“Parasite” made history two months
ago (yes, two months is right — time is all
sorts of funky in the age of corona) with its
Best Picture win, but it certainly wasn’t the
first non-English-language film to make
an attempt at the Academy’s top prize. The
twentieth century saw a number of French,
Italian and Swedish films have a go. The year
2000 featured Ang Lee’s martial arts epic
“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” And it
was only as recent as 2019 that a perhaps
equally deserving film was in Best Picture
contention: Alfonso Cuarón’s sublime black-
and-white Netflix flick (Netflick?) “Roma.”
It didn’t win. But the cast and crew still
went home happy with the awards for Best
Foreign Language Film (since renamed Best
International Feature), Best Director and
Best Cinematography.
Despite falling short of the top prize,
“Roma” is one of those rare movies that
may have truly earned the title of “instant
classic,” a status that is being recognized
by the film’s recently announced inclusion
in the Criterion Collection. As Netflix’s
first-ever home video release, it’s set to be
accompanied by the 72-minute making-of
documentary “Road to Roma,” co-directed
by Andres Clariond (“Hilda”) and Gabriel
Nuncio (“Cumbres”). And, this being a
Netflix shindig, it’s already on the streaming
service for everyone’s viewing pleasure.
“Labor of love” is a phrase that gets
thrown around a lot; in “Road to Roma,”
we learn what exactly a labor of love looks
like, as the documentary is largely a grand
picking of director Cuarón’s brain. If one
reads anything about “Roma,” they’ll learn
that it’s a deeply personal film, a semi-
autobiographical tale of Cuarón’s childhood
in Mexico City and an emotional ode to
his beloved nanny Liboria Rodríguez, the
inspiration for the film’s own protagonist
Cleo. He goes so far as to call it his “first
film” (an especially meaningful claim
considering his sci-fi film “Gravity” was a
contender for Best Picture in 2013, not to
mention Oscar nominations for “Children of
Men” and “Y Tu Mamá También”). In this
light, “Road to Roma” brings the same keen
quality of appeal that arises whenever one
listens to someone talking about something
they’re truly passionate about.
Cuarón definitely fits the role of the
neurotic director — hemming and hawing
over every angle, every set piece, every
minute expression — and to that end, some
might be exhausted by the eccentricities of a
stereotypically ostentatious artist. But what
“Road to Roma” really pounds in is that
“Roma” is a film that set its sights beyond
artistic quality. Cuarón’s perfectionism was
not in service of perfection itself, but rather
in pursuit of truth, in fidelity to Libo and to
Mexico, plumbing the depths of his memory
to make sure the garage tiles matched, the
local delicatessens had the right signage,
that even that the extras playing his
neighbors looked at least a little similar.
It’s insights like these that proliferate in
“Road to Roma,” as the film is largely an
extended interview with Cuarón as he takes
the viewer through the casting process, the
set construction, the blocking and specific
methods of acting and all the minutiae of
film production. Anyone looking for sit-
downs with the film’s lead Yalitza Aparicio
— or discussion with really any other crew
or cast member beyond candid footage —
will be disappointed.
Ultimately, like most making-of films,
this movie is an “extra.” But if one was
captivated by the grace and endurance of
Aparicio’s Cleo and has any interest at all
in the life and work of Alfonso Cuarón,
then “Road to Roma” is an enlightening
experience, augmenting rather than merely
ornamenting the already excellent “Roma.”
Tuesday, April 7, 2020 — 5
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NETFLIX
JACOB LUSK
Daily Arts Writer
‘Road to Roma,’ a moving, making-of-the-movie-type movie
FILM REVIEW
Over the course of mere days, COVID-19 has
changed our lives in ways we never could have
imagined. While we’ve heard countless stories of
workers being laid off due to the economic strain
of the stay-at-home order, musicians, who rely on
ticket sales to pay their rent, have been relatively
forgotten amid the madness.
Though big artists
who’ve made millions
in hit records will
probably
make
it
through
these
uncertain
times
without
incurring
irreversible
damage,
“low-tier” professional
musicians who are just
starting their music
careers
have
been
greatly impacted by
show
cancellations.
As artists who rely
on touring to gain a
following
and
who
barely make anything from streaming, they are
facing severe financial struggles after investing
much of their savings into crews and equipment
for touring, only to have all of those shows
canceled.
I had the opportunity to chat with Jordy
Searcy, a folk singer/songwriter based out of
Nashville, about the unique impact of COVID-19
on musicians and what’s being done to support
them during this time. As an artist working his
way into mainstream music, Searcy has been
supporting the Nashville music community
by hosting livestreams on his Instagram every
Tuesday night, with each virtual show dedicated
to raising money for a different band.
“I had the idea (because) I have a lot of friends
that are touring off of their first record and they’re
starting to make fans, but it’s really just like the
first year of gaining some success and starting to
sell out rooms, but still having a lot of expenses,”
Searcy said. “A lot of my friends are the people
that got hit the hardest because they may not have
streaming, or online merch sales, or savings from
a bunch of hit records saved up like a lot of other
professional musicians do. A lot of my friends rely
exclusively on touring for income. They rely on
touring, but it’s like five people that rely on one
tour to pay (each member’s) rent.”
Last Tuesday, Searcy
hosted a livestream to
raise money for The
Brook and the Bluff, a
pop-soul band out of
Nashville that had their
shows canceled due to
the virus. On top of public
show cancellations, the
group also had their
private events canceled
— which would have
been a major source of
income heading into the
summer.
“A lot of musicians
make cash not just from
tickets to shows, but also from unpublicized
special events, like a high-profile wedding, or a
bar mitzvah, or a corporate event,” Searcy said.
“The Brook and the Bluff had a lot of big corporate
events booked to keep them afloat through the
summer, and all of those got canceled.”
While Searcy is an out-of-work musician
himself, he claims he is doing well for the time
being and wants to dedicate his time to helping the
artists that truly need it.
“I actually got pretty lucky because I make most
of my income from streaming,” Searcy said. “My
cash flow actually wasn’t affected and I’m kind of
on a gradual rise this year anyway. I’ve been lucky
enough to now be making a little bit more money
than I was making even a few months ago.”
Though Searcy is the one coordinating the
livestreams, he believes their success comes from
fans’ willingness to help out.
“I’m not the one giving cash. I’m just basically
playing a few songs, orchestrating it,” Searcy said.
“What’s been really cool is the number of people
watching every week has grown. The number of
dollars that the fans give to the bands has been
growing every week too, which has been really
cool. It’s been really encouraging to see people
support my friends, who I love a lot.”
On top of performing some of his own music
and covers, Searcy invites other musicians to
join the livestreams in an effort to get the entire
Nashville music community involved. Searcy has
featured the bands he’s raising money for, as well
as outside artists like Caleb Chapman from Colony
House, a rock band based out of Nashville, who
played a few acoustic songs from the band’s new
album.
Staying true to the spirit of struggling
musicians, Searcy films the livestreams from a van
he recently purchased for touring.
“We bought the van maybe a month and a
half ago and then everything got canceled, so it’s
basically my office now,” Searcy said. “The van
was a touring thing and now I’ve built that out a
little bit. I moved everything into my van, and now
I record and write out of there.”
During his livestream dedicated to raising
money for the band Sawyer, a female indie-
pop duo, Searcy had to pause the livestream
periodically to talk to Mike, the stranger that was
allowing Searcy to park his van on his property.
About halfway through the livestream, something
must have come up, and Mike politely asked Searcy
to move his van, forcing him to find a new spot to
park so he could finish the livestream. Needless to
say, Searcy has been on a lot of adventures during
this quarantine.
“Last week I took (the van) out surfing for a
while, self-quarantined in the van and surfed for
a week, did one of the livestreams from out close
to the beach,” Searcy said. “Now the van is parked
in Nashville, so usually my daily routine is I drive
out to a little secluded area like a scenic park and
just park it and work all day in the van in my office-
studio thing, and then I drive it back home.”
As someone who loves to perform live, Searcy
has missed the in-person interactions that can’t be
replaced by virtual shows, but he still believes he’s
been able to make unique connections with his
fans through livestream concerts.
MUSIC INTERVIEW
Searcy’s IG Live concerts to benefit Nashville musicians
KAITLYN FOX
Daily Arts Writer
Read more online at
michigandaily.com
JORDY SEARCY
Road to Roma
Netflix
Now Streaming
Jordy Searcy:
Live from My Van
Tuesdays 9:30 p.m. CST
Streaming via Instagram