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Gravity director Alfonso Cuarón gets personal with black and white drama Roma
Although he’s primarily known for big budget blockbusters such as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Gravity, and Children of Men, Oscar-winning Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón is taking a much more low-key approach with his upcoming black and white drama Roma, which chronicles a year in the life of a middle-class family in the titular region of Mexico City.
The film was clearly a deeply personal project for Cuarón, because in addition to directing, he also served as writer, co-producer, and co-editor. Needless to say, Roma was partially inspired by his own upbringing, and he was even quoted as saying that it is his most personal film yet. He explains that he choose to shoot it in black and white to avoid a ‘subjective depiction’ of the period, because he believes that memories can be both objective and subjective.
Since it screened at the Venice Film Festival, Roma has been earning a great deal of critical praise, with the performance of Yalitza Aparicio as the family’s housekeeper (who was based on Cuarón’s own babysitter) being a particular point of interest. Critics have also commended the film for its accurate depiction of life in 1970s Mexico, and for its long and cinematic tracking shots.
Roma will screen at both the New York Film Festival and the London Film Festival in October, before it begins streaming on Netflix on December 14th. Cuarón has stated that he would like audiences to see the film on the big screen if possible, so be sure to make an effort if it happens to be playing at a festival near you.
