Rolf Koppel

What a rare achievement. "Roma" is both gorgeous and poignant. It's beautiful and reverential in its art - that is to say, in its ecstatic use of the languages of photography and cinematography from the Mexican photographs of Manuel Alvarez Bravo to Fellini to even Robert Frank. And some of the scenes, particularly those like the wide angle views of the martial arts practice or the return of the family from the beach, or the deep shot in the delivery room are breathtaking. It's masterful in its production, being able to convincingly recreate not merely sets of the 70's but their visual texture and sounds and, most moving, the drama of their light amongst the perfect placement and movement of crowds of extras so convincing they seem ethnographic and historical and so dramatic they are emotional. It's moving in its theater, its sheer essential acting - the portrayal of characters so sympathetic and moving they overwhelm Hollywood types trough their authenticity. I can't remember a better film than "Roma".