Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Roma" (2018)

Scene from Roma (2018)

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

Roma (2018)

Directed By: Alfonso Cuaron

Written By: Alfonso Cuaron

Starring: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey
Genre: Drama

Running Time: 135 minutes

Summary: A year in the life of a middle-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.

The Movie

One of the biggest surprises of the Oscar season is the ascendance of Netflix as a serious contender. What started as an unlikely threat with Beasts of No Nation in 2015 has suddenly become a force to be reckoned with. This past Wednesday saw the release of their highest-profile yet with Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese's 3.5 hour The Irishman. Still, if the new mob epic stands any chance of being taken seriously at The Academy Awards in 2020, some credit must be given to the film that dominated the conversation in 2018. While the streaming service had many smaller hits on the small screen like Birdbox, there was the big-budgeted Spanish-language tale of a maid growing up in Mexico. Yes, Netflix's biggest shot at Oscar's top categories was going to be one that was on the outside of accessible conventions. Even with Alfonso Cuaron as director, Roma was going to be one of the more challenging films of the Oscar season.

If the film had any legacy, it was serving as the brightly colored target for the streaming wars conversation. Yes, Amazon Studios had beat Netflix to the Best Picture nomination, but could Netflix become the first streaming film to win the category? It's an argument that challenged long-held beliefs of how a film even qualifies for an Oscar. Part of it was the strange release strategy. The other part was the lack of cooperation from studios who wouldn't let the film play in their theaters if they wanted to. By the end, Steven Spielberg would be vocal in his disinterest in changing the rules. Roma was a film that demanded to be seen on the big screen but was also incapable of achieving that simple promise. Still, whatever it would achieve with Netflix's "most expensive" campaign to that date would help to set the studio up for a unique legacy in the prestigious race.

Was Roma the success story that Netflix wanted? In a simple sense: yes. However, the answer is far more complicated given that a lot of the wars it fought with theaters were lost, and not even Scorsese was able to win. Many also argue that it's not really the most interesting or accessible film to have a Best Picture nomination from last year. Still, the track record set the bar pretty high for what would come next. Along with the casting of first-time actress Yalitza Aparicio, the film presented a side of Mexico that wasn't often seen in a film. It also was capable of proving that there was a market for non-genre cinema in international markets. It became the first film to achieve many honors in The Academy's history and also paved the way for a more internationally inclusive type of Oscars. It was a hit, even if the numbers wouldn't suggest it. 

- The Campaign -

Following the success of the 2013 film Gravity, Cuaron would go on to win the Best Director for the film. Considering its status as a game-changer thanks to its special effects and "must see it in a theater" marketing, whatever would come next was sure to be highly anticipated. When it was revealed that Cuaron was teaming with Netflix, there was suddenly a curiosity. Was Netflix going to be able to break their curse and be a serious Oscar contender? It seemed unlikely, but Cuaron's involvement leads to a wave of acclaimed filmmakers like Scorsese and Guillermo del Toro joining the streaming service in an attempt to make them more than the home of bad b-movie material. Considering that they had won Oscars before, notably Best Documentary Short for The White Helmets, there was some sense that they could break the taboo. However, it would come at a great cost, literally.

In the year leading up to Roma's release, Netflix's film with Bong Joon-ho Okja was infamously booed at Cannes when their studio logo appeared. When it came time to submit Roma for competition, Cannes wouldn't allow it because it broke rules regarding the eligibility of streaming services. While the film would go on to win runner-up for the audience award at its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, it would be a hard sell from there. At the time Netflix had planned a brief month-long release in November before placing it onto streaming. The issue was that major theater chains that included AMC Theaters and Regal Cinemas (the former of whom would later refuse to play it as part of its Best Picture marathon, itself a rare achievement). This meant that the Oscar rule of a movie playing in a theater for a week in order to qualify would be tough to achieve. Even when it did, many wondered how it was even possible for the film to get Oscar nominations.

This was an issue for obvious reasons. Because it couldn't be played by major theater chains, it played predominantly at the independent theaters nationally, and at various venues throughout Mexico where the film was shot. Because of this, the theaters that played it reported to have impressive box office receipts, featuring many sold-out screenings and by its third weekend earned $900,000. It was on track to be the highest-grossing foreign-language film of the year. By the end, it would gross $3 million, making it the first foreign language film since Ida in 2013 to achieve such a record. For the rest, it was extremely difficult to hear the positive word of mouth and whet one's appetite for the film. Sometimes it meant driving hours to see the film. Others argued whether it was even worth seeing on the big screen has given that almost every other Netflix movie before was seen predominantly on streaming. It was a tougher question given not only its availability but also that it was considered to be a slow foreign-language film with breathtaking cinematography that would be depleted in a small screen environment. 

Cuaron was, of course, wanting audiences to see it in a theater. Then again, Netflix had one of the strangest achievements in Oscar campaigning. Along with featuring the former campaigner for The Weinstein Company, it was also reported that they were spending anywhere from $20 million to $50 million on marketing with giant billboards and various awards push. This included sending regional chocolate to Hollywood Foreign Press Associates (HFPA) voters for The Golden Globes. There was also a suggestion to send a poster to voters that had additional options to be signed by star Aparicio and possibly even framed. There was also a six-pound Roma book sent to voters that estimated at over $127, making some joke that it was more expensive than the average Oscar campaign. Roma wasn't pulling out any stops, even though reaching the Oscar audience was going to be far more difficult, as bribe-like incentives weren't allowed. However, screenings hosted by the likes of celebrities including Angelina Jolie definitely helped any cause. By the end, it was considered the most expensive Oscar campaign in a decade.

The actors in the film also had a great narrative going into the film. Aparicio was a first-time actor. In the months leading up to her audition, she was studying for a degree in teaching. It was reported that many discounted her talents because of her darker skin, even among Mexican culture. She was indigenous, and the majority of actors even in telenovelas were lighter-skinned. It was considered a breakthrough in Mexico. She was a delightful presence during the Oscar campaign, making her one of the lesser-known actors in any of the average races. To see a small talent competing against the established celebrities gave her and co-star Marina de Tavira more of an advantage. Sure, Cuaron was a charismatic entertainer with a reputation, but his ability to make the story about the working class and stories that hadn't been heard on film before definitely helped. His decision to label it as autobiographical helped matters, too.

Unlike previous years, Netflix had a stable of films that were competing for major awards. Other contenders included Joel and Ethan Coen's The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories, and the short Period End of Sentence. With that said, none of them could compare in the public conversation to Roma: a film that pushed audiences to talk about how they couldn't see it in theaters and if streaming was better than theatrical. It presented a series of obstacles to overcome, and in the process painted the perfect picture of where films could go. Could Roma exist without Netflix? Definitely. However, would audiences even care if it was distributed by a conventional studio? That is where Netflix supporting the underdog became the big narrative, suggesting an antithetical belief of a billion-dollar studio. They championed the artists, and that was their biggest accomplishment in the narrative, even if anything else they did was against the grain for what studios do. Even Amazon Studios failed to get nearly as much hoopla around them as Netflix did. But, could it get them that Oscar glory?

- The Payoff-

In one of the biggest surprises of the year, Roma ended up tying with The Favourite for most Oscar nominations. Among the noteworthy breakthroughs were nominations for Aparicio and de Tavira. Roma also became the first streaming movie to make it into the Best Director category, and along with director Pawel Pawlikowski's Cold War became one of the few years in which the category featured two foreign language nominees (Cold War failed to make the Best Picture category, however). Considering that Cuaron was also being praised for his direction and elaborate shots that elevated the otherwise simple story (most notably in a third act scene involving a long take at the beach) into something profound. It had generally positive reviews, but would it be able to beat more conventional nominees, especially given that it was the streaming film and a foreign language film: two things that had never won Best Picture before?

The results were more than worth the expensive campaign. Netflix's The Ballad of Buster Scruggs received nominations as well as Period End of Sentence winning Best Foreign Short. Still, nothing could compare to Roma's big night. Despite not winning the Best Picture race, it did have several groundbreaking achievements within The Academy. For starters, Cuaron became the first filmmaker to win Best Cinematography for his own film. Roma was also the first film from Mexico to win Best Foreign Language Film. Finally, Cuaron won his second Best Director Oscar, helping him to join the ranks of filmmakers like Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (himself a two-time winner) and Guillermo del Toro, as fulfilling "The Three Amigos" moniker. This was a name given to Inarritu, del Toro, and Cuaron because of their Mexican heritage and their dominance in the Oscar race. Cuaron's win for Gravity would lead to five of the six years of Best Director winners being these three men (the exception being 2016's Damien Chazelle for La La Land).

Some argued that Roma losing Best Picture was a political thing. Because of the winner Green Book's reputation as a mediocre race relations film, many chose to attack the foreign language aspect. Because no foreign film had won the category, it was a racial thing and signs that The Academy was regressing. Others argued that the Netflix push was too much and that streaming was not yet worthy of being considered art. Green Book's win was itself considered controversial for being seen by younger audiences as tone-deaf, and when a challenging film like Roma came up, it was politely dismissed. Others pitted the more predictable reason why it likely didn't win: it was too slow and the struggle of one maid wasn't as accessible as many of the other narratives pining for an Oscar.

Still, it was enough to get Netflix to be taken a little bit seriously. Because of its major wins, Steven Spielberg demanded to hold a meeting that following summer. It was meant to discuss whether streaming services deserved to compete for Best Picture. This lead to a debate about whether Spielberg was anti-Netflix, and if the man behind the virtual reality film Ready Player One really hated the next phase of filmmaking. It turned out to be an overblown topic. Spielberg later suggested that he just wanted to tighten the rules for how films would become eligible for Oscars, and that involved how long a film had to play in theaters prior to qualification. While Roma did it legally anyways, it was evident that times were changing and that the way people see cinema was needing a moment to recalculate the Oscars.

In the months since Roma's release, Netflix has started work on its second year of major Oscar pushes that feel like they will actually pull off. It's telling that filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh (The Laundromat), Baumbach (Marriage Story), and Scorsese (The Irishman) are being taken seriously as Oscar contenders this year with actual conceived theatrical releases, including legitimate release dates. It's telling that The Irishman's streaming release comes out a week after the year-to-date of Roma's initial theatrical release. There may be hope after all for a film to eventually win, though it will need to form a conversation as rich and interesting as Roma did in spite of its limitations. Even actress Aparicio has gone on to use her platform to promote indigenous rights in Mexico. The film has had an immediate impact where streaming films stand a chance, and where foreign language films like South Korea's Parasite seem like plausible nominees.

Was it ever possible that Roma was going to win Best Picture? Considering that the winners tended to equate to more crowd-pleasing affairs, it makes sense that some found Roma too boring or not accessible. It's still a masterpiece and its nomination was a major breakthrough on several fronts. However, it is yet to be seen whether its legacy will have a positive or negative impact on future nominees. Cuaron will continue to be one of the most ambitious and interesting filmmakers of the current generation, praised as much for his narrative skills as well as technical, and make small stories feel larger than life. While the film failed to make Netflix's most expensive campaign pay off entirely, it symbolically represented something greater for the studio, and for films in general. Who knows how soon until a streaming nominee gets taken seriously enough. Maybe it's The Irishman, or maybe it will come later. Still, the chances of that day coming seem more realistic now than they did at any other point in history. Roma was as exceptional off-screen as it was on, and in that way it will always be a success.