In the early '60s, a Mexican director was born, his thirst for creation brought him to make films that reshape cinema's landscape. Children of Men, Solo con Tu Pareja, Gravity, Y Tu Mama Tambien, and Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban are among his most important films, this is Alfonzo Cuaron.
Roma is his most intimate and personal film ever. Directors have always searched on one point of their career making a movie about a personal story. Oliver Stone with Platoon, Richard Linklater with Before Sunshine, David O. Russell with Silver Linings Playbook and even Steven Spielberg with Schindlers List.
Roma tells the story of Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) a maid who works for a family in the colony(neighborhood) of Roma in Mexico City during the '70s. She takes care of four kids from Sofia (Marina de Tavira) and Antonio(Fernando Grediaga), she also takes care of Teresa, which is Sofia's mom. Cleo also does cleaning and make sure the house runs smoothly, with the help from Adela.
The relationship between Sofia and Antonio is in crisis and they are trying to hide it from the kids, but there is a breaking point when Antioni leaves for Quebec for some research never returning home. At the same time, Cleo gets pregnant from a playful relationship with a guy name Fermin. The story continues in the brink of very dangerous times in Mexico with the rise of students protest and a paramilitary group name Los Halcones.
Rome is a very interesting exploration of life in the '70s thru the eyes of a maid and a middle-class family in Mexico City. Cuaron shows this life connecting with people who lived in the '70s and '80s in Latin America, a time a remember pretty well.
However, Cuaron's devotion to telling such a personal story gets some audience lost because there is not enough cultural context to understand what's happening, is just a glimpse of events. Personally, I had to research some of the political happenings in Mexico to understand. The film serves as collection vignettes of a different life in this city. The naturalism of just using sound and not having a music score creates a slow pace to the movie which can be deceiving for audiences.
Roma is a beautifully shot film with too many hidden VFX that makes me wonder, how you can tell a personal story about your past and you need to alter the reality of the story?. The film contains very interesting metaphors about relationships from a big car to a small car and also how dog's poop becomes an object for couple's argument, Cuaron borrows the visual style of Orson Wells, Hitchcock, and Tarkovsky just to make a point of a film that looks good black and white
What's struck me about watching Roma on Netflix's streaming platform instead of in theaters, is about previous well-reviewed foreign films and how they become forgotten after winning the Academy Award, Roma is now a trendy movie with audiences hating it and critics loving it, just like last year Will's Smith Netflix film Bright, was hated by the critics and love it by audiences.
Roma could be forgotten if it wasn't shown on Netflix.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Friday, December 21, 2018
Fascism is a trendy subject these days, in our political arena, on our everyday lives, and the entertainment business.
The events from Charlottesville on August 12, 2017, when Heather Heyer was killed and dozens were injured by James, Alex Fields still in the news. An event hard to forget especially by the way our current administration dealt with this. Charlottesville is also one of the crucial elements shown in the new Spike Lee film BlacKkKlansman.
In the early 1970s, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) an African American cop from the Colorado Springs police department where he gets assigned to work at the records room. Ron is the object of racial mistreatment from his coworkers. So request to be transferred to the undercover department. His first assignment is going to a rally for the black student union where he meets Kwame Ture an important activist.
One day he reads in the paper advertising to join the Ku Klux Klan, he calls the number on the ad pretending to be white and use his coworker Detective Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) and he talks to the KKK the president of the Colorado Spring chapter requesting to join the group.
Spike Lee approach is very interesting, the use of humor as a tool for criticism is powerful and effective. It's important to mention how other directors saw fascism with humor, attacking the irony of leaders around the world. Charles Chaplin did it with The Great Dictator in the 1940s sending a message to the world about how wrong is an authoritarian leader who thinks is better than anyone else, or a film like Starship Troopers by Paul Verhoeven making fun of the war industry but translated to the future, where people on earth are just interested in conquering other planets just for the sake of being the world cop.
BlacKkKlansman is a great reminder that enemies are not only outside our country but in our backyard. Intolerant people with lack of respect and consideration to other with others who think differently.
The events from Charlottesville on August 12, 2017, when Heather Heyer was killed and dozens were injured by James, Alex Fields still in the news. An event hard to forget especially by the way our current administration dealt with this. Charlottesville is also one of the crucial elements shown in the new Spike Lee film BlacKkKlansman.
In the early 1970s, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) an African American cop from the Colorado Springs police department where he gets assigned to work at the records room. Ron is the object of racial mistreatment from his coworkers. So request to be transferred to the undercover department. His first assignment is going to a rally for the black student union where he meets Kwame Ture an important activist.
One day he reads in the paper advertising to join the Ku Klux Klan, he calls the number on the ad pretending to be white and use his coworker Detective Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) and he talks to the KKK the president of the Colorado Spring chapter requesting to join the group.
Spike Lee approach is very interesting, the use of humor as a tool for criticism is powerful and effective. It's important to mention how other directors saw fascism with humor, attacking the irony of leaders around the world. Charles Chaplin did it with The Great Dictator in the 1940s sending a message to the world about how wrong is an authoritarian leader who thinks is better than anyone else, or a film like Starship Troopers by Paul Verhoeven making fun of the war industry but translated to the future, where people on earth are just interested in conquering other planets just for the sake of being the world cop.
BlacKkKlansman is a great reminder that enemies are not only outside our country but in our backyard. Intolerant people with lack of respect and consideration to other with others who think differently.
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Road movies are the film genre where two main characters or several roles leave townhome on a road trip, most of the time this trip change the characters perspectives evolving after they return.
Several movies have explored this type of movies, from Thelma and Louise, Little Miss Sunshine, Into The Wild, Y Tu Mamá También, Easy Ryder and The Motorcycle Diaries.
The films mentioned before show a territory where characters seeing something change their perspective in life, sometimes is a tragic event, other people's behavior or they discover something about the other traveling partner.
A powerful road movie currently in theaters, already an award contender, but also the controversial picture is the film Green Gook. It tells the story of Frank "Tony Lip" Vallenloga (Viggo Mortensen) an Italian American bouncer, in search for employment after the club he was working was shut down unexpectedly. Thanks to his connections to had an interview with "Doc" Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali ) a famous pianist who is going on tour around the country, Green Book is the term for a travel guide for black motorists.
At first Frank clash with Don for so many reasons, especially his uncultured behavior opposite Don’s sophisticated, reserved demeanor. As they head South, Frank discover the sad reality about Don, no matter his talents and prestigious title as a classical pianist, he is seen by their white fans as an African American who is only welcome at the hotels, bathrooms and other business just for color. Don's dilemma is his inability to fit as black with his peers, but also not been welcome at the white community.
On the other hand, Don gives Frank the tools and enough lessons to understand that with his behavior as a bouncer, he will never succeed in more prestigious environments.
The trip this two encounter is filled with life lessons about racism in the south, tolerance, and respect, but importantly is how they learn about each other.
Several movies have explored this type of movies, from Thelma and Louise, Little Miss Sunshine, Into The Wild, Y Tu Mamá También, Easy Ryder and The Motorcycle Diaries.
The films mentioned before show a territory where characters seeing something change their perspective in life, sometimes is a tragic event, other people's behavior or they discover something about the other traveling partner.
A powerful road movie currently in theaters, already an award contender, but also the controversial picture is the film Green Gook. It tells the story of Frank "Tony Lip" Vallenloga (Viggo Mortensen) an Italian American bouncer, in search for employment after the club he was working was shut down unexpectedly. Thanks to his connections to had an interview with "Doc" Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali ) a famous pianist who is going on tour around the country, Green Book is the term for a travel guide for black motorists.
At first Frank clash with Don for so many reasons, especially his uncultured behavior opposite Don’s sophisticated, reserved demeanor. As they head South, Frank discover the sad reality about Don, no matter his talents and prestigious title as a classical pianist, he is seen by their white fans as an African American who is only welcome at the hotels, bathrooms and other business just for color. Don's dilemma is his inability to fit as black with his peers, but also not been welcome at the white community.
On the other hand, Don gives Frank the tools and enough lessons to understand that with his behavior as a bouncer, he will never succeed in more prestigious environments.
The trip this two encounter is filled with life lessons about racism in the south, tolerance, and respect, but importantly is how they learn about each other.
If you ever heard the expression "Behind every great man, there's a great woman" is just referring to a men who really take care of a woman, respect her and give the credit she deserves.
It is not applied to certain men who became successful thanks to the talents of their wives. Films like Tim Burton's Big Eyes, tells the story of the painter Margaret Ulbrich, who's husband, was taking credit of her work, becoming a well-known painter.
British director Wash Westmoreland brought to life a similar story, French writer Gabrielle Colette (Keira Knightley) Is married to a well-known author and publisher Henry Gauthier-Villars (Dominic West) who uses the pseudonym Willy, Colette was found of writing stories about her friends back in the French countryside, which Henry became interested in using it.
The character "Claudine" is a voice for women and a total success for Henry who uses Colette work for his own, making him a millionaire and calculated manipulator stealing her writings. The troubled relationship for Colette and Henry is also a sexual exploration in the Paris of the 20th century, transforming Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette from a rural girl into a city girl with the thirst for adventure as an artist.
The film is a great document about women who don't get the credit as they deserve and there are used by her partners to become successful. That's been said "Behind a terrible man, there's a great woman"
It is not applied to certain men who became successful thanks to the talents of their wives. Films like Tim Burton's Big Eyes, tells the story of the painter Margaret Ulbrich, who's husband, was taking credit of her work, becoming a well-known painter.
British director Wash Westmoreland brought to life a similar story, French writer Gabrielle Colette (Keira Knightley) Is married to a well-known author and publisher Henry Gauthier-Villars (Dominic West) who uses the pseudonym Willy, Colette was found of writing stories about her friends back in the French countryside, which Henry became interested in using it.
The character "Claudine" is a voice for women and a total success for Henry who uses Colette work for his own, making him a millionaire and calculated manipulator stealing her writings. The troubled relationship for Colette and Henry is also a sexual exploration in the Paris of the 20th century, transforming Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette from a rural girl into a city girl with the thirst for adventure as an artist.
The film is a great document about women who don't get the credit as they deserve and there are used by her partners to become successful. That's been said "Behind a terrible man, there's a great woman"
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