Student Film Reviews

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1. Daniel Carrera 03.04.19 / 9am

   Roma, based on this review I would not be intrigued to watch this movie. This review held me as suspect of suspicion wether the writer was too opinionated or impatient, due to lack of more in-depth detail. This brings me to the conclusion that the reviewer was simply biased from the beginning. I too am a, “english-speaking college student”, that being said I think that this film brings to front what used to be the past, slower-paced lifestyle. Time to breath, catch your breath, smell the roses, communication through physical contact than our current distorted humanism, and enjoying the gift of the present.
2. maria castelo 03.04.19 / 1pm

   Roma (2018) Alfonso Cuaron is like you said “it is exquisitely crafted and put together.” I also had a hard time sitting through it, I thought it was too slow. I do not think you were the wrong target, I being a female Mexican decent and bilingual, it was just a very different movie. The setting of the movie is in Cuaron’s childhood neighborhood of Mexico City during the 1970’s. He does a great job taking us back to his memories in some of the best black and white cinematography. This is where we see the greatness of the movie and also in his many symbols that we get to question racism against indigenous woman and woman in general. This movie is different and “exquisite” because it is not your normal action packed fast passed movie but an artistic memory of Cuaron’s childhood memories.
3. Analee Bonanno 03.04.19 / 4pm

   After watching the Oscars a couple of nights ago, I was really intrigued to watch this movie because of all of the awards that they won. However, I believe that we are in the same boat with not enjoying black and white 70’s films and want more action in a film. I think that based on your review, I don’t think that I would ever want to watch it anymore because I think that our taste is the same. I think that maybe if you looked at it through a directors eyes and tried to see what he was trying to accomplish in this film then maybe it would seem more interesting to you. Still, thank you for this review and giving me a little bit of a heads up if I do plan on watching this film.
4. angelica_basilio 03.05.19 / 8pm

   I feel like I’m in a similar situation with Roma but only until after I watched the film at this same screening at SBIFF. I definitely agree that Roma isn’t meant for everyone but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not a good film. Even though this doesn’t seem like Cuaron’s usual style of films, such as Gravity and Harry Potter as you’ve mentioned, I’ve found that after watching his films a bit more, Cuaron actually has this subtle but consistent theme of character isolation. He is actually able to establish this theme through his use of a steady but realistic narrative development where he focuses on the main character’s inner struggle. I feel like since he was able to make a film like Roma, but also has the capability to do a style like Gravity or Harry Potter, he’s actually a very talented filmmaker in the fact that he’s able to have such an eclectic style
5. Hilll Hardy 03.06.19 / 8pm

   I think this review is fair. I have not seen this film, nor do I really want to. There isn’t much that interests me about it. I don’t really know what the plot is, but what I’ve gathered, it doesn’t seem like it is a film to put me on the edge of my seat. It seems like a film that is no doubt well made, but just because something is good, doesn’t mean people have to like it. They can respect the cinematography and acting and any other technical work from the film, but that doesn’t make it an enjoyable film.
6. Toby Spach 03.06.19 / 8pm

   Like many people I was very unaware of this movie until I watched the Oscars and I saw all of the awards it won. I watched the movie the very next day and needless to say it was very underwhelming. I agree that it felt longer than its actual run time. I also agree that I am not the target audience for this film.
7. Arely Garcia 03.08.19 / 3pm

   Same as you I have ignored Roma and have yet to watch the film. This is not the first time I hear people struggling to sit through the film, due to not being the targeted audience, I believe I am one of the targeted audiences since I will be able to understand it from a different perspective, the reason why is not only due to the fact that I am Mexican but that I was raised in Mexico, which gives me a distinctive point of view, having said that this makes me even more so intrigued to find out if in fact it is a matter of being the target audience that makes it hard for some to watch. It is great that even without having enjoyed the film you are still able to depict how great the film was produced. I think this is in fact a very powerful film because I get this feeling of nostalgia and I have not watched it, I think this is due to the fact that as you comment, it takes place in the ‘70s and is a black and white film, even though I was born in the ‘90s I still grew up watching black-and-white films with many legendary actors such as Pedro Infante, Mario Moreno “Cantinflas”, Maria Felix “La Doña”, and so forth. I believe watching this film will be a sort of modern experience that takes me back to my infancy.
8. Ramiro Detrinidad 03.08.19 / 9pm

   I can completely relate to this review, I have for the most part completely ignored Roma, the film really didn’t call me attention all that much, but at the request of a loved one I went ahead and watched it. What I found surprising is that like you I had a very hard time getting through this movie, it just felt like a long memoir that was extremely condensed into 2 ½ hours. The acting by the Yalitza Aparicio was exceptional, but honestly it was the only thing that really kept me from no longer wanting to watch the movie. Overall, Cuaron maintains his status as an excellent filmmaker, but even though I do believe that I am in his target audience, this film to me missed its mark.
9. Alexandra Leonard 03.08.19 / 10pm

   I also started heard of the film Roma because of the Santa Barbara film festival and I can understand your statement that the film didn’t really do it for you because the film was didn’t stand out to you. However, I thought that the film was really unique and I liked how the director was really hands on in the film. I thought it was cool that the film was in black and white because films that are released these days are always in color, so the director took a risky approach, that I think paid off in the end. Word Count 100
10. Dcarlos 03.08.19 / 10pm

    Like everyone else, I was unaware of this film until I saw all the praise and awards it was receiving at The Oscars. I’ll be honest I have not seen the film, nor do I plan to after reading your review. But based on your review, the film appears to be very passive and underwhelming. No question, the film appears to be very well made and I agree that the film is not meant for everyone. The film is different from what were used to seeing but nevertheless, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad film. Like all films, some we will enjoy and others not. Overall, great review and thanks for providing wonderful insight on the film.
11. Annelle Ratcliffe 03.08.19 / 10pm

    I think this is a great review, and is clearing explicit on what to expect when considering this film. Like some of the other film students, I didn’t hear about this film until the oscars and then hearing several reviews. I felt the same way after watching this film it’s very complicated and kinda hard to watch but the meaning is amazing and it’s a great film with a powerful message. Cuarón seems to show careful attention not just to the narrative aspects of his storytelling but to how that the meaning is created. This film is not just about a story but about how it’s unfolded and created with meaning and overall purpose.
12. Donnie Carlos 03.08.19 / 11pm

    Like everyone else, I was unaware of this film until I saw all the praise and awards it was receiving at The Oscars. I’ll be honest I have not seen the film, nor do I plan to after reading your review. But based on your review, the film appears to be very passive and underwhelming. No question, the film appears to be very well made and I agree that the film is not meant for everyone. The film is different from what were used to seeing but nevertheless, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad film. Like all films, some we will enjoy and others not. Overall, great review and thanks for providing wonderful insight on the film.
13. ctakka 03.09.19 / 6am

    I had been curious about Roma before it was released, only because I did not know what to expect from Alphonso Cuaron after such a wide spectrum of the films that he made ranging from Gravity to Children of Men. It can be seen that Roma was significant for the director due to his personal connection to the story and the 1970s Mexico portrayed in the film. But Roma was also a very strategic move from Netflix. The PR campaigns behind Roma were concentrated on the fact that the movie was an art film shot destined to be shown on screen and this made the argument of Netflix and how it should be allowed to compete with the other films just due to its artistic significance.
14. Dalia Santana Lozano 03.10.19 / 12pm

    I have seen parts of this film and can agree that it is not the most entertaining. The film was very slow until any tension would build up. Although the film was very low pase, the graphics and props used in the backgrounds of the scenes were every related to the 70’s indigenous theme. I do not see much films in black and white so due to the fact that this film was made in this color theme made me a little less interested in watching the full film.
15. Maximilian Ochoa 03.10.19 / 11pm

    Your reveiw was super wishy – washy tbh. I really vibe with you on the point of its cinematographic appeal and the exceptional acting of Cleo. Of course it doesn’t have the same attention grabby appeal of Prisoner of Azkaban or Gravity – both blockbuster high concept films when this is more or less supposed to be an independent film, low concept portraying Cuaron’s privileged upbringing through the lens of his systematically dis-privileged indigenous nanny.
16. harahumberd 03.19.19 / 11pm

    Hara

    Roma was Auteur film with a Autuer director.
    Yet he made it after commercial successes such as gravity.
    It was a one-time lifetime kind of film for this director.
    Indeed classic. With it cinema techniques and black and white. It’s street tracking and it’s story.
    A story of a family who stays together even after the husband leaves. It’s a woman centered story.
17. Spenser Chalkley 07.17.19 / 7pm

    Despite what the reviewer says, this is a deeply personal movie for the director. Much like Woody Allen movies that are personal, which are slower than his regular comedies. This is a great story about a time that not a lot of us in the “english-speaking college student world” are familiar with. But the movie has humor, pathos, and it ultimately comes to a satisfying conclusion. The main character, Cleo, is from a culture that a lot of us don’t have exposure to in the US, and we discover that she is the rock that this family clings to to function. She’s the one who can hold “tree pose”, while the rest of them are falling down, which represents how strong a character she is for everyone.

    The most powerful scene for me is after she has stated clearly that she can’t swim, she dashed into the ocean water to save the two children she’s in charge of. This is Italian neo-realism with the visuals. You are there with her in the water as the waves crash up against her and the camera lens. The movie is very powerful with the political and social dynamic in Mexico in the early 1970s. While I am also an “english-speaking college student,” I found that I was interested more in what was going on in Mexico in the 1970s after viewing this film. To me, that is valuable.
18. Angelica Heredia 10.18.19 / 6pm

    Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma (2018) tells his childhood story through his eyes. The intention behind this film was for Cuaron to go back to his childhood and recreate not only the visuals, the sounds, but the stories and memories of his lifetime, especially his childhood in Roma, Mexico. The idea of a filmmaker using black and white film to capture their day-to-day interactions and display it to the public is actually not a new concept. The earliest filmmakers such as Lumieres, Miles, and Porter, also used black and white film to capture their audiences, however, they did so due to the fact that in the late 1800’s and early 1900s filmmaking was a relatively new concept and therefore so was the technology. I have personally seen some of the earliest films (late 1800’s, early 1900’s) and at first found them difficult to get through, I felt the same way when I first saw Roma. However, I think that as a millenial, I grew up with films that were jam packed with action, color, special effects including sound effects, everything that I had seen growing up in films was grand. Therefore, naturally, that is all that I knew and was accustomed to prior to watching Roma and several other early 1900’s films. The more I think about it now, the more I appreciate the Roma for its artistry and authenticity, something that I feel can be lacking in many of today’s films. I believe that Cuaron did an excellent job at transcending time and space, his film kind of felt like Mexico City’s Roma was frozen in time. I personally believe that any individual can watch this film and take bits and pieces of the story even without the audio or understanding of the spanish language. Again, just like the earliest filmmakers (most, if not all, who where white men), they created black and white films without sound that could be seen and understood by audiences even 100 years later in the 2002’s. While as a Mexican American working class woman, I do not relate to a lot of those films or feel like I was their intended audience, I can think about the films critically and think about the message they were trying to send.

    With that said, one thing I appreciate about your post is the mention of actress Yalitza Apalicio’s phenomenal performance. While her skills as an actress and performer were definitely highlighted and appreciated in this film, I think the larger significance of her role lies in the social reaction she created. For many indiegnous women and women of color, Apalicio became a symbol of empowerment, beauty, and equality. It is no secret that women of color, particularly indegeous women, are oftentimes not given a spot within Hollywood and if they do ever receive a role, oftentimes the role os intended to perpetuate a demeaning stereotype or to make fun of indigenous people. I would argue that Apalicio’s performance and role in Hollywood is one of the first ones, if not the first, to not be used to serve the previously mentioned purposes. This is significant because it shows the huge role that movies actors and actresses play within societies worldwide. The importance of movie actors started increasing in the early 1900’s as a result of the film studios’ attempt to capitalize on their stardom. Throughout the years, movie stars became even more important to the movie industry and within society. They held a lot of economic and social power. One of the beautiful things about actress Yalitza Apalicio is that she has been able to leverage the platform she has been given through Roma to create social change and stand for equality, especially when it comes to indiegneous women and women of color. Overall, while I can understand how Roma can feel very different to what many individuals are accustomed to seeing in the 21st century, I think that viewers should watch with an open mind. Cuaron paints a vivid story, and urges his audience to use their sense of sound and sight to create meaning for themselves. While not everyone has to relate to Cuaron’s own personal journey and story, everyone can think more critically of the social, political, economic conditions that existed in Mexico during the 1970s and even today by watching this film.
19. Igor Voronin 10.18.19 / 9pm

    It really comes down to your taste in films, Roma is not for everyone. I like how you acknowledge that Roma is a brilliant film in sound, cinematography, acting, setting. I can see how it would feel boring for most people, but I believe you must watch not expecting action or to figure out the plot. It is a film that makes you appreciate each character, each second the shot continues on. I would say my favorite scene in Roma was when the main character is putting the kids to bed, in one shot the director managed to capture how hectic the house was and have six things going on at once. Now that is hard not to give credit to.
20. Paula Diaz 11.11.19 / 2pm

    I have always had a fear of watching highly praised films and getting disappointed. Fortunately, that did not happen when I watched the film Roma by Alfonso Cuarón. I can understand why you did not enjoy the film very much as it seems like you did not have a lot of background knowledge of what the film was about or why it was created. This film was made as a semi-autobiographical film to give us a glimpse of what Cuarón’s life was like in his childhood in Mexico City. The film is black and white but does not have a fuzzy look like older black and white films. The film is very slow and does not have a complicated plot. The narrative of the film is to display his childhood, which can make the narrative feel very mundane. The film’s mise-en-scene is very cohesive. Being set in the 70’s we see the clothing, activities, technology, and lifestyle that was the norm at that point in time. The film very auditory and is rich in sounds that make you feel like you are part of the film. Overall, to enjoy this film, I believe you need to know a little bit of background so you do not sit there and wait for a plot to thicken.
21. 林宗义 11.16.19 / 5pm

    In the process of watching movies, the deepest experience is the various contrasts and transformations between the two concepts of life and death.

    – The nanny observed the child shooting, the child fell to the ground and said that I could not speak because I was dead. The nanny asked the child, then you can’t do it. The child can’t say it. So the babysitter accompanied the child to lie on the ground and looked at the sky, saying that I enjoyed the feeling of death.

    – Employers’ dogs must always be caught. Very energetic, but never going out. The dog of the friend’s house at the Christmas party, after being dead, was made into a specimen hanging on the wall, and it could no longer be seen. For dogs, whether they are alive or dead, the ending is the same.

    – The nanny’s amniotic water is broken. I have to get on the bus from the street. The lens is shaken to a shot of a woman whose lover is shot and fell to the ground and crying. It is a contrast between life and death. A new life is born, and an old life is dead.

    – The nanny gave birth to a stillbirth, but saved the two children of the employer. Resurrected and died.
22. Cate 01.16.20 / 9am

    I understand why the plot of this movie does not peak your interest, but the underlying themes present themselves boldly. The film is shot beautifully, I agree. Viewers do not need to speak Spanish to understand the emotions of the characters or the political tensions happening in this film. I think to enjoy this film more, you could to watch it from a film making perspective instead of as a general viewer because the elements that contribute to this film’s beauty are easily missed if you do not look for them.
23. Kimberly Ramos 03.05.22 / 1am

    I appreciate the praise of everything the movie did right, however you are right. You are not the target audience for this movie. There are a lot of bits and pieces in the film that only someone with knowledge of Mexico’s history would understand. Not only is it groundbreaking to have an Indigenous woman play the lead of the movie but it is the fact that the story of an Indigenous woman is being told in such a beautiful and complex way. I think to understand this film, you either have to have background knowledge of the subject matter or have a personal connection to the story. Alfonso Cuarón is a true auteur, telling us his childhood story in a breathtaking way.

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