Roma

Every so often a film comes along that sears our minds.  We come away from the viewing recalling poignant, troubling, powerful scenes that we cannot easily forget.

Roma is an arthouse wonder.  Don't expect amazing action scenes or extreme plot twists.  Don't expect to be hit over the head with messages, Hollywood-style.

Expect instead amazing black and white cinematography that pulls you completely into a very dark world.

Expect a shaded, nuanced, measured portrait of the rich and the poor.

As in Downton Abbey or Upstairs Downstairs, there's trouble brewing among the upper crust and the disadvantaged.  In this film, we are concerned for both.

Without giving away the details, the plot basically involves a young, poor helper, pictured above, who works in the service of a well-to-do family. You can see that she has a sweet smile.  She is naive and pure of heart.

The story shows us a family:  We see a mother with four fairly unruly kids, who lives in a nice home with multiple rooms.  In this part of Mexico, where many folks don't live in such luxury, the family enjoys a very nice life.

With the family are two or more caretakers, who cook the meals and tend to the kids.  Cleo, pictured above, is the main protagonist, the nanny and housekeeper who has been with the family for a while.

We come to care about both the comfortable family and working class helper, because the problems they face are so very human.  The mother of four struggles to do her best in a crumbling marriage.  The helper struggles to do her best in a superficial romantic relationship.

Dialog is sparse.  Most of the tension is brilliantly conveyed through silence.  On this note, the New Yorker panned the movie, claiming that the protagonist, Cleo, says so little.  I would have to disagree.  It's Cleo's lack of verbal expression that so brilliantly captures her angst.

What does the title Roma mean?  On the surface, it refers to a very poor district in Mexico City. But I would suggest that the filmmaker also wanted us to think of ancient Rome.  The society was advanced, but beneath the surface lurked a lack of morals that eventually led to its decline.

So it is with this movie.  Check out the driveway in the family's home, always littered with dog excrement.  Check out the water images, that suggest an effort to cleanse the decay that pervades both social classes.  Check out the street riots and wanton death.  Check out the party scene where guests randomly shoot pistols.  There is decadence everywhere.

We feel the pain of the women in the film.  We loathe the behavior of the men.  We're never hit over the head with feminism, however.  We find that life is just that way in this part of the world.

Roma is a masterpiece.  But it requires work.  If you want a very different movie experience, a film  with real messages that are masterfully and subtly conveyed, be sure not to miss this one.

It's a winner!