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Films

Related: TV discussion forum.

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Roma

25 replies

echt · 15/12/2018 07:49

Anyone seen this? It's on limited release and I'm sure Netflix, who ponied up the dough won't put it on DVD.

Utterly astonishing, black and white, no musical score, and in Mexican Spanish and Mexatec. Nothing extraordinary happens, but everything does. I've never seen so much dog shit in all my life.

I can't recommend this film too highly, great cinematography, fabulous acting.

OP posts:

kttl · 17/12/2018 23:41

I think this is a masterpiece

Everything about it was perfection

Original poster

echt · 18/12/2018 07:25

I went to it again today with a friend, it'll be gone by the end of the week, but streaming now on Netflix, so BIG TV or better still at a cinema while you can. It rewards the subsequent viewing a hundredfold. Sublime.

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Trippedupagain · 23/12/2018 18:32

Just watched it last night and would happily watch again. Each scene was beautiful and the humour / tragedy was all underplayed so you sometimes weren't even sure what you'd seen. Cleo was so good and said so little most of the time, but you didn't need her to. It must have cost mega bucks to make but you didn't feel that at all, but the attention to detail in recreating 1970s Mexico was just fascinating. The cars and the street scenes...just lovely. Now I know what happens in it, I would certainly enjoy watching it again and just relax and enjoy it, take it all in. My DH hated it.

SatsumaFan · 14/01/2019 22:20

@Trippedupagain me and my dh are with your dh...

It had some lovely panning in it

fussychica · 26/01/2019 23:22

Sorry not for me or DH. Lovely to look at but totally lacking in a storyline which made it difficult to engage with. We both love films but to us it was style over substance.

Saw a review which said it was like paint drying, very expensive beautiful paint but paint nonetheless. That summed it up pretty well I thought.

SatsumaFan · 26/01/2019 23:42

Yesss! If Roma were a paint, it would be Farrow & Ball!

Do we think Cleo jumped off the roof at the end? And if not, would it have been a better ending if she had?

BartonHollow · 03/02/2019 19:16

I'm watching this now and I'm really not loving it. Finding it self indulgent and wanky.

SatsumaFan · 03/02/2019 19:53

@BartonHollow those were my thoughts exactly! Good luck.

BartonHollow · 03/02/2019 20:04

@SatsumaFan

Here's to two hours of long silent crowd shots birds tweeting and dogs barking I'll never get back

SatsumaFan · 05/02/2019 11:13

You forgot the lingering shots of dog shit! So do you think the main character jumped off the roof at the end? Lord knows that's what I felt like doing after 2hrs of watching the film...

southeastdweller · 05/02/2019 18:24

I saw it at the cinema yesterday and agree it was hellishly boring. The critics are wetting their undies about something With a Message and that Looks Beautiful. Ten Oscar nominations for this?

Needadoughnut · 05/02/2019 18:31

Surely Spanish is Spanish? It's like saying that Forrest Gump is in American English. I did find the film boring but beautiful. He has much better films like A Little Princess, Children of Men or Gravity. His Harry Potter is also the best of the franchise.

OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow · 05/02/2019 18:37

No, Latin American and Mexican Spanish is subtly different to European Spanish.
I loved it. It wasn't the story I expected. I don't think she jumped.

Needadoughnut · 05/02/2019 18:41

What I mean... (And I know I'm being difficult about it) Is that we don't make any difference when it comes to English. Nobody would describe "Muriel's Wedding" as an Australian English film. In any case Mexican Spanish is the dominant version of Spanish worldwide, so making the distinction is a moot point.

BartonHollow · 05/02/2019 21:27

I agree with the list of films Cuaron has made and that he is brilliant and like others have said this LOOKS beautiful

I feel he may get the Oscar because it is artsy and he is Academy Award Winner Alfonso Cuaron and less because Roma is the best film as a viewing experience this year.

The only one I haven't yet seen is Beale Street out of the main runners and the best ones for me (excluding Star Is Born which won't win)

Blackklansman - which is truly worth watching but I will only watch once because it was harrowing, brutal

Can You Ever Forgive Me? which like Green Book is mostly a two hander but is far more subtle and moving and less I DEMAND YOU GIVE ME AN OSCAR than Green Book is.

If she did jump off the roof I'm quite glad it wasn't shown, her life was depressing enough, like why is it never explained why naked stick man wants to murder her because she's pregnant - nothing makes sense

Graphista · 10/02/2019 22:46

Being a huge Tess geritsen fan I refuse to watch any of his films unless he ever does the right thing and properly credits her for Gravity.

That whole situation was appallingly handled.

SatsumaFan · 10/02/2019 23:29

Can't believe it won a Bafta for best film !

jacksonmaine · 15/02/2019 12:49

I thought I hated it, but it grew on me as the film developed. It felt like I was sitting on a bench watching the world go by - almost meditative. I am going to watch it again tonight.

I think the cinematography/ style took a while for me to embrace it comes across as pretentious and almost caricatural arthouse Italian/French cinema. I wasn't expecting it I suppose. I need to watch it again.

It is a masterpiece.

heidivodca · 15/02/2019 14:30

It’s a lovely film! Wasn’t what I was expecting but a lovely slice of life against a piece of history I wasn’t aware of!

onlyconnect · 20/02/2019 19:34

I loved this film. I can see it's not for everyone- in fact after watching it, DP ( who wasn't that keen) and I had fun imagining recommending it to the people we know who we think would like it the least. But I found it absorbing, really interesting and relevant. It may have been Mexico 1970 (which was interesting as I knew nothing about it) but many of the themes are relevant now: class, "loyalty", race. Also very interesting seeing the whites in Mexico in relation to how we now see Mexicans in the US.
I can see that it just wouldn't be engaging for lots of people though. I've been on the other side of this before where people have loved a film that I just can't get into but not on this occasion.

Coronapop · 20/02/2019 19:37

It was interesting and brilliantly acted but I don't understand why it was made in black and white. I thought that detracted rather than added anything, especially as there was no real plot.

onlyconnect · 20/02/2019 20:28

Coronapomp i think the black and white created a distance. The camera was often back at a distance. It created an effect of looking at something from afar rather than being part of it. There's something else about black and white I like that I can't put my finger on too.

RelaisBlu · 26/02/2019 16:35

I watched this yesterday on Netflix and found it very absorbing with beautifully observed detail in the relationships. It reminded me of when we lived in Singapore and the Philippino girl who lived with us as Cleo does with the family in the film. I blubbed my way through the last 45 minutes.

RelaisBlu · 26/02/2019 16:54

I believe the director dedicated the film to the "Cleo" in his own family when he was a child. There is another film made a few years ago called "Ilo Ilo" (which means in Chinese "Mum & Dad are not home") by a Singaporean director who similarly was recognising the important role played in his family by their housekeeper. As an adult he went to look for her in the Philippines to reconnect with her and recently my adult daughter has done the same thing - there were lots of photos & lots of tears!

AbsolutelyPansy · 05/04/2021 17:28

Just got round to this.
so beautiful, emotion inducing.

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