Beautifully shot, very very slow movie with little plot and even less dialogue.
If that's what you like in a movie, this is for you.
I only found it to be so long and so boring.
I feel like this could have been a beautiful and interesting 20 minute short movie and they didn't even had to leave anything out plotwise.
Someone needs to take that dog to a vet. Any animal that craps that much in one night has something seriously wrong with it!
Jokes aside though.
This movie and I did not click. 5mins in and I knew it. Ended up watching it at 1.25x speed and it still felt like an eternity for it to end.
The shots lengths were long for long sake and just made the movie longer than it needed to be. At one point I wondered if Cleo was mentally handicapped because of the length of some of the shots.
It also felt disjointed to me. It follows Cleo doing here daily routine. Step by step. Then it jumps 3 MONTHS. Make up your mind.
Yes a sad story, but so what? Bad shit happened to good folks all the time! How does that make it special? Because we watch her doing the dishes for 5 minutes? Because it is in black and white? Just felt pretentious to me, and people loved it, which confused me.
To each their own. You enjoyed it. Good for you. I did not. Good for me. Lets agree to disagree.
According to Alfonso Cuarón, Roma is 90% pulled from his memories, so presumably, he's one of the kids in the film, probably the youngest boy who has the closest relationship to Cleo, the family's maid and nanny who is the subject of the film. The black and white cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, and Cuarón favors wide shots and slow pans that, when combined to the lack of score, presents events without judgement, emotional ambiguities abound. How are we supposed to feel about Cleo and her role in the family? Obviously, the film is meant as a love letter to someone real, but I think also an examination of something darker about the child/family-nanny dynamic in a context where it's understood Mexico is as racially divided as the U.S. is, and Cleo is a member of the underclass. I think it's extremely poignant that the family has a dog no white person really interacts with, matching their obliviousness to Cleo's drama as opposed to their own. The switch between "we love you" and "fetch me this" is automatic and thoughtless. It's the servant as echo of slavery, and holding the role of "beloved pet". Dogs are everywhere in Mexico - a common remark - and Cuarón somehow uses this over and over to create this effect. Despite the slow and stark presentation, he nevertheless pulls some directorial tricks, mostly to create portentous heralds, bad omens, of tragedies to come, and yet can just let scenes play out in single shots - I'm thinking of a couple of harrowing ones specifically - using a lot of non-actors (including the lead) without any of the awkwardness that sometimes entails. This is one of those films that has so much to unpack, it could become a standard essay topic in film history classes.
It is a nice movie that made me think about what my life is about, whether I made wrong turns or not, and so forth. It's good if a movie makes you think like that. Some movies just blow your mind (like Fight Club), and this movie is more calm and slow, even though it provokes emotions too.
I found the following topics/ideas in the movie:
1. Life of the rich vs life of the poor.
The family had 4 kids whereas Cleo couldn't have one. That could have been caused by her carrying heavy luggage while pregnant. Yes, she was part of the family, and even saved 2 kids. Still it was their life being lived, not hers.
.
2. Some things are common regardless of wealth.
A man left the wife just like Fermin left Cleo. "We, women, are always alone, no matter what they tell us".
3.
The revolution scene, especially the moment when women holds a dead body of her man, shows that life goes on. People are born and killed, and that's sad. But regardless of how painful and unfortunate your situation might seem, somebody's love one has been just killed on a street.
The movie doesn't have any pathos. It just portrays real life. And it does that beautifully.
I very rarely, if ever, leave comments on here any more, but I'm absolutely compelled to do so having read other comments tonight describing this film as "boring", "overrated" and "unfocused".
At a guess these reviewers didn't see the film in the cinema, but easily distracted at home on Netflix... checking text messages, having conversations, pausing for comfort breaks. And that's why the Netflix producing model is a travesty of film-making. If you didn't experience the film in the sharpest definition, filling your whole vision, and heard the 360 degree sound design as it was made to be presented then you didn't really see or hear this film.
The gradual build of the opening hour allows you to care for the characters by stealth, you grow to love Cleo and the children as they unquestionably love each other, and by the time of the earthquake, student uprising, hospital, restaurant table and beach scenes you'd need a heart of stone not to be gripped, scared or heartbroken. This is cinema as pure empathy and compassion, a heartfelt love letter and an evocation of childhood both intensely personal and universal.
Just magnificent work, and worthy of every award coming its way.
It's been a long time since I've seen a movie where the director (and cinematographer) has such complete control of the mise en scene. This is where the movie excels more than anything. It is breathtaking. But, yeah, I wonder what we can come away with regarding Cleo.
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Comments 1 - 15 of 22
norimee
Beautifully shot, very very slow movie with little plot and even less dialogue.If that's what you like in a movie, this is for you.
I only found it to be so long and so boring.
I feel like this could have been a beautiful and interesting 20 minute short movie and they didn't even had to leave anything out plotwise.
Warrison
Someone needs to take that dog to a vet. Any animal that craps that much in one night has something seriously wrong with it!Jokes aside though.
This movie and I did not click. 5mins in and I knew it. Ended up watching it at 1.25x speed and it still felt like an eternity for it to end.
The shots lengths were long for long sake and just made the movie longer than it needed to be. At one point I wondered if Cleo was mentally handicapped because of the length of some of the shots.
It also felt disjointed to me. It follows Cleo doing here daily routine. Step by step. Then it jumps 3 MONTHS. Make up your mind.
Yes a sad story, but so what? Bad shit happened to good folks all the time! How does that make it special? Because we watch her doing the dishes for 5 minutes? Because it is in black and white? Just felt pretentious to me, and people loved it, which confused me.
To each their own. You enjoyed it. Good for you. I did not. Good for me. Lets agree to disagree.
kennypickett
Just watched this and I gotta say this movie is significantly better than Green Book.Earring72
Gorgeous looking movie with stunning black & white cinematography…….but it left me cold. So dull. Really tried but was glad it was overLimbesdautomne
Cuarón's madeleine swamped with turpentine.Read more in French on La Saveur des goûts amers.
mysteryfan
Let me try to sum up the story in one line - "A maid becomes pregnant". Ya that's it.elcid
Like the planes we see in background, I found this film distant and cold.Ebbywebby
Cut 45 minutes, and there's a fine, understated little vignette hidden somewhere in here.Siskoid
According to Alfonso Cuarón, Roma is 90% pulled from his memories, so presumably, he's one of the kids in the film, probably the youngest boy who has the closest relationship to Cleo, the family's maid and nanny who is the subject of the film. The black and white cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, and Cuarón favors wide shots and slow pans that, when combined to the lack of score, presents events without judgement, emotional ambiguities abound. How are we supposed to feel about Cleo and her role in the family? Obviously, the film is meant as a love letter to someone real, but I think also an examination of something darker about the child/family-nanny dynamic in a context where it's understood Mexico is as racially divided as the U.S. is, and Cleo is a member of the underclass. I think it's extremely poignant that the family has a dog no white person really interacts with, matching their obliviousness to Cleo's drama as opposed to their own. The switch between "we love you" and "fetch me this" is automatic and thoughtless. It's the servant as echo of slavery, and holding the role of "beloved pet". Dogs are everywhere in Mexico - a common remark - and Cuarón somehow uses this over and over to create this effect. Despite the slow and stark presentation, he nevertheless pulls some directorial tricks, mostly to create portentous heralds, bad omens, of tragedies to come, and yet can just let scenes play out in single shots - I'm thinking of a couple of harrowing ones specifically - using a lot of non-actors (including the lead) without any of the awkwardness that sometimes entails. This is one of those films that has so much to unpack, it could become a standard essay topic in film history classes.goldan
It is a nice movie that made me think about what my life is about, whether I made wrong turns or not, and so forth. It's good if a movie makes you think like that. Some movies just blow your mind (like Fight Club), and this movie is more calm and slow, even though it provokes emotions too.I found the following topics/ideas in the movie:
1. Life of the rich vs life of the poor.
2. Some things are common regardless of wealth.
3.
The movie doesn't have any pathos. It just portrays real life. And it does that beautifully.
dombrewer
I very rarely, if ever, leave comments on here any more, but I'm absolutely compelled to do so having read other comments tonight describing this film as "boring", "overrated" and "unfocused".At a guess these reviewers didn't see the film in the cinema, but easily distracted at home on Netflix... checking text messages, having conversations, pausing for comfort breaks. And that's why the Netflix producing model is a travesty of film-making. If you didn't experience the film in the sharpest definition, filling your whole vision, and heard the 360 degree sound design as it was made to be presented then you didn't really see or hear this film.
The gradual build of the opening hour allows you to care for the characters by stealth, you grow to love Cleo and the children as they unquestionably love each other, and by the time of the earthquake, student uprising, hospital, restaurant table and beach scenes you'd need a heart of stone not to be gripped, scared or heartbroken. This is cinema as pure empathy and compassion, a heartfelt love letter and an evocation of childhood both intensely personal and universal.
Just magnificent work, and worthy of every award coming its way.
Fastkit
What a fantastic film! Best cinematography 2018Agrimorfee
It's been a long time since I've seen a movie where the director (and cinematographer) has such complete control of the mise en scene. This is where the movie excels more than anything. It is breathtaking. But, yeah, I wonder what we can come away with regarding Cleo.Pete Concrete
It's about the same as watching beautifully shot home videos of a family that you don't know, and you also don't care about.luclanty
Had to pause it to try to make that pose with my eyes closedShowing items 1 – 15 of 22