I just read Roma’s screenplay in Spanish (my first language). This screenplay’s structure is very tricky and extremely atypical. For instance, it lacks a specific goal for the characters to pursue. Its acts are difficult to identify, since the story is more focused on specific, individual and intimate events. This is not to say that the screenplay or the story aren’t good. Actually, the opposite. In my opinion, the following are the key points that make this screenplay actually work:
Empathy: The screenplay makes us empathize with the main character, Cleo, from the first page. How? By showing her working hard, which is, per se, an admirable trait. She does this with a good attitude, again, admirable. We’re also shown that the people around her, specially the children, like her and worry about her. We also see her suffering undeserved mistreatment, like when Fermín abandons her in the movie theater after she tells him she’s pregnant. All of these situations make us care for the protagonist and follow her wherever she goes.
Conflict: Although the screenplay is focused on specific, intimate events, these are very charged of conflict and drama. In fact, I would say that the screenplay is composed by very small events that, as they go by, become big. For example, a father saying goodbye to his family before going to a business trip, becomes a big moment when we discover that he’s not coming back. A trip to the movie theater with the family, later becomes a significant event when one of the children sees their father with another woman. Or what about when Cleo goes to the furniture store to buy a cradle but ends up meeting again with Fermín and her water breaks.
The pregnancy: I give an special meaning to Cleo’s pregnancy, because, for me, it functions like a goal in the film. This is not to say that Cleo’s main goal is to give birth (she actually confesses she didn’t even want the baby to born in the powerful climax scene), but it gives the audience a sense of where the film is going, and helps us not to feel lost or like nothing is happening. It gives us a line to follow and dictates the story’s course.
So even being a drama about individual characters with low stakes, Cuarón manages to makes us feel very connected with the characters, and keeps our attention by establishing strong conflict in most of the scenes, tied in with some revelations that strengthen the plot. Even without a clear, specific goal for the characters to follow, it is hard not to continue reading (or watching).
Thanks for reading,
The Screenplayer.
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