

[James.B]

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=544489

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Doctor Jones]

Looks wonderful. Cuaron is one of our best directors.

 

[Persona]

Didn't think I'd see a film better than First Reformed this year but this one might just do the trick.

Chills from that teaser. CHILLS.

 

[Kaleb]

 

[Black Narcissus]

Foreign Oscar is in the bag.

 

[Manasrepublic]

I am half way through it. I am surprised no one is talking about this as it is on netflix now. Quite fascinating so far. More slice of life if anything but again will finish it after some errands.

 

[David H.]

I think that even if it hadn’t been released amidst the daunting wave of films trying to capture the dread of the moment, the filmmaking would still have had the desired effect and brought out more hope out the simple message “we’re still here” than most (or just myself, maybe) would have expected.

 

[Kane52630]

I thought it was just incredible. It will be a crime if Yalitza Aparicio doesn't get nominated and if Roma doesn't get a best picture nod.

 

[Persona]

Cuaron's best film and this guy made THE BEST HARRY POTTER.

I imagine some will stan harder for Children of Men and Gravity or Y Tu Mama Tambien but, for me, this was Cuaron finally bringing all his technical abilities and signatures together into something personal and deeply expressive. Sure, it's quiet and episodic and doesn't necessarily have that blow-you-back-in-your-seat quality of some of his other films---but it is rich in detail, gorgeously observed, and feels pretty singular. I mean, you can point out some influences and comparisons but it feels kind of pointless. This is a unique movie that only Alfonso Cuaron could have made.

Some have criticized the film for being a bit thematically listless or whatever but I think Cuaron was just walking a very fine line and he pulled the balancing act off like only a master could. The film is personal but Cuaron doesn't focus on himself. It's intimate but pulled back in its perspective. The camera tells the story but it's also, simultaneously, telling many other stories. For about an hour and a half the film is just immersing you in this world, with this family, and primarily with their maid Cleo. And then the hits come and they take you aback with how much they hit you, because up until that point you may think you've just been riding along in the car or walking the streets with these characters, not really knowing them. It's a film that shows you that empathy can come not just from dramatic constructs but from simply time spent in a place with people, if that time spent is immersive enough. And in Roma it definitely is. It doesn't need 3D or VR or anything like that. Just immaculate photography and a sick sound mix and characters that feel authentic. Well, and lots of great art direction, since it's a period piece.

That post-credits stinger! I mean, who saw that coming? Can't wait for more entries in the Alfonso-verse.

 

[Persona]

So now I will indulge in the comparison game just a bit because you can see Fellini or Tati or Pawlikowski or Cuaron's own work, but really this is a singular film. I am trying to think of another film that so effectively couches intimacy in detailed largesse, with such elegantly complex mise-en-scene and long takes with all-inclusive depth of field and framing--not to mention one of the more enveloping and transporting sound mixes ever. I've never seen anything quite like it (a personal, emotional, neo-realist Playtime?), and I'm very thankful for it.

 

[scarlet-witch]

I felt this was really self indulgent. I felt like Cuaron cared more about the visuals than Cleo.

 

[Persona]

It would have been self-indulgent if maybe Cuaron had focused on his own perspective of the time, but he didn't. He chose to focus on the servant, to tell her story, and he told it through a beautifully observational perspective with probably the best photography and sound mix of the year.

I saw it again in the theater today and it hit me even harder this time. The last act achieves that rare synergy of devastation and grace.

 

[Luigi]

I felt this was really self indulgent. I felt like Cuaron cared more about the visuals than Cleo.

I thought I was the only one that was underwhelmed by this film. Cuaron has been spending way too much time with Iñárritu.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Smilodon]

Cuaron's best film and this guy made THE BEST HARRY POTTER.

I imagine some will stan harder for Children of Men and Gravity or Y Tu Mama Tambien but, for me, this was Cuaron finally bringing all his technical abilities and signatures together into something personal and deeply expressive. Sure, it's quiet and episodic and doesn't necessarily have that blow-you-back-in-your-seat quality of some of his other films---but it is rich in detail, gorgeously observed, and feels pretty singular. I mean, you can point out some influences and comparisons but it feels kind of pointless. This is a unique movie that only Alfonso Cuaron could have made.

I heavily agree with this sentiment. I re-watched/watched Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men in preparation for Roma, and you can instantly see Roma as the culmination of all his prior work. In fact, it made prior work like Y Tu Mama Tambien hit harder for me, because I never knew Cuaron's history with the father that left him. Cuaron in a way has clearly been confronting this aspect of his childhood his entire life, and it is never more apparent in Roma.

I had the opportunity to see this film on the big screen. People need to be treating this film like they treat something like Blade Runner 2049 - it is achingly beautiful, and I believe it does have the blow-you-back-in-your-seat quality that some of his other films do. I was simply blown away by the black and white photography of this film. The photography is so sharp. There is no attempt to make it feel like a period piece like First Man - Cuaron wants us to see his memories as clear as possible.

The postscript in the film was everything.

 

[Persona]

Yeah, there are definitely a few sequences that are just stunning on the big screen.

And the mise-en-scene and photography and sound mix are never less than gorgeous and immersive.

I just meant it doesn't have the visceral intensity of some of his other films like Children of Men and Gravity. Which I'm more than fine with, this is not the story for that.

 

[Kane52630]