ROMA (2018)
Roma is a technical tour de force in search of a compelling story. It’s impressive that one man, Alfonso Cuaron, could write, direct, and photograph a film that looks as good as this one. Notably of the three, he is certainly a gifted cinematographer. The selection, construction, and framing of the scenes, especially the outdoor panoramas, are award winning material, as good as any in recent memory.
Unfortunately once fixed on a scene, he tends to linger on it too long, which not only compromises the dramatic impact of the action, but bogs down the film with too much time. It’s as if he wants to make sure that we’ve appreciated the artistic significance of each setting. At 2 hours and 15 minutes, trimming the run time by 20-30 minutes would have made a leaner film with more impact.
There were so many panning scenes of the interior of the home, especially the upstairs bedroom area, that it felt like a reality show. And in fact the entire movie had a documentary feel to it. The time spent on the visual portrayals often seemed to imply impending payoffs, but more often merely segued into another similar section: visual crescendos followed by repeat crescendos.
The story was not without activity. It’s just that the events did not support the time that was taken to arrive there. This is one of those slice of life movies that neither asks nor answers any questions, make any statement, nor come to any conclusions. We’re simply presented with what in our modern times is a fairly banal story.
The acting was good. Of special note was Yalitza Martínez, who, although a novice actress, played the central figure: a maid named Cleo. The veteran actress Marina de Tavira had a strong performance as Sofia, the mother of the family.
So while Roma’s production values are first rate, one is left to wonder what all the excitement is about. Alfonso Cuaron has the talent to direct a great film, but if Roma is any indication, he’ll need a more interesting script.
Doc’s rating: 6/10