In space, no one can hear Dr Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock, The Heat) and mission commander Matt Kowalski (George Clooney, The Descendants) scream; in the cinema, as their intergalactic ordeal unfolds, many will hear the audience’s gasps of astonishment. Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity finds its foundations in both, the on-screen absence and off-screen shock instrumental in what may be the movie event of the year. In stretching an interstellar survival quest to its extremes, and styling all its starkness with the immersive extent of the medium, the writer/director truly tests the limits of the cinema.
Such praise may sound like mere excitement or embellishment; however Gravity offers a rare example of a film not only meeting but also exceeding the ample magnitude of its accompanying expectations. Its successes are many – starting with a story structured from familiar components, yet stripped to its most basic beats; fleshed out by stunning performances, breathing believability into a scenario that too easily could’ve flailed amongst the inauthentic; rendered with intricate imagery that not only refuses to submit to convention, but redefines the space landscape. All three come together in the stroke of genius that is Cuarón’s direction.
In the helmer’s script, as co-written with his son Jonás (Year of the Nail), Stone is approaching the end of her maiden voyage. Routine repair work turns troublesome when a shower of debris strikes, leaving the inexperienced astronaut and her more seasoned companion adrift above the earth. Too soon, even the comforting tones of Houston’s Mission Control (Ed Harris, Pain & Gain) are lost, leaving only the silence of panic and the sounds of nervous chatter.
Making his first film since 2006’s rightfully acclaimed Children of Men, Cuarón understands the power of simplicity; despite throwing ample hurdles at his enterprising protagonists, theirs is a tale uncluttered by the unnecessary. In a seemingly swift 90 minutes, he ensures nary a dull moment enters their orbit as they test their mettle against the vast, cold expanse of the cosmos. Instead, the drama is instinctive, elemental, and existential; so too, the potential horrors of the worst outcome imaginable, and – as astutely counterbalanced – the romance of their scene-setting, out-of-this-world journey.
While many similarly high-profile names cycled through the film prior to production, Bullock and Clooney prove perfect casting, the pair impressively pitched against each other, and innately understanding the needs of their characters. The latter, all joking optimism and suave resourcefulness, plays for comfort, charm and comedy as only he can. The former, first uptight and afraid, then forced to embrace, accept and own her plight, is afforded the emotional awakening central to such efforts of endurance and persistence, and turns in a stellar, steely performance among her career best as a result.
And yet, in another uncommon feat, the actors’ showcase sits amongst some of the most stunning manifestations of aesthetic spectacle committed to celluloid – both in recent times, and in the history of science fiction on film. Constantly cognisant of the fluidity and movement of its concept, the camera careens over and around, and objects within its borders spin, swirl and sway, but this is no novelty example of 3D gimmickry. Instead, Cuarón, his talented cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (To the Wonder), and a spate of exceptional special and visual effects gurus make the most of every painstaking pivot, placement and protrusion, ensuring each frame is a thing of beauty. It’s not only what is seen that dominates; what is heard just as exquisitely orchestrated – from Steven Price’s (The World’s End) stirring score to the stunning masterclass of the feature’s expressive sound design.
That Gravity circles above its sci-fi brethren in its tale, talent and technique is as obvious as such recognition is earned; however, underneath, the film’s thoughtful toying with life, grief, and the inevitable sail towards the end causes its greatest connection. It takes a trip outside of the ordinary to force the feature’s characters to embrace their fears and fleeting time alive, just as it takes a narrative of elegance and grace to convey the heart of their harrowing ordeal. In Cuarón, it also takes a gifted director to evoke awe, amazement and the deepest of emotional revelations in the astounded audience.
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Gravity
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
US / UK, 2013, 90 mins
Release date: October 3
Distributor: Roadshow
Rated: M
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