‘Roma’: Movie Review
Appealing and poetic, but long and dull
There’s just something so heartful to black-and-white movies, and the plot of Roma really fits the format. This story of a family told through the eyes of a maid who also has an intimate subplot utilizes its colour type to try to visualize the mind and thoughts of the beloved characters, emphasizing its themes and time. Though some scenes may be too bright over the other, one could imagine this movie in colour, which will be more irritating and unlively to me. Reduce the quality a bit, and I’ll give this aspect a 100/100.
It’s not the best it could be, but it discusses complex subject matter like trust, society, and love in a very understandable, lovable, and at times relatable way. You don’t fully immerse into the movie, but you’re aware of your surroundings, and that treatment I think is really effective at stabbing its messages right to the viewer. “Do you cry or get surprised watching this movie? Well, let’s see if you really are like that in real life.”
Still, that’s a big problem. It’s not the best it could be, and I don’t think the writer Alfonso Cuarón did the best, even when he knew he could. The black-and-white and unique subtitling’s visual drug used to keep the viewers in the movie’s long pace is very exceptional. I understand the need to sort of celebrate cinema and make a poignant story or whatever, but the short plot is told for two long hours. It could’ve easily been a 60-minute movie.
The way the movie portrays itself feels really big and expansive as if there’s a lot of things going on or something concerning is constantly happening. This works out for the violent scenes, but for others, it felt like an exaggeration, or even worse, dishonesty. And I can’t really connect with films that are dishonest. The only thing it seeks to achieve is insight, and a sandbox for Cuarón to play with the toys of filmmaking. But individual aspects of this movie don’t work together, and it ultimately felt vague and scattered.
In no way does Roma fail to affect me; deep down it actually did some very special things, both for cinema and for individual viewers. It’s a movie to get serious on. But it doesn’t really pay off: as serious as I am, I tried my best throughout even in the opening scene, to not yawn and close my eyes.
GENRE: Drama
DURATION: 2 hours 15 minutes
WATCHED ON: Netflix
AGE RATING: 14+
LANGUAGE: Spanish, Mixtec
