#1014: CUARÓN, Alfonso: Roma (2018)

CUARÓN, Alfonso (United States)
Roma [2018]
Spine #1014
Blu-ray


With his eighth and most personal film, Alfonso Cuarón recreated the early-1970s Mexico City of his childhood, narrating a tumultuous period in the life of a middle-class family through the experiences of Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio, in a revelatory screen debut), the indigenous domestic worker who keeps the household running. Charged with the care of four small children abandoned by their father, Cleo tends to the family even as her own life is shaken by personal and political upheavals. Written, directed, shot, and coedited by Cuarón, Roma is a labor of love with few parallels in the history of cinema, deploying monumental black-and-white cinematography, an immersive soundtrack, and a mixture of professional and nonprofessional performances to shape its author's memories into a world of enveloping texture, and to pay tribute to the woman who nurtured him.

135 minutes
Black & White
Dolby Atmos
in Spanish and Mixtec
2:39:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2020
Not to be confused with another film with the same title: #0000C/#848

Director/Writer


Alfonso Cuarón was 57 when he wrote and directed Roma.

Other Cuarón films in the Collection:

#353: Sólo Con Tu Pareja (1991)
#723: Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

112-page booklet featuring writing by novelist Valeria Luiselli, historian Enrique Krauze, and author Aurelio Asíain, along with production-design images with notes by production designer Eugenio Caballero.

Commentary

None.

Road to “Roma”

A documentary about the making of the film, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and an interview with Cuarón.

Snapshots from the Set

A documentary featuring actors Aparicio and de Tavira, producers Gabriela Rodríguez and Nicolás Celis, production designer Caballero, casting director Luis Rosales, executive producer David Linde, and others.

Documentaries

About the film’s sound and postproduction processes, featuring Cuarón; Sergio Diaz, Skip Lievsay, and Craig Henighan from the postproduction sound team; editor Adam Gough; postproduction supervisor Carlos Morales; and finishing artist Steven J. Scott.

Documentary

About the film’s ambitious theatrical campaign and social impact in Mexico, featuring Celis and Rodríguez.

Trailers

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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