Future Flicks: Gravity by Alfonso Cuarón

Gravity will be the newest movie from Alfonso Cuarón, the director known to visually create the “rawer than life” moment on the screen, just as he has done for Y Tu Mamá También and Children of Men. This sci-fi film stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney and it seemingly mimics the mesmerizing sound and tone of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which created intense emotional scenes with wonderful spatial sound and beautiful imagery.

However, Gravity is a little more unique in that there is a number of long, one-take shots with heavy visual orchestration. The film itself is reported to have 156 shots with a two hour runtime which would come out to an average of 46 seconds per shot. But that’s not entirely the case because the opening sequence is a 17 minute shot alone, followed by many other scenes that are 6 to 10 minutes in length for a single take.

As I have read from several online sources, the film has been pushed back for a yet to be determined release date in 2013 – as opposed to this November. Keep in mind, there could be a better reason for the delay than say, touching up final special effects – many other big budget films have release dates in November and December such as Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2, Skyfall, and the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which means there’s going to be some pretty stiff competition.  If you ask me, with all the films Warner Brothers has invested in, I think they’re just saving the best for last . . . plus, at the same time, the studios are taking into consideration that they might not want to release such a deep movie for the usually “family friendly” holiday season.

Just a little more info on Cuarón, he’s one of today’s most creative film directors from Mexico. The sensational hit film that gave him international recognition was Y Tu Mamá También, but my personal favorite was his 1991 sex comedy film about a womanizing T.V. commercial writer in “Sólo con Tu Pareja” (Only with Your Partner). He is also known for the successful direction of the 3^rd film in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban, and the 2007 academy award nominated film, Children of Men.