After Venice won the Golden Lion, "Roma" is one of the most anticipated films of the year.
Director Alfonso Cuaron, as one of the "Three Heroes of Mexico", was shortlisted for the Venice Golden Lion as early as 2001 with "Your Mother, Too", and has since become an internationally renowned director, contributing to "Harry Potter and the In 2013, he won seven Oscars including Best Director for his sci-fi film "Gravity".
After working hard in Hollywood for more than ten years, Cuaron returned to his hometown, and turned his tender memories of childhood maids into a flowing "Roma".
"Roma" is a personal letter that Alfonso Cuaron opened for many years. The plot is actually very simple: in a wealthy community called "Roma" in Mexico City, the maid Cleo serves the male year after year. The family of the owner, Dr. Antonio and his wife, Sophia, grew up with their four children, and they have a relationship with blood thicker than water. As a father and husband, the doctor abandoned his family and eloped with his new love. Like the hostess, Cleo also experienced painful emotional changes and finally lost the child in his womb. In a big bourgeois family in Mexico City, two women of different identities and classes began to subtly depend on each other spiritually, and their similar circumstances and maternal love bound them emotionally.
The fate of the maid Cleo inevitably reflects the history of Mexico in the 1970s. It was an era of turbulence and civic protests in Mexico, and what happened to this seemingly safest wealthy family can be seen as an intriguing epitome of the era.
However, the profile of this era is extremely simplified. The resistance and repression that erupted around land ownership only used the phrase "the dog was poisoned to death" and the phrase "your mother's land was taken away" casually mentioned when the maid was working. Performance; street protests and revolutionary gunshots all flashed by, and Cleo meeting the man who abandoned her on her birth day was nothing but a panicked glance at her. Cuaron chooses to turn the most dramatic episodes into an almost grim stare of memory, restrained and full throughout. Although he did not intend to conduct a politically sensitive examination of that era or patriarchal culture in "Roma", because this was neither the perspective of Cuaron as a child, nor the awareness that Cleo would have, he did not forget Echoing the relationship between the era and the individual, these few idle strokes have outlined the changes of the entire era.
Some people think that the structure of "Rome" is not enough, too much attention to detail, and too weak social/political part. But I think this is exactly what the memory itself looks like—after many years, as a child, the impression of turbulent times is far less profound and clear than the memory of my own life. Cuaron also admitted in an interview that 90 percent of the scenes in "Roma" came from his memory. Maybe that's why, he used push-pull and rotation long shots without hesitation, filming Cleo rushing in and out of the house, filming a reversing of his father's car, and his mother taking them on a trip...because these constitute The warmest, most authentic and most empathetic memories.
This kind of temperature is hidden in details and small things, melting out infinite tenderness. For example, Cleo was doing laundry on the roof, lying flat on the slate with the young master at home and "pretending to be dead", she said, "Hey, I think it feels good to be dead." Cuaron portrays Cleo's unique character in just one scene: she is not only a maid who does housework and takes care of the children, she is also a childlike girl who can truly understand children and grow up with them girl.
"Roma" and "Cold War" are both black and white films with delicate texture. Compared with the high-contrast black and white images of "Cold War", the black and white of "Roma" is more comfortable for my vision. The light gray and white tone of the picture is soft and warm, but emotionally. Heavy but more than that.
The camera freezes on Cleo's hands many times. The hands are washing dishes, cooking, and washing clothes in close-up shots. They are dexterous and vibrant; in the second half of the film, when Cleo encounters an accident, the camera shows more Her facial expressions, as viewers, together with Cuaron when we were young, in her silence and expressions, we vaguely felt the changes and pains in Cleo's heart. From the child's point of view, this feeling is not strong (as the younger son innocently asks "Why is Cleo crying?"), but it makes us feel more empathy for Cleo, who needs to live a strong life.
The day the doctor decided to leave, he went to the dining table to say goodbye to his son, but he didn't look at his wife at all. Sophia suddenly hugged her husband who had made up her mind by the car. Not far away, the younger son waved innocently at his father. until he started the car and drove away. The ending of the story seems to have been doomed, but from the child's point of view, life is as usual, and it is not until half a year later that the undertone of exhaustion is revealed. Mom and Cleo work together to maintain the serenity of the children, both happiness and pain.
Grandma took the pregnant Cleo to buy a crib, and the furniture store they went to was the one they used to frequent. Cuaron did not take a frontal shot of the two entering the door, but gave a few seconds of footage priced at "$120". The expensiveness of the crib and the luxury of Sophia's past life are self-evident. But even though the family's financial difficulties were caused by the doctor's departure, Sophia and her mother still chose to take her to the best furniture store, not only trying to maintain the decency and self-esteem of the past, but also treating Cleo as a family member.
In order to better present his own ideas, Cuaron personally took charge of the photography this time, and "Roma" also showed his characteristics as an extreme technical director. What is impressive is not only the dazzling 360-degree rotating lens when Cleo turns off the lights, but also the exquisite scheduling of large and small scenes. For example, on Revolution Day, the grandmother and Cleo in the furniture store saw the parade and gunfight in the street through the window, and then the revolutionaries rushed into the furniture store and shot, and Cleo, who was frightened, was helped by his grandmother and sent to the hospital , the camera finally freezes on the killed man and his grieving partner. The whole scene is arranged from big to small, all in one go. Another example is Cleo lying on the roof with the youngest son in the family, the camera slowly moves up and to the right, showing the laundry and other rooftops in the distance, as if it is Cleo's empty gaze, the close-up and the distant view are intertwined. , the most common life scenes can also become a visually beautiful enjoyment.
But what is commendable is that such "dazzling skills" are not overwhelming, the form still serves the content faithfully, and creates just the right soothing rhythm.
When I read "Roma" for the second time, I couldn't help but shed a few tears. The admiration for the technology and the curiosity about the story itself when I saw it for the first time were thrown away, and the emotions left behind were enough to be experienced repeatedly.
At the end, the scene of Cleo walking towards the waves is beautifully shot. The layers of waves are like Cuaron's childhood memories, quiet, dreamy and touching; it is also like the hardships and pains of life, which gradually dissipate after the harshness. Finally at peace.
The panning shot follows Cleo walking slowly and forcefully towards the sea, and the surging waves hit her in layers, penetrating her body. At this point, only the sound of the waves and Cleo's cry were left in the picture. We held our breath to see how Cleo fought the fierce waves step by step with love, and the drizzle silently overcame his fear and rescued the two children. , as she walks through her own pain, a long shot is a woman's tiny epic.
The male characters in "Roma" are almost negative, they are hypocritical, fickle, cowardly and irresponsible. The two main male characters, Sofia's husband Antonio and the maid Cleo's boyfriend Fairmont, both abandoned their other half in tandem. Even Sophia took the children to a friend's house for Christmas, and the host wanted to "drink and have sex" with her, and immediately satirized her as "unattractive" after being sternly rejected by Sophia. In stark contrast to the male characters, Sophia and Cleo, the two female characters, swallowed the great misfortune forbearance, slowly recovered and recovered by themselves, and always embraced the infinite love for their family, others and children.
Against the background of men, "Roma" is sublimated into an ode to mothers and women. The wet nurse Cleo is the "prototype" of the mother in Cuaron's heart, loving, kind, and tenacious; and she herself has become a complete individual in "Roma", a woman, with her own joys, sorrows and dignity. Love, heartbreak, yoga with friends after lights out at night, giggling.
The reverse of ROMA is AMOR, which means "love" in Spanish. "Dedicated to Libo" is slowly typed at the end of the film, which is probably the best emotional footnote of "Roma".
The huge amount of information in "Roma" can reflect many different viewing experiences. For me, what impresses me the most is the sincere, secret and soft emotions wrapped in perfect technology.
(This article is the first adventure movie)
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