Roma Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Roma Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 16, 2020

Alfonso Cuarón's "Roma" (2018) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers; multiple documentaries with raw footage from the shooting of the film; cats and crew interviews; and more. The release also arrives with 110-page illustrated booklet featuring essays by novelist Valeria Luiselli and historian Enrique Krauze, along with writing by author Aurelio Asiain and images with notes by production designer Eugenio Caballero. In Spanish, with optional English, Spanish SDH, and French subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

It is immediately obvious that the people living in this rather large house experience life in vastly different ways, for different reasons. Later on, it becomes clear that the house is in a good and safe neighborhood of ‘70s Mexico City.

The head of the family, Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), is a middle-aged doctor who is rarely around. He leaves early in the morning and comes back late, often completely exhausted and barely able to stay awake for dinner. His wife, Sofia (Marina de Tavira), and their four children miss him and frequently tell him that they do, but everyone has accepted that the prolonged periods when he is absent are unavoidable.

The family’s two maids, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) and Adela (Nancy Garcia Garcia), are always the first to wake up in the morning and the last to go to bed at night. They have their own room, on a different level of the house, which allows them easy access to the kitchen, where they spend most of their time. Both have relocated to Mexico City from a very poor area of the country and when their bosses are not around prefer using the language of their parents, a Mexican dialect that very few folks in the capital understand. Cleo and Adela are an essential part of the family and everyone understands that it is so, even the children.

Despite a few minor bumps here and there for a while it seems like the cycle of life inside the house is set and will stay as it is at least until the children grow up and then leave to start families of their own. But then Antonio quietly packs his bags and exits the house to begin a new life with his mistress, leaving Sofia struggling to come to terms with the fact that the family will be permanently crippled, and Cleo discovers that she is carrying the child of a young man that does not intend to become a father.

Alfonso Cuaron’s latest film, Roma, is the cinematic equivalent of a routine medical exam that diagnoses the overall condition of a regular patient with a long history -- only in this case the regular patient is a typical middle-class Mexican family. Rather predictably, there is a lot of observing throughout the film that provides the vital information the report needs to appear legit.

The concept isn’t new. For example, in France Jacques Rivette relentlessly tweaked it and over the years made it a central piece of his work. In Russia, Aleksandr Sokurov repeatedly employed it in his work. More recently, in Turkey Nuri Bilge Ceylan has frequently, and quite successfully, incorporated it in his films as well. But in its purest form it is a very risky concept. The main reason why is the fact that the observing always chips away at the storytelling a conventional film relies on to engage its audience. The characterizations can, and usually do, suffer as well, especially in a film that aspires to be an authentic time capsule.

Cuaron’s film is often very beautiful to look at, but it frustrates precisely because it fails to make up for the enormous amount of observing the camera is tasked to perform. It is structured as a collage of uneven episodes, each with plenty of often technically brilliant footage, that struggle to produce an engaging story. Obviously, this isn't enough to declare it a poor film, but it is so introverted and so self-centered that the more time one spends with it, the easier it becomes to question its determination and insistence to be accepted as it is.

As usual, Cuaron had planned to work with his regular cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, but for technical reasons the latter was unable to commit to the project. Cuaron ended up doing all of the camerawork as well.

Roma Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Roma arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The release is sourced from a hugely impressive 4K master that was supervised by Alfonso Cuarón. The entire film looks so sharp, so clear and nicely balanced that I sincerely doubt that a native 4K presentation on 4K Blu-ray can offer a dramatic improvement in quality. I think that it is very possible that some smaller nuances in darker areas will be better defined in native 4K, but the rest already looks sensational. If you have a larger screen, the type of depth that you would experience on it while viewing this release is genuine 'reference' quality in my book. I truly believe that this is the best that Blu-ray can offer in terms of visual quality, which by all means is remarkable quality. Fantastic presentation. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your graphical location).

Roma Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Spanish Dolby Atmos. A Spanish Descriptive audio track is included as well. Optional English, Spanish, SDH, and French subtitles are available for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The outstanding Atmos track perfectly complements the terrific video presentation. The film has a very interesting soundtrack that incorporates a wide variety of organic sounds and noises that are essential for its 'story', so separation is actually very important but not in a conventional way. The dialog, which mixes primarily Spanish and Mexican dialect/Mixtec, is clear and stable. There are no technical anomalies to report.

Roma Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - an original trailer for Roma. With English text. (2 min, 1080p).

• Teaser - an original teaser trailer for Roma. With English text. (2 min, 1080p).

• Road to "Roma" - this documentary film chronicles the production of Roma while using a wide variety of raw footage showing Alfonso Cuarón and cast and crew members at work. Also, the director discusses in great detail the evolution of the project, from script to screen. The documentary was produced by filmmakers Andres Clariond Rangel, Gabriel Nuncio, and Alejandro Duran. With English subtitles where necessary. (73 min, 1080p).

• Snapshots from the Set - this documentary also uses raw footage from the production of Roma as well as various clips from interviews with cast members, producers Gabriela Rodriguez and Nicolas Celis, production designer Eugenio Caballero, and executive producer David Linde, amongst others. With English subtitles where necessary. (32 min, 1080p).

• The Postproduction Process -
  
  1. The Look of Roma - in this program, Alfonso Cuaron, postproduction supervisor Carlos Morales, editor Adam Gough, and finishing artist Steven J. Scott discuss the visual appearance of Roma and specifically some of the period details that define it. In English, not subtitled. (21 min, 1080p).
  
  2. The Sound of Roma - in this program, Alfonso Cuarón, audio specialists Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan, and Sergio Diaz, and editor Adam Gough discuss the creation of the original soundtrack for Roma. With English subtitles where necessary. (28 min, 1080p).

• "Roma" Brings Us Together: The Theatrical Tour in Mexico - for Alfonso Cuaron, ensuring that Roma would be shown throughout Mexico was of paramount importance. That meant updating movie theaters around the country so that the film could be seen and heard as it was meant to be. For viewers outside urban centers, his took the film to them. In this 2019 program, producers Gabriela Rodriguez and Nicolas Celis discuss the scope of their efforts and the many ways the film has had a lasting cultural impact. In English, not subtitled. (19 min, 1080p).

• Booklet - 110-page illustrated booklet featuring essays by novelist Valeria Luiselli and historian Enrique Krauze, along with writing by author Aurelio Asiain and images with notes by production designer Eugenio Caballero.

Roma Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Roma is a lot like Until the End of the World, a very ambitious, very personal project with often stunning visuals that demands to be accepted as it is. Unfortunately, Roma is even more introverted and self-centered, betting almost exclusively on its visual appearance to make up for the absence of a conventional story, which ultimately makes it extremely difficult for the viewer to connect with its characters. While dealing with different issues, I think that Y Tu Mamá También is a much better film that would have made a far more convincing Oscar winner. Criterion's new release of Roma is sourced from a stunning master, perhaps one of the best the label has used to date, so expect a 'reference' quality technical presentation from it. RENT IT.