Roma (2004 film)

Roma
DVD Cover
Directed by	Adolfo Aristarain
Produced by	José Antonio Félez
Screenplay by	Mario Camus Kathy Saavedra
Story by	Adolfo Aristarain
Starring	Juan Diego Botto Susú Pecoraro José Sacristán
Cinematography	José Luis Alcaine
Edited by	Fernando Pardo
Release dates	15 April 2004 (2004-04-15) (Argentina) 18 September 2004 (2004-09-18) (Spain)
Running time	155 minutes
Country	Argentina Spain
Language	Spanish

Roma is a 2004 Argentine-Spanish drama film directed by Adolfo Aristarain and starring Juan Diego Botto, Susú Pecoraro and José Sacristán.^[1] It won the Silver Condor for Best Film.

Plot

Young journalist Manuel Cueto (Juan Diego Botto) is sent by his publisher boss to help solitary novelist Joaquín Góñez (José Sacristán) finish his long-overdue last book.

Brought out of his loneliness by the young man, Joaquín reminisces about his youth in Buenos Aires and his intense relationship with his mother Roma.

Cast

• Juan Diego Botto as Manuel Cueto/Joaco
• Susú Pecoraro as Roma Di Toro
• José Sacristán as Joaquín Góñez
• Agustín Garvíe as Joaco
• Vando Villamil as Áteo Di Toro
• Marcela Kloosterboer as Reneé
• Maximiliano Ghione as Guido
• Marina Glezer as Alicia
• Gustavo Garzón as Joaquín father
• Carla Crespo as Betty
• Marcos Mundstock as Gustavo Smirnoff
• Raúl Rizzo as Doctor Cassano
• Jean Pierre Noher as Pando
• Alberto Jiménez as Publisher (son)
• María Galiana as Portera
• Jane Darwell as Ma Joad (archive footage)
• Henry Fonda as Tom Joad (archive footage)

Critical reception

Jonathan Holland, film critic for Variety magazine and reporting from the San Sebastián International Film Festival, liked the film and wrote, "Argentine helmer Adolfo Aristarain turns a compassionate eye toward his own spiritual and political education in the rangy, quietly affecting and rewardingly intense Roma, his most achieved work to date. Lengthy, but not over-long, rites-of-passage yarn takes one young man's life as the focal point for the struggles which tore Argentina apart in the late '60s and '70s, as well as being an homage to the dangerous pleasures of self-discovery. Film garnered positive reactions at home on its spring release and has the emotional coherence to strike universal chords offshore."^[2]

Release

The film premiered in Argentina on April 15, 2004. Later in the year it was presented at the Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival on September 19, 2004. In Spain it opened wide on October 1, 2004.

The picture screened at various film festivals, including: the Seattle International Film Festival, United States; the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, Brazil; the Toulouse Cinespaña Film Festival, France; and others.

Awards and Nominations

References

External links

• Roma at the Internet Movie Database
• Roma at AllMovie
• Roma at the cinenacional.com (Spanish)
• Roma review at La Nación by Diego Batlle (Spanish)
• Roma scene on YouTube