Roma (2018 film)

Roma
Official release poster
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Produced by
  • Alfonso Cuarón
  • Gabriela Rodriguez
  • Nicolas Celis
Written by Alfonso Cuarón
Starring
  • Yalitza Aparicio
  • Marina de Tavira
Cinematography
  • Alfonso Cuarón
Edited by
  • Alfonso Cuarón
  • Adam Gough
Production
companies
Distributed by Netflix
Release date
  • 30 August 2018 (2018-08-30) (Venice)
  • 14 December 2018 (2018-12-14) (United States)
Running time
 135 minutes[1]
Country
  • Mexico
  • United States
Language
Budget $15 million[2]

Roma is a 2018 drama film written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Cuarón also co-produced, co-edited and photographed the film. It stars Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa, Enoc Leaño and Daniel Valtierra. Set in the early 1970s, the film is a semi-biographical take on Cuarón's upbringing in Mexico City, and follows the life of a middle class family and its live-in housekeeper.

The film had its world premiere at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on 30 August 2018, where it won the Golden Lion. It is scheduled to be released in theaters as well as streamed on Netflix on 14 December 2018.[3][4] It was selected as the Mexican entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards.[5][6]

Plot

The film's events take place in 1970 and 1971, predominantly in Mexico City. Cleo is a maid in the household of Sofia, her husband Antonio, their three young children, Sofia's mother, Teresa, and another maid, Adela. Antonio, a doctor, returns from a conference in Quebec. Among scenes of Cleo's life with the family - her cleaning, cooking, taking the kids to and from school, serving them meals, putting the kids to bed and waking them up - we see that Sofia and Antonio's marriage is strained. He finally leaves against Sofia's will. Sofia keeps his departure a secret from the kids, telling them he's on another long trip.

In their time off, Cleo and Adela go out with their boyfriends, Fermín and Pepe, to the theater. At the entrance, Cleo and Fermín decide to rent a room instead of seeing the movie. Fermín, while naked, shows off his martial arts skill using the shower curtain rod as a pole. At another date, both couples meet in a movie theater, where Cleo tells Fermín that she thinks she is pregnant. Fermín goes out, saying he'll be back, but doesn't return. He is nowhere to be seen when Cleo goes outside. Cleo reveals the same concern to Sofia, who takes her to get checked at the hospital where Antonio works. The doctor there confirms her pregnancy.

Sofia takes Cleo, Adele, and her children to a family friend's hacienda for New Year's. Both the landowners and the workers mention recent tensions over land in the area. During the celebrations, a fire erupts in the forest. Everyone helps put out the fire as a man sing in the foreground.

Back in the city, Sofia tries to hide Antonio's departure from children, but her older son learns of it by eavesdropping in on a phone conversation. She asks him to not tell his siblings. Through Adela's boyfriend, Cleo finds Fermín at an outdoor martial arts training class. He refuses to acknowledge that the baby is his and runs off.

Teresa takes Cleo shopping for a crib for her baby as students protest in the streets. As they are browsing in the furniture store, the protests below turn violent. A wounded man and a woman run into the store for protection from a few men with guns. One of them finds the wounded man and kills him with a gun shot as the shop patrons take cover. Another gunman points a gun at Cleo. He turns out to be Fermín. Just then, Cleo's water breaks.

Cleo, Teresa, and their driver try to get to the hospital quickly but are impeded by violence in the streets and car traffic. Cleo is taken into the delivery room. Antonio comes by to reassure her, but refuses to be with her. The doctors hear no heartbeat in Cleo's womb and take her into surgery, where they deliver a stillborn baby. Multiple attempts to resuscitate the infant fail. The doctors give the body to Cleo for a few moments before taking it away.

Soon after, Sofia plans a family trip to the beaches at Veracruz, partly to help Cleo cope with her loss. At the beach, Cleo wades into the ocean to save two of the children from drowning. Sofia and the children affirm their love for Cleo, who reveals that she hadn't wanted the baby. Later at dinner, Sofia tells the children that she and their father are separated and that the trip was so their father could take his belongings from their home. They return to their house, with the bookshelves gone.

Cast

  • Yalitza Aparicio as Cleo
  • Marina de Tavira as Sofia
  • Fernando Grediaga as Antonio
  • Jorge Antonio Guerrero as Fermín
  • Marco Graf as Pepe
  • Daniela Demesa as Sofi
  • Carlos Peralta
  • Nancy García as Adela
  • Diego Di Cort
  • Verónica García as Teresa, Sofia's mother

Production

On 8 September 2016, it was announced that Alfonso Cuarón would be writing and directing a project focusing on a Mexican family living in Mexico City in the 1970s. Production was set to begin in fall 2016.[7] The project was produced by Cuarón, Gabriela Rodríguez, and Nicolás Celis.

Set incident

On 3 November 2016 it was revealed that the crew was robbed on set during filming.[8] According to the studio "two women were hit, five crew members were hospitalized, and cellphones, wallets, and jewelry were stolen" during the attack.[9] The crew reportedly arrived to set up filming for the day when a group of city workers approached the crew and tried to shut down filming. The crew stated they had permission to film, but the workers persisted and a brawl broke out between both groups.

Release

In April 2018, it was announced Netflix had acquired distribution rights to the film.[10] It had its world premiere at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on 30 August 2018.[11] It made its North American debut the next day at the Telluride Film Festival on 31 August 2018.[12][13] The film also appeared at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2018[14] and the Orcas Island Film Festival on 8 October 2018. It was screened at the San Sebastián International Film Festival on 27 September 2018, the New York Film Festival on 5 October 2018, and the 29th New Orleans Film Festival as the Centerpiece Film on October 22, 2018.[15][16][17] The film's teaser trailer, which runs for one minute and shows water flowing repeatedly over tiles with washing sounds in the background, was released on 25 July 2018 by Cuarón through his Twitter account.[18]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, Roma holds an approval rating of 98% based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 9.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Roma finds writer-director Alfonso Cuarón in complete, enthralling command of his visual craft - and telling the most powerfully personal story of his career."[19] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 95 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". As of October 2018, the film is the highest rated film of the year on Metacritic. [20]

At the Toronto International Film Festival, the film was named second runner-up for the People's Choice Award.[21] The film also won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.[22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Roma". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Thompson, Anne (September 14, 2018). "TIFF 2018 Winners and Losers: Timothée Chalamet Shines, 'Roma' Wows, Xavier Dolan Flops". IndieWire. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  3. ↑ Anderson, Ariston (25 July 2018). "Venice to Kick Off Awards Season With New Films From Coen Brothers, Luca Guadagnino and Alfonso Cuaron". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  4. ↑ Vivarelli, Nick (25 July 2018). "Venice Film Festival Lineup: Heavy on Award Hopefuls, Netflix and Star Power". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Roma, la película de Cuarón en español y mixteco, representará a México en los Óscar y los Goya". SinEmbargo. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  6. ↑ Hecht, John (14 September 2018). "Oscars: Mexico Selects 'Roma' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  7. ↑ Kroll, Justin (8 September 2016). "Alfonso Cuaron Sets Mexican Family Drama as Next Film". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  8. ↑ Evans, Alan (3 November 2016). "Alfonso Cuarón film crew 'attacked and robbed' in Mexico City". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  9. ↑ Jones, Julia (3 November 2016). "Alfonso Cuarón film crew says Mexico City workers attacked them". CNN Americas. CNN. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  10. ↑ Keegan, Rebecca; Sperling, Nicole (6 April 2018). "Netflix Threatens to Pull Five Films from Cannes". Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  11. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (25 July 2018). "Venice Film Festival Lineup: Welles, Coen Brothers, Cuaron, Greengrass, More – Live". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  12. ↑ Tapley, Kristopher (30 August 2018). "'First Man,' 'Front Runner' and 'Roma' Among 2018 Telluride Film Festival Selections". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  13. ↑ "45th Telluride Film Festival Program Guide" (PDF). Telluride Film Festival. The National Film Preserve. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  14. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (24 July 2018). "Toronto: Timothee Chalamet Starrer 'Beautiful Boy,' Dan Fogelman's 'Life Itself' Among Festival Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  15. ↑ "Roma | New Orleans Film Society". neworleansfilmsociety.org. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  16. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (14 August 2018). "Damien Chazelle's 'First Man', Alfonso Cuaron's 'Roma', Bradley Cooper's 'A Star Is Born' Head To San Sebastian Fest". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  17. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (18 July 2018). "Alfonso Cuarón's 'ROMA' Set As New York Film Festival Centerpiece". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  18. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (25 July 2018). "'ROMA': Alfonso Cuaron Shares First Look At Venice-Bound Personal Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  19. ↑ "Roma (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  20. ↑ "Roma Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  21. ↑ "TIFF 2018 Awards: ‘Green Book’ Wins the People’s Choice Award, Upsetting ‘A Star Is Born’". IndieWire, 16 September 2018.
  22. ↑ Nordine, Michael (2018-09-08). "Venice Film Festival Awards: 'Roma' Wins the Golden Lion as 'The Favourite' Lives Up to Its Name". IndieWire. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
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