Do you need a synopsis? It's the new Cuaron movie.
Coming soon. (..."and on Netflix".)
holy shit was this good. felt like cuaron took 20 years off after Y Tu Mama to master the craft just so he could tell this story. it also featured quite a few panoramic sideways dolly shots with children musicians and dogs that would make Wes Anderson so jealous. Seriously there's an entire scene that's like if Wes Anderson (one of my favorite filmmakers by the way) knew anything about authenticity.
it's "oh goddamn" good from at least a half-dozen crucial perspectives.
I was not ready for this movie. What a wonderfully intense juxtaposition of big and small stories. See it on the big screen if you can, please. Not even just for the perfect cinematography. The sound design is wonderful.
i've been immune to the supposed pleasure of cuaron's "look what i can do" technical chicanery, and this is his most thankless slog yet. bored out of my mind for most of it until cuaron's penchant for sentimentality and, by my estimation, wrongheaded feminism led to eye roll city. color me confused about why this one is so beloved.
you can ask a q if you like
Well. That movie made me happy yesterday, but I woke up happier about it. It could have been a disaster for so many reasons but it works. It has its own equilibrum.
I like it when a director gets to direct the extras. suddenly the whole thing comes to life.
Maybe a piece of my soul is missing, but this did not really work for me. The central performance was good, and I liked a handful of scenes, but otherwise it had very little impact.
This is going to sound harsh. But I genuinely feel like this might be an emperor's new clothes type of situation. I continuously got the sense that this movie was trying very hard to simulate a classic film. And much like Gravity, there is an overwhelming focus on technical achievement and eye candy at the expense of actual depth.
SPOILERS
The highest drama in this story, and the most impactful scenes, derive from cheap plot developments. The delivery scene was my favorite and reminded me of the most chilling moments from Children of Men. It's cheap, but it still worked. The scene in the furniture store was absolutely ridiculous, though. And I actually thought the beach scene was groan-worthy. Complete with a golden triangle/"accidental renaissance" moment that almost made me laugh. Rarely does an attempt at naturalism feel so staged.
If you view this as a humanist film that lets someone from an overlooked demographic take center stage and tell their story, I would ask you to describe Cleo's personality. Or her interests. Describe her village. Or her family. Describe a relationship she has with someone outside the family she works for. How does she actually feel about Fermin at any point in time? Before the tragic still-birth, what does the movie even tell us about her interior life?
character and perspective are separate here.