Understanding Gravity: The Selected Filmography of Alfonso Cuaron

Alfonso Cuaron's most recent directing effort, Gravity, was widely released on October 4 to critical praise and a box office that welcomed the film with open arms. It was previously screened at TIFF, and James Cameron has called it "...the best space film ever done" (in my opinion, an unforgivable snub to Solaris and 2001). In the wave of premature Oscar buzz for the film and Sandra Bullock's performance in the lead role, it is pertinent to examine some of Cuaron's previous works in order to fully grasp what the filmmaker might hope to accomplish with Gravity.

Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001):

This film follows two teenagers, Julio and Tenoch, as they embark on a weekend road trip across Mexico with a much older woman, Luisa. Her presence is an alluring one, and she allows the boys to assert and test the boundaries of their own sexuality. Y Tu Mama Tambien is concerned with more than just  the discovery of sexuality and adulthood, however. Its core is also a meaningful exploration of the intersection between life and death as a continuum, and the significance of love and sex and friendship along the constant progression of life. It is beautiful in its honesty and its unbiased realism. It uses Mexico as more than a setting; the country and its economic inequities become integral characters in the film, and essential to  understanding Julio, Tenoch, and Luisa. The many emotional complexities of the film can attributed to the sensitivity and fearlessness of Cuaron, who co-wrote the screenplay and directed the film. Born in Mexico, Cuaron clearly understands the intricacies of the country and the people which inhabit it; this allows Y Tu Mama Tambien to exhibit a kind of authenticity that only Cuaron can achieve.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004):

Although it is the lowest grossing film in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is also the most unique. Cuaron made directorial decisions which allowed Azkaban to focus on darker and more potent subject matter. It is in this film that Harry Potter begins his adolescence and starts to experience the first instances of angst which would severely affect him later in the series. It is also in this film that the presence of Voldemort begins to assert itself; later, it would  become oppressive. Cuaron is able to impeccably balance these darker elements with the fantastically playful world of Hogwarts.

 There is also a great gap between Azkaban and the first and second films, which manifest as slightly frivolous magical adventure films. Cuaron manages to create a great depth of emotion in the film, drawing deeper performances from Daniel Radcliffe and the other cast members than in the previous films. With Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Cuaron presented a product that managed to stay true to its beloved source material while also freely exhibiting a substantial degree of creative interpretation.

Children of Men (2006):

Children of Men is a masterfully realized standout in the genre of dystopian dramas (recent examples of which include this summer's Elysium and 2009's District 9). The film opens in 2027 London. Britain has become a war zone: bombings are common (by the government and by terrorists alike), illegal immigrants are abused and killed, and no child has been born on earth for over eighteen years. In the midst of this chaos,  Theo, an archetypal every man who is coerced into heroism, struggles to protect a woman who has miraculously become pregnant. This woman and her child are the hope which the world has been waiting for.

Children of Men is able to find beauty even in the starkest details of excessive destruction. Cuaron creates an intricate mood, constantly balancing despair and optimism. Action sequences are plentiful here, but they are so technically perfect that it is impossible not to find yourself holding your breath while watching. The cinematography is inextricably bound to the film's subject. It is shot in the documentary-style, while managing to abstain from the handheld camera which makes The Hunger Games and so many other action films almost unviewable. Each still might be a photograph taken from a headline about another car bombing in the Middle East, another uprising in Egypt. This level of realism can at times become terrifying.

Cuaron and his co-writers manage to masterfully adapt P.D. James's novel, creating an immersive storyline and well-developed characters. The film's conclusion may be expected, but it is competently executed and feels genuine despite its sentimentality. It manages to point our societal attention to issues that we are currently facing, and provides us with a simple warning for what may befall us if we do not correct them.

View more of Cuaron's projects at his IMDB page.