Gravity (2013)
“You gotta admit one thing, you can’t beat the view!”
Ten Oscar Nominations and Seven wins, 2014 was clearly the year of Gravity and in Oscar parlance it almost swept the board. Wins for the Director in the categories of Best Director and Film Editing (with Mark Sanger), the film also won for Best Original Film Score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects and long time collaborator Emmanuel Lubezki finally secured a worthy Oscar win for his achievement in Cinematography. Oscar wins and trinkets should not be the benchmark by which a film is deemed a success or indeed an extraordinary achievement, however in the case of Gravity it fully deserved these and every other accompanying plaudit, for the film is near flawless from start to finish of its lean 91 minute running time and Alfonso Cuarón deserves every possible praise for pulling off the difficult feat of making a riveting and drama filled film set entirely in space and with ostensibly just one leading character such a terrific piece of cinematic escapism. My one and only regret with Gravity was not having the opportunity to see this wonderful film on the big screen as it surely deserves to be seen on the largest screen possible but several re-viewings later just add to the majesty of the presentation, editing, cinematography and especially the Oscar winning sound mixing. But just one word of caution should you dear reader not have seen this film already: If you suffer from motion sickness in any way, beware, because you may be challenged by the Director’s almost non stop spinning visuals!
Written jointly by the Director and his son Jonas Cuarón with co-star George Clooney also un-credited as a further writing partner, the film is set entirely in space with only seven main characters, of which five are purely cameo or voice appearances and Ed Harris being the most recognisable and vocal as Houston’s “Mission Control”. Aside from this we have two of Hollywood’s finest in co-starring roles with co-writer Clooney starring as irreverent, talkative and crazy story teller “Matt Kowalski” and Sandra Bullock as the nervous, motion sickness suffering newbie “Ryan Stone”. The first ten minutes are a tour de force of film making as with no perceptible cuts or edits Cuarón employs a continual spinning and slowly moving camera mirroring that of the earth constantly in the background as Kowalski, a veteran of numerous space expeditions and chiefly in charge assists Stone in her first space shuttle mission as they repair and upgrade the ailing Hubble Space Telescope. The film’s opening credits announce that space carries no sound and this is also expertly employed throughout but within the opening ten minutes the sound grows louder and louder the nearer we as the audience are to the centre of the action but it’s the direction, constantly moving camera and Lubezki’s cinematography that immediately impresses as it accompanies an irreverent and relaxed three way conversation between Mission Control on Earth and our intrepid Astronauts before debris from a rogue Russian satellite destroys the harmony and sends an oxygen starved and panicking Stone spinning into outer space.
With her oxygen quickly depleting and rather than enjoying the “silence” Stone craves for and most enjoys whilst being in space, it’s Kowalski’s irreverent stories and talk of the home they’re rapidly spinning around that keeps her focused on the task at hand. They need to stabilise quickly and find their way to an escape pod for their return to the homes their moral boosting discussions highlight and again Director and Cinematographer excel here with a beautiful depiction of the sun rising across the far away earth as they drift through outer space. There are many more Director inspired highlights: the painstaking realisation of zero gravity, the interchangeable camera angles and within/without style movement from inside Stone’s panic stricken helmet and back out and into space and this only adds to the ultra stylish and polished picture on screen. Again focusing on the zero gravity production, Stone “swimming” through the ISS (International Space Station) is another wonderfully captured piece of cinema. It truly is a wonder to watch, absorb and take in amongst the peril, terror, panic and confusion that’s a staple of successful films set in the unknown of outer space. Another obvious Director achievement lies in making such a successful and critically acclaimed film with only two principal, albeit A-List star actors and to retain the audience’s attention with so few characters on screen. Sandra Bullock received a worthy Oscar nomination for her role as Ryan Stone, the green rookie struggling to deal with her first trip into space magnificently, and although not recognised with an Oscar nomination, George Clooney is excellent as Matt Kowalski, her counter point and chief morale booster. With there only being principally two characters throughout the narrative it almost feels as though the camera, with it’s inside/outside camera angles inside the astronaut’s helmets as alluded to above, as almost an extra “character” in the film. It could also be argued that the enormity of space is a further character but suffice to say each provides a further character layer to an absorbing narrative.
Without any further plot spoilers I will simply add that there are obvious comparisons to Ron Howard’s Apollo 13, Solaris and any host of space films from the past fifty years and Gravity is a brilliant and worthy addition to those esteemed films. Accompanying the film is Steven Price’s Oscar winning musical score that is a joy in and of itself. There are sporadic uses of singular tracks of music including the highly appropriate “Angels are hard to find” by Hank Williams but the remainder of the musical score is a joyous yet strangely haunting electronic hum at times that suits the long, continuous action captured by Director Cuarón in a wonderful and inspiring film of never losing hope, never acquiescing to what fate seemingly has in store and fighting for life against all the odds.
It’s 91 minutes well worthy of your time.
Alfonso Cuaron — Filmmaker Extraordinaire
From “Love in a Time of Hysteria” in 1991 to multi Oscar winner “Gravity” in 2013 and seven more cinematic gems in between.
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Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.