Love in the time of war

The camera captures the black-and-white tiles of the house where Sofia lives with her husband, children, mother, dog and domestic help. The soothing calmness of a sweeping sound, as water flows in and out with rhythmic regularity, is offset by the deathly silence outside the frame. The camera moves up to reveal the source: Cleo, the house-help, is cleaning the driveway with sweeping strokes. It follows her as she goes about her work: picking up laundry, setting the table, wiping the dishes dry. The silence is disrupted when the boisterous family arrives.

These are the opening scenes of Roma — Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón’s love letter to his childhood. Touted as Netflix’s entry to the Oscars, the film (2.15 hours) was recently premièred in India at the Mumbai International Film Festival which ended on November 1. Captured in black-and-white on 65 mm, with the director’s signature long takes, the film’s lead character is a first-timer from Oaxaca, Mexico.

Cuarón’s semi-autobiographical film had its world première in August at the Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion. It is slated to release on Netflix on December 14. The decision to rope in Netflix has raised eyebrows, as the monochrome film is an experience best suited for the big screen. But Netflix has been backing the film as an Oscar entry. And Cuarón is no stranger to the Oscars, after the many awards his film Gravity picked up as recently as in 2014.

The film has every frame bursting with a story about the lives of the characters that the camera lingers on. Set in the Mexico City’s Roma district of the ’70s, it traces the story of a struggling family living through the Mexican Dirty War. The director tracked down some of his childhood home’s furniture to recreate the space where the story is set in.

A tale of female friendship in the midst of hardship, Roma touches the heart in many ways, even as it tackles difficult questions on class conflicts in a domestic space. Cleo carries on with her work uncomplainingly. At night, she has some time for herself only after the family has retired. Cleo and her colleague Adela then carry out some exercises to relax before bed, a brief moment in the day when they aren’t answerable to anyone.

While Cleo and Sofia are dependent on each other by the end of the film, the feudal structure is established right in the beginning. There are some incredulous moments — can a feudal structure crumble that easily, just because a family is breaking down? There is something about the relationship that reminds viewers of Mammy’s devotion to the family in Gone With The Wind .

The dynamics of filial ties are a difficult terrain, but Cuarón’s narrative handles it with empathy, giving space to the characters to express their vulnerabilities and quirks. One of the more memorable scenes is when Cleo and Paco, the youngest boy, find themselves alone on the terrace. Paco is upset after having been bullied by his brother; he lies down on the concrete and acts dead. When Cleo asks him a question, he replies that he can’t answer, because he’s playing dead. Cleo lies down opposite him, arms outstretched. “I’m dead too,” she says, when asked what she’s doing. “I like being dead. It’s relaxing.”

Roma ’s plot unfolds amidst the student-political establishment conflict of the ’70s, when the young and guerilla groups were revolting against the government. The turmoil outside reflects the crumbling of status quo and order inside.

The stillness of Cuarón’s inside frames are in contrast to the frames shot outside, and the sudden disruption in an otherwise still frame is a visual motif used to describe what the characters are experiencing within.

This is definitely one of Cuarón’s standout films, and Netflix’s decision to launch it as a limited release on big screens before moving it to its own site is a calculated one, particularly since its movies last year were discounted for the Oscars because they were not released in theatres.

While Roma may be a hit or a flop, Netflix is gunning for it in the hope that it will be the first film to put the company in the Oscars race. However, a film so grand in its scale should ideally be watched on a bigger screen. You need a larger canvas to take in all its visual elements, as well as to truly appreciate its sound design.

The sound design of the film holds on its own. The swish of the water as it sweeps the floor in the opening scene, the slow rumble of an aeroplane, signifying change, the film is full of symbols that may be missed on a hand-held screen. Roma is an immersive experience, and it is a challenge to keep a critical distance from a film that sweeps you into its own world so effortlessly.

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