Roma

Author

Alfonso Cuarón

Call Number

• DVD FOREIGN (CEN, EAS, WSQ)

Edition

Director-approved two-DVD special edition.

Languages

In Spanish and Mixtec, with English or French subtitles; Spanish subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Performers

Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira.

Publication Information

[Irvington, NY] : Criterion Collection, [2020]

Physical Description

2 videodiscs (135 minutes) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 folded sheet (illustrations ; 19 cm.)

Audience

MPAA rating: R; for graphic nudity, some disturbing images, and language.

Summary

With his eighth and most personal film, Alfonso Cuarón recreated the early-1970s Mexico City of his childhood, narrating a tumultuous period in the life of a middle-class family through the experiences of Cleo, the indigenous domestic worker who keeps the household running. Charged with the care of four small children abandoned by their father, Cleo tends to the family even as her own life is shaken by personal and political upheavals. Written, directed, shot, and co-edited by Cuarón, Roma is a labor of love with few parallels in the history of cinema, deploying monumental black-and-white cinematography, an immersive soundtrack, and a mixture of professional and nonprofessional performances to shape its author's memories into a world of enveloping texture, and to pay tribute to the woman who nurtured him.

Notes

Title from container.

Originally released as a motion picture in 2018.

Special features: 4K digital master, supervised by director Alfonso Cuarón ; Road to "Roma," a new documentary about the making of the film, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and an interview with Cuarón ; Snapshots from the set, a new documentary featuring actors Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira, producers Gabriela Rodríguez and Nicolás Celis, production designer Eugenio Caballero, casting director Luis Rosales, executive producer David Linde, and others ; new documentaries about the film's sound and postproduction processes, featuring Cuarón; Sergio Diaz, Skip Lievsay, and Craig Henighan from the postproduction sound team; editor Adam Gough; postproduction supervisor Carlos Morales; and finishing artist Steven J. Scott ; new documentary about the film's ambitious theatrical campaign and social impact in Mexico, featuring Celis and Rodríguez ; trailers.