Cuarón’s ‘Roma’ is both personal and grand

Posted on January 11, 2019

By MARK VIOLA

Writer/director Alfonso Cuarón (“Gravity,” “Children of Men”) is an artist, and his latest film, “Roma,” is another piece of art, giving a grand, epic feel to a very small, personal story.

And, it should feel personal, because much of the story, set in 1970s Mexico City, is drawn from Cuarón’s childhood, specifically his family’s housekeeper, upon whom the film’s main character is based.

The story focuses on Cleo (newcomer Yalitza Aparicio), the housekeeper for a well-off family consisting of a mother, father and four children. The 1970s was a time of political and cultural upheaval in Mexico City, and it is the same for both the family and Cleo as we follow them for roughly a year.

Shot in black and white with dialogue entirely in Spanish and Mixtex (a Mexican dialect), “Roma” is a slow, methodical drama that is never in a hurry, but never without a purpose. I’ve said before that the best films do not feel like they are following characters created for the screen, but instead allow us to simply visit them for the prescribed amount of time and then return back to our world, leaving them to continue living their lives.

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