Classic Film Review #10: Roma (2018)

Available on: Netflix

Alfonso Cuarón’s first Mexican film since 2001 is also his most personal, it being a semi-autobiographical account of his upbringing in Mexico City during the early 1970s. With the auteur on director and cinematographer duties, it is undoubtedly a masterclass in filmmaking made even more impressive by the fact he also wrote, co-edited, and co-produced it.

Roma’s story is told through the eyes of Yalitza Aparicio’s live-in housekeeper who, as well as her own personal travails, endures the fracturing of her employer’s domestic life, which itself is set against the backdrop of social disorder and unrest. Aparicio is outstanding in the role and ensures that, even in its stiller moments, Roma remains an emotionally demanding watch.

The undoubted MVP of Cuarón’s film is, however, his decision to frame it in a sweeping monochrome that delivers moments of beauty aplenty, ensuring the film fulfils its intended duty as a love letter to the city of his youth.