Roma

I stumbled upon "Roma" a few nights ago on the HBO Latin channel. I seldom watch Spanish programming, but when I clicked on the program grid for some information on the film, I saw the movie's locale was Buenos Aires. My parents were portenos from Buenos Aires and I have been to Buenos Aires a few times, most recently last October, so I decided to watch.

The movie itself did not impress me. It was "ok"...a talky character study. Not a bad movie, but nothing out of the ordinary either. But...I enjoyed the movie immensely because the actors spoke just as my parents spoke, in the Argentine "porteno" dialect of Buenos Aires. It was like going back to my childhood. I speak Spanish reasonably well (but English is my "first" language) and I hear people speaking Spanish all the time at work, but they are not from Argentina. As soon as the movie started and I heard the actors speaking, I could tell is was that old familiar Argentine dialect...the cadence, the inflections, etc., are so unique. I told my sister about the movie...even though she understands little Spanish, I told her to watch or rent this movie if she could because she most likely would be transported back to our childhood as I was.

Elaine Clearwater FL

I loved this film and am astounded at previous reviewers that found it "slow". Two and a half hours that skimmed by for me and I didn't want it to end. Okay, it is not an action film. It is a reflection on life, relationships, and maturation. The central theme is the influence of an exceptional mother, named Roma, on the life and development of the narrator.

This isn't about Argentine history, life in the 60s and 70s in Buenos Aires, none of that except as incidental to decades-long time line. Although there is the incidental, requisite Argentine reference to the terror of the 70s; it is not that story. It is about growing up and growing old and "finding" one's self. This is not a feel-good movie but real and true, if only we were all blessed with such a mother.

This is an adult script, not meaning "adult themed", and if you need an action movie with guns and car chases...stay away. The script, casting, performances and production values are thoroughly superb.

This movie is Aristarain's best in my humble opinion, what a beatiful picture.

An aging, caustic (but good hearted) author has a young writer type up his autobiography, and we see his mostly Utopian childhood, the loss of his beloved father, his love affairs in his early 20s, and his relationship with his wonderful mother, the title character.

All of this is set against the background of the changing, ever worsening politics of Argentina.

A film I couldn't quite love, but also couldn't help but quite like.

It's a little shallow for a 2:30 hour epic tale of a man's life, but it's also always interesting, and the whole thing is well acted , and has both a charm and sadness, along with characters who can sometimes be surprising. I enjoyed it more, not less on a second viewing, which makes sense since the plot isn't what's special, but the details.

This movie has been called "the event of the year" in film industry and I am not sure if it is up to this statement. Of course Aristarain knows what he is doing, the cast is really good (even Botto, whom I hated in "Martin (hache)"), photography, edition. It is a very beautiful product indeed. But the plot seemed a bit weak and the pace is quite slow. I didn't get it: if the intention was to pay homage to that great woman that Roma is, it wasn't fair enough, it was too focused on Joaquin; if it was to tell the story of Joaquin, the I couldn't see the point, because I don't think it was a deep story, with any turning point; then, if Aristarain was trying to show the history of Argentina, he was quite vague and used too many time jumps. Finally, if he was trying to do all three things, he of course was being too ambitious! I'm sure a lot of people was waiting for Aristarain's next movie. Will they be pleased? I really don't know. Maybe he reached his peak with "Un lugar en el mundo". What I'm quite sure about is that, if this film was the event of the year, I will be very disappointed in Argentinian film till 2005.