Why did the film have so many scenes of water? I was questioning many times when watching the movie. Whereas, I got the answer when I saw the t-shirt on Fermin which was printed the word “Amor es”. Water may be the symbol of the reflections of reality in the film If Amor (Love) is the reversed word of Roma, which is a district in Mexico City, a name with the colour of colonialism. Alfonso Cuarón, the director, has noticed clearly that he would like to make a film which is about his childhood memories, and the love of family. That means the film, Black and White, and the films about the city are also the reflections of the colourful real world which may not be found the love easily but the audiences can feel it from the perspective of the family’s maid, Cleo.
It was a darkness year for Mexico in 1971 because of the student Massacre in Mexico City. However, it was presented in five minutes only because the story was focused on the angle of Cleo and the white family who she worked in. Indeed, the scene of the Massacre has constructed the tension of society in the film. Moreover, it also explained Fermin, who was the assassin of the secret team, has killed Cleo’s baby indirectly. But after it, there was no other relationship between the Massacre and the middle-class family. Even though there were some issues in the house, the family and Cleo still lived in a peaceful way, which was not like the outside of the door. If Roma was in danger in that year, the house in the film was like the shadow under the water which was quiet with some ripples only. However, the peace in the house has not existed without those tough women in the house, who were Cleo, Sofía (the mother of the family) and the grandmother, had been hurt by men. As Sofía said, ‘All Women are alone’, the word had shown how Cleo and Sofía were dumped by their lovers, likewise, it was a reflection of the Massacre and the wars, which always lead men to the dangers but the women had to maintain the home even the recovering of the city. It may be a dark year for the director, but the brightness was made by that tough and brave mother, grandmother and maids. Thus, when the kids were saved by Cleo from the sea and said, ‘Cleo saves our lives.’, it also reflected the saving lives of the city. It is ironic that Cleo, the indigenous of Mexico, saved the White family which means the colonised power was rescued by originals because of the primaeval force - Amor by women/ mothers.
It is interesting that the male master took out all the bookcases but left books in the house in the last scene. The male thought that he could destroy the construction of the house when taking out the structures. However, it also meant that the director criticised the man in middle-class that had none of the wisdom. Inversely, Sofía was a teacher and shifted to work in a publishing company. She was the one who owned the power of knowledge in the film. The scene was also presented that the knowledge of the books (and the histories) could not be disappeared and the women could survive in that hard moment with love. Therefore, finally, the plane could be flown on the sky but not under the water in the first scene. That means the director believes that the dream and the peace could come in the future whether in the family, or the city.
Alfonso Cuarón (Director & Writer), Roma, 2018. Mexico | USA: Esperanto Filmoj & Participant Media
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