Roma

Roma

Starring Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Fernando Grediaga, Jorge Antonio Guerrero

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

The Story:
In Mexico City in 1970, young maid Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) is taking care of a rich family including matriarch Sofia (Marina de Tavira), often-absent husband Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), and their four young children.  Often feeling more a part of the family than just a hired hand, Cleo participates in activities with the family, but every so often is reminded that she's still an employee of the family, yet she doesn't mind as she carries on in a soft, quiet manner.

She begins a relationship with Fermin (Jorge Antonio Guerrero), and becomes pregnant.  When Fermin abandons her, she finds solace in her employers, who help her through every aspect of her pregnancy, and as the months tick by, she becomes more fearful and yet also hopeful of the future, and what her life will be like with a child on the way.

The Synopsis:
Whether he's telling a unique coming-of-age story ("Y Tu Mama Tambien"), offering the best "Harry Potter" film made ("Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"), providing a unique look at a dystopian future ("Children of Men"), or offering an interstellar quest for survival ("Gravity"), Alfonso Cuaron manages to teleport us to his world, and the tale he desires to tell, in a way that's beautifully unique and adaptable.  With "Roma," he manages to somehow upstage himself, providing a truly groundbreaking film that's incredibly intimate yet profound, chaotic yet balanced, and his most personal story yet.

Taking place in Mexico City from 1970-1971, "Roma" follows the story of young Cleo, a maid who works for a wealthy family and who herself endures drastic changes in her life - the biggest one in finding out she got pregnant, and now has to prepare herself for eventual single motherhood.  Films like this don't get made too often, because it's not necessarily one for the masses - there's no explosive battles, no crescendo performances, no travels to outside worlds - but rather it's a deeply personal, deeply moving, deeply humanistic piece of cinema that hits home all the more because it's something grounded in reality - Cuaron's reality, in which he tells his own story growing up in Mexico City with a loving maid who took care of him.  In fact, the film was shot in Mexico City, and the majority of the film was taken from Cuaron's own memory, and the settings were actual locations where the events of his life happened.

It's this thirst for the personal that drives the film, that's the beating heart within.  This is the story of a maid, but could be the story of anyone you meet on the street - including yourself.  There's the typical theme of a classic "Hollywood ending," and that's not what "Roma" delivers - because life is not like a Hollywood ending, and that's one of the several aspects that makes this such a tremendous tour-de-force film.

Newcomer Yalitza Aparicio encompasses everything it meant to play Cleo, and provides one of the most amazingly balanced performances I've seen lately.  She never over-acts, but instead provides an almost stoic, static feel throughout, maintaining a sense of calm even in moments of sheer panic, and offering powerful emotions that emulate from her very being.  She becomes a character that we not only relate to, but feel deep emotions for, and we hope for the best for her - and when she gets knocked down, we too receive the brunt of her pain, feeling it like she would, because she gives such a commanding performance.  It's her subtle acting that draws us in, and as the final moments on screen play out, leave us with open-mouthed shock and tears down our face.

Cuaron is careful to not film too many close-up shots of his characters, but instead providing us with a view of their world all around them, and showing that, even though they appear tiny and minuscule in the grand scheme of things, the characters are still the heart of it all.  As the story develops like the most beautifully woven tapestry, we witness the highs and lows of Cleo's life, and are privy to the world around her that appears to simply forget she even exists.  This isn't a glamorized true-life story, but instead a deeply intimate look at one year of a truly amazing woman - one we never would've met otherwise, and one we really want to know more about.

The Summary:
While not providing some grandiose picture, Alfonso Cuaron instead provides a deeply moving, personal, and small look into the life of a truly magnificent woman, a woman who's got her own faults and misgivings, a woman that we can all associate with and feel for.

The Score: A+