Roma (2004 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 and experiences in Buenos Aires, as well as his intense relationship with his mother Roma.

Cast

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."

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.