The "sense of detachment" of this film is generally caused by the personalization of the film's narrative perspective and the restraint of the film's lens.
Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron's "Roma" was rejected from the Cannes Film Festival because of its cooperation with Netflix. Fortunately, the film was brilliant in Venice and won the Golden Lion Award in one fell swoop, and professional filmmakers complimented and praised the film.
The director's semi-autobiographical film, from the perspective of Cleo, a maid from a middle-class family, tells the story of two women and their families in Mexico City's Roma district in 1970-1971. The background of the film is political turmoil in Mexico, so many critics called the film "epic"; but because the film's perspective is more personal, the use of the camera is more restrained, and the performance of political movements is more forbearance, I I prefer to call this film a personal "letter", a "letter" with delicate feelings, restraint, and surging enthusiasm and moving. If it was a little more radical, it could even be called a "hymn" for women.
The biggest feature of this film is the personalization of the perspective and the restraint of the lens, so the emotions in the early stage are accumulated and increased little by little, and finally reached a climax at the end of the coast where the waves are rolling and released.
There are many contrasts and conflicts in this film, but they are deliberately diluted by the memoirized narrative and personal perspective. This dilution is the film atmosphere that transforms the contradictions into a whole, like a veil covering the viewers. the mind of the viewer; instead of the traditional film, the contradiction is shaped into the focus so that the viewer's mind is only the focus. If the personalization of the narrative perspective is the restraint of the textual language in the expression of the film, then the performance of the camera lens is the restraint of the language of the film's pictures.
The two biggest contrasts and conflicts in the film are the contrast between women and men, and the fate of the little people in the context of the big era. The failed relationship of the two women (Cleo and Sophia) is at the heart of the story, but the corresponding two men's appearances are measurable. There are also very few frontal conflicts in emotions, and they are all hidden in Cleo's slowly flowing life.
Cleo's boyfriend, Fermin, has only made four appearances in total: the first time on a date with Cleo, where he clowns naked and juggling his martial arts; the second time when he learned that Cleo was pregnant with herself The third time was when Cleo went to the training camp to look for him, and he threatened Cleo not to look for him again; the fourth time was in the political movement in Mexico, where Fermin served as the official thug, accidentally Encountered Cleo, who pointed a gun at Cleo, who was about to give birth. This is basically the "four elements" of the "scumbag" emotional routine.
The emotional breakdown between Sophia and her husband is also presented from Cleo's perspective. The husband's appearance is even rarer. The first time was "Dad is back" that the whole family was looking forward to. The editing of the footage and the use of the soundtrack are very skillful, creating a sense of ritual, but the dog in the family barked after the father entered the door. The degree of estrangement between the Lord and the home. The only time the parents quarreled was also the "sound and video separation" processing mode. The father complained about the mess coming from the bedroom, but the whole center of the screen was Cleo, the bedroom door that was open and closed by the mother.
The scene of the "parting" when the father lied about going to Quebec on a business trip was also under the watchful eye of Cleo. It seems that the parents dominate the picture, but Cleo is actually the camera lens.
As for the fact that his wife Sophia fully "admitted" her husband to abandoning his wife, Cleo's attempt to prevent the child Parker from eavesdropping was also shown from Cleo's perspective. It can be said that although the movie is the story of two women, the "camera" has always been Cleo.
It is under Cleo's perspective that the background of the times hides a lot. The most important background of the times is two scenes, one is the metaphor of the fire on Christmas Eve; the other is the street riots before Cleo gives birth. The fire was really very subtle, and it was also a way of expressing the "separation of sound and picture". Cleo looked at the night sky in the distance, the dim light of the fire flickered, the camera was given to Cleo, and the picture was transmitted Outsiders shouted "it's on fire". The trace of fire is like the latent political movement, and there is a prairie fire surging under the spark of fire, and just like the mood of this film, it is calm and ready to go.
In another scene, the director first took a long shot on the street. Cleo and Sophia's mother went to buy a crib. After getting out of the car, although the camera followed Cleo and the others, they were fully armed. Tall army, Cleo and the others are small, appearing and disappearing behind the army. The sense of destiny of the little people under the tide of the times has appeared, and what awaits Cleo must be the destiny engulfed by the movement.
In the street riot, the director used a wide-angle lens to shoot a long shot from Cleo's window perspective, and the scene scheduling ability is very strong. The wide-angle lens brings a sense of isolation between Cleo and the riot, and the boxy window looks like a movie.
But as soon as the camera turned, thugs stormed the store, and Fermin pointed a gun at Cleo, who was about to give birth. This caused Cleo's amniotic fluid to rupture prematurely, as the soon-to-be-born baby lost precious rescue time during the traffic jam caused by the turmoil, the metaphor is self-evident.
The rescue on the coast at the end was also shot with a wide-angle and extended lens. It was not until the child was rescued ashore, and a few people hugged their heads and snuggled together that they were close-up. , and finally let the accumulated emotions finally explode. I am old and cry.
The "playful" reflection of the plane in the water mopping the ground at the beginning of the film and the reflection in the sky at the end are the director's unforgettable dream and childhood time that he can't go back to. And the whole film flows through the director's delicate love for the "mother".
Do you know which of those children is "Alfonso Cuaron"?
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