Roma - Alfonso Cuarón

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Writer: Alfonso Cuarón

Stars: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, Nancy Garcia Garcia

Awards: Academy Award/ Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, Best Achievement in Directing, Best Achievement in Cinematography

Golden Globes/ Best Director - Motion Picture, Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language, Best Screenplay - Motion Picture

Bafta Awards/ Best Film, Best Film Not in the English Language, Best Cinematography

Roma is fundamentally the tale of two women. One is Cleo (played wonderfully by non-professional newcomer Yalitza Aparicio), a young woman of Mixteco Mesoamerican heritage working as a live-in maid for a beleaguered upper-middle-class family in Mexico City. Cleo’s personal life is beginning to unravel in tandem with that of her employer, Sofía (Marina De Tavira).

Cuarón shows how the household, though placid enough, is under pressure. There are signs of tension and dysfunction. The tiled courtyard driveway, which is shown being mopped clean over the opening credits, is habitually covered in the excrement of the family’s much cherished dog. The man of the house, Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), parks his car in this space with a wearied yet fanatical care that hints at his own unhappiness. His wife Sofía presides over four boisterous children, but the real work is being done by Cleo and her fellow maid Adela (Nancy García García), who are always eligible for the condescension of class and race but are nonetheless well treated. Antonio keeps going away for what are supposedly business trips and a stressed Sofía one day tells the children it would be a good idea to write to their dad, imploring him to come back. Meanwhile, Cleo has to explain to her dodgy, martial-arts enthusiast boyfriend Fermín (Jorge Antonio Guerrero) that she has missed her period. It is the prelude to disaster.

There is tragedy, comedy and absurdity here, along with sublime mystery in its extraordinary setpieces. At the heart of it all is a wonderful performance from Aparicio, who brings to the role something delicate and stoic. She is the jewel of this outstanding film.

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Prepared by: Duygu Söbe