{"id":203851,"date":"2019-02-25T02:36:16","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T07:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=203851"},"modified":"2019-02-25T02:57:27","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T07:57:27","slug":"cuarons-roma-gives-mexico-1st-foreign-language-film-oscar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/02\/25\/cuarons-roma-gives-mexico-1st-foreign-language-film-oscar\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuaron’s ‘Roma’ gives Mexico 1st foreign language film Oscar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE: @alfonsocuaron has his hands full with his three #Oscars tonight. (Photo<\/a>: @theacademy\/Instagram<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LOS ANGELES \u2013 \u201cRoma,\u201d the touching black-and-white portrait of a domestic worker and the middle-class family she cares for in 1970s Mexico City, won the Oscar for best foreign language film Sunday, giving Mexico its long-sought first win in that category.<\/p>\n

Director Alfonso Cuaron’s deeply personal film with dialogue in Spanish and Mixtec beat four other contenders that also told the stories of individuals and families facing tumultuous social and historical times. The Netflix-produced film ended the night with Oscars for Cuaron for best director and best cinematography.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis award belongs to Mexico. It’s a Mexican film in every single front,\u201d he told reporters after the ceremony. \u201cIt’s not that 95 per cent of the crew was a Mexican crew, and the cast is 100 per cent Mexican, but the thematic, the country, the landscape, everything is Mexico. This film doesn’t exist if it’s not for Mexico. I could not be here if it was not because of Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRoma,\u201d which was inspired by Cuaron’s own youth, follows Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a young indigenous woman who works devoutly for an affluent family that lives in the Roma neighbourhood of the Mexican capital. But life inside the picture-perfect family is crumbling.<\/p>\n

The film develops in the midst of the turmoil that rocked Mexico in the early ’70s, including the student demonstrations that in 1971 led to a massacre by a group backed by authorities. Society is fraying and the women of the house seem to take the brunt as they try to keep the family of four children afloat.<\/p>\n

While the foreign language Oscar will go to Mexico’s film academy, it was also a night of personal triumph for Cuaron, who took home best director and best cinematography statuettes. \u201cRoma\u201d also competed for best picture, but lost out at the end of the night to \u201cGreen Book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mexico has competed for the trophy eight other times, most recently in 2011 with \u201cBiutiful\u201d by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, but had never won.<\/p>\n

The other nominated films Sunday were Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski’s 20th-century romance \u201cCold War;\u201d German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s artist biopic \u201cNever Look Away;\u201d Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda’s’s subtle family story \u201cShoplifters;\u201d and \u201cCapernaum,\u201d a powerful neo-realist drama about a Syrian child refugee from Lebanon’s Nadine Labaki.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up watching foreign language films and learning so much from them and being inspired,\u201d he said while clutching his statuette for this category on stage and crediting \u201cCitizen Kane,\u201d \u201cThe Godfather\u201d and other movies for inspiration. \u201cWhen asked about in the book about the New Wave, Claude Chabrol said, ‘There are no waves, there’s only the ocean.’ I think that the nominees tonight have proven that we are part of the same ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mexican Institute of Cinematography tweeted praise for the win, including a virtual chant of \u201cMexico, Mexico, Mexico!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRoma\u201d represented Cuaron’s return to Mexico as director since he made his international debut with \u201cY Tu Mama Tambien\u201d in 2001, which earned him nominations for the Golden Globes and Oscars. His credits since then include \u201cGreat Expectations,\u201d \u201cHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban\u201d and \u201cGravity.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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