Alfonso Cuarón's statement for the film: "There are periods in history that scar societies and moments in life that transform us as individuals. Time and space constrain us, but they also define who we are, creating inexplicable bonds with others that flow with us at the same time and through the same places. Roma is an attempt to capture the memory of events that I experienced almost fifty years ago. It is an exploration of Mexico's social hierarchy, where class and ethnicity have been perversely interwoven to this date and, above all, it's an intimate portrait of the women who raised me in a recognition of love as a mystery that transcends space, memory and time."
有关社会历史背景,影片中有几个线索:
(一)特拉特洛尔科事件
影片又名《México '68 》(墨西哥68),即1968年的墨西哥。这一年的10月,墨西哥申办了第19届奥林匹克运动会,而就在奥林匹克运动会召开的前几天,墨西哥发生了针对学生运动的残酷镇压,被称为“特拉特洛尔科事件”。据事件后续调查显示,事件是由为奥运安保筹建的团体奥林匹克营(the Olympia Battalion)挑起,接到命令逮捕学生运动的领导人,并引发冲突,冲突导致几百名学生丧生。