The movie “Roma” is a masterpiece by Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón
I’m so glad I waited. I’ve wanted to see “Roma” since it came out on Netflix in the middle of December, but I waited until the absolute best moment—and it was so worth it. This isn’t the kind of movie you just put on the in the background or you watch while you’re falling asleep. It’s two and a half hours, and you want to be ready to watch a great movie with all your attention. If you can manage that, you won’t regret it.
Welcome back to Plain English—you know, the episode we did about Lady Gaga in “A Star Is Born” was one of most popular episodes lately, so I thought I’d do another movie review, and I picked “Roma” to write about, even before I saw the movie. I know it will be popular for all of you in Latin America and I can’t wait to tell you about it later. The deal is going to be the same as last time: I’ll tell you a little about what happens, but I won’t reveal any major spoilers. I read some reviews of Roma ahead of time and it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the film at all.
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Roma is a masterpiece dedicated to Cuarón’s childhood caregiver
The first thing I’m going to tell you about is the movie, and then I’m going to tell you about Cleo, the main character. First, the movie. It’s directed by Alfonso Cuarón, the Mexican director who won an Oscar for “Gravity” and who also won critical acclaim for “Y Tu Mamá Tambien,” a coming-of-age movie about a road trip through Mexico. He also directed one of the Harry Potter movies.
In Roma, however, he tells a semi-biographical story about his childhood in Roma, a neighborhood in Mexico City, in the 1970s. He grew up in an upper-middle-class house, with live-in servants, including a cook, a chauffer and Cleo—the jack-of-all trades who is part housekeeper, part babysitter, part cook, part peacekeeper.
The film is shot entirely in black and white, and features absolutely no stars. In fact, Yalitza Aparicio, who plays Cleo, had never acted before. There is no musical score—the only music comes from songs playing on the radio, live bands marching in the street, and the general noise of the bustling city. If you’ve ever been to Mexico City, you know that the city needs no musical accompaniment: the city is its own soundtrack.
I asked a few people what they thought about Roma, and I got mixed answers. Two people told me it was boring, and although I don’t agree, I do know why they said that. If you’re looking for a movie that’s full of action, where there’s a complicated plot, where there’s a lot going on—then this isn’t the movie for you. The real strength of this film is the way in which it lets you empathize with Cleo. And there is a lot of downtime in the film, in which Cuarón is inviting you to spend that time empathizing with Cleo, to feel her emotions along with her.
There’s a scene in which Cleo is sitting alone at the back of a movie theater, having been abandoned by her date. It would have been easy to show in just a couple of seconds of screen time what happened: the director could have cut to her sitting in front of the theater abandoned. Instead, you’re invited to experience her emotions with her. Nothing is going on, except that you see her face looking around, the expectant glances she shoots toward the back of the theater. Then the look of confusion as she sits outside the theater—and then finally her acceptance of what happened.
So much of the experience of this movie is in the scenery. Mexico City, especially during this time, is a rich tapestry of human activity, and Cuarón shows the city in minute detail. He shows how a big city can be both crowded and lonely at the same time. The house in which the story takes place is an upper-middle-class house, nicely furnished, but not lavishly so. It’s not the caricature of riches and perfection that you see in some Mexican movies, but you are clearly in a wealthy, lived-in household.
So now let me tell you a bit about Cleo. She is one of three live-in servants in a Mexican household—Cuarón’s home growing up. She is mixed-race from the southern state of Oaxaca. She’s young—she appears to be in her early twenties when the movie is going on. She spends her days and nights caring for the family: cleaning up around the house, clearing dishes, answering the door, taking care of the kids. She is the one that the kids say, “te quiero” to before going to bed; she is the one who wakes them up by singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” in Spanish.
Cleo is at once part of the family and apart from it. There is a scene at the beginning of the movie in which the whole family—both parents, four kids, and their grandmother—are watching a comedy show on television. Cleo is clearing the dishes from the living room. She kneels down to pick up a plate, and one of the boys puts his arm around her shoulder. You can see her relax a little, smile at a joke on television, and cover the boy’s hand with her own. You can imagine that for a moment at the end of a long day, she allowed herself to relax and enjoy being with the children she clearly loves. And in just an instant, the mother asks her to bring her husband a chamomile tea. Over the boy’s protests, Cleo gets up to fetch it. Her moment is over.
There is another scene in which the children are telling their grandmother how grateful they are to Cleo for having bravely saved them from a dangerous situation. As the boys are telling the story of Cleo’s bravery, Cleo allows herself a smile of pride. And then, mid-story, one of the boys asks her to bring him a plantain smoothie.
Cleo finds herself on the receiving end of some complaints by the family and some outbursts of anger. However, the family treats her well when she needs it most. When she reveals to the family that she’s pregnant, she expects to be fired; instead, the family makes sure she gets the medical care she needs—a gesture of kindness that was probably not common in Mexico at this time.
There’s so much more I could talk about—but I don’t want to give you any spoilers. Watch this movie when you have time to think about it, when you’re not too tired. Enjoy the sights and sounds of the city and the life the family leads. There are a lot of nice details in the movie. The crowd scenes, for example, are convincing. The film portrays a student riot, which actually happened—it was the so-called Corpus Christi massacre. The movie they saw in the theater was a popular film at the time. One of the children has a World Cup poster from 1970 on his bedroom wall. There are a lot of cars from the period, too.
“Roma” is available on Netflix and I highly, highly recommend it.
I want to say hi to a couple of listeners today. First, Elif from Turkey, who is learning English as part of his studies and is really into learning languages. Mari left a review for us on Facebook; she says it’s a great podcast, clear and understandable. Gracias, Mari! José says he used to listen to music while running, but now he listens to us. You know, he’s not the first one. We get people all the time saying they listen while working out. You can fill your brain cells and burn some calories at the same time. Elif, Mari and José: thanks for being with us at Plain English.
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