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Last night I watched the Academy Awards, and, of course, I was rooting for "Roma". On my recent trip I had seen the critically acclaimed motion picture at a small cinema in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City just a couple of blocks from the street and house where much of the movie was shot. I loved the movie. Even the first part, which some people complained was boring, to me was a beautiful evocation of Mexican life in that era. I found the climactic scenes toward the end to be incredibly powerful.
"Roma" did not win the Oscar for Best Picture, but it did win three important awards: Best Foreign Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Director. Director Alfonso Cuarón appeared on stage all three times to receive the awards. (Cuarón not only directed, but was also in charge of the movie's cinematography. He is the first person to ever win Oscars in both categories for the same movie.) On his third trip up to the stage, he quipped, "Being here doesn't get old."
It is also interesting that in recent years, Mexican directors have dominated the category at the Academy Awards...
2013 - Alfonso Cuarón won for "Gravity"
2014 - Alejandro Iñárritu for "Birdman"
2015 - Alejandro Iñárritu for "Revanant"
2017 - Guillermo del Toro for "The Shape of Water"
...and now Cuarón's win for "Roma" means that Mexican directors have won the Best Director award for five of the last six years.
I agree that it is a very evocative movie. The sad part is that in the USA it has only been shown on Netflix as far as I know. If they get movie theater distribution many more people will be able to see this lovely film.
ReplyDeleteNo, the movie had a short run in the movie theaters up here before being released on Netflix. While I was gone it even had a brief run here in suburban Cleveland.
DeleteVery happy for Cuaron and Roma. It seems that many had pegged it to win Best Picture as well, but I figured that Greek Book, more popular with conservative voters, had the edge.
ReplyDeleteIt played briefly at theaters in LA and NY to qualify for Oscar contention, and has since opened in a few scattered art houses around the country. I think Netflix is rethinking their theatrical release strategy for future flicks produced by the streaming service.
It played in more than LA and NYC. As I mentioned above, a friend told me that it was playing in one of the cinema chains here in suburban Cleveland. However, it was gone before she had a chance to see it.
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