Roma

Grade: C+

“Bland.” “Why isn’t this clicking with me?” These were thoughts that entered my head as I sat through the Spanish, English-subtitled black-and-white film Roma, now nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture. A few things I noticed: there are very few close-ups. Mostly wide shots. There is no score. All the music we hear is diegetic. Also, there aren’t many cuts or shot-reverse-shot camera work happening. Sometimes, whole scenes are done in one long take. This works effectively in the most disturbing scene in the movie (the one that takes place in a hospital), and the scene at the beach near the end. It also means that, to its detriment, there are numerous parts where characters are just silently walking around for long periods of time, and we’re not sure why or who we should be focusing on.

Roma is essentially a year in the life of the maid of a Mexico City family in 1970. Best Actress nominee Yalitza Aparicio, as the maid, can be very good when she gets a chance to act, or do something other than be quiet and walk around a lot. I have to say there is something about subtitles in a drama that gives the rare humorous lines more weight than they otherwise would in a home language or home-language dubbed movie. Black and white is beautiful. Nebraska and The Man Who Wasn’t There might be my two favorite B&W films. The critic for Roger Ebert’s website was absolutely over the moon about Roma. I cannot share his enthusiasm. Director Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity, Children of Men, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and the Gwyneth Paltrow/Ethan Hawke Great Expectations) has ultimately made a movie that left me thinking “so what?” Roma is the damp match that just never ignited for me.

Grade: C+