14 DAY TRIAL // You might not think that an entire film about two astronauts floating in space could change your mind about the dire state of today’s cinema, but then you clearly haven’t seen Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity” yet. This is a film that is so impressive in scope and so perfect in details that it deserves every and each word of praise and adoration piled upon it by critics.
Money makes the world spin, as an old cliché goes, and that translates into a disheartening reality in today’s Hollywood, of movies made solely for profit, at times without the least consideration for those values that once made the primal pleasure of moviewatching: quality, a beautiful narrative, solid cinematography. Pure escapism.
This is where “Gravity” comes in. After spending over 4 years in production hell because Cuaron needed more advanced technology to bring his bold vision to the big screen, and changing its two leads several times, this is a film that pushes boundaries and comes very close to perfection.
Angelina Jolie and Robert Downey Jr. were initially on board for the two leads, Dr. Ryan Stone and Matt Kowalski, but the roles eventually went to Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. And it was a great thing that they did, because they’re perfect for each other – and for the film.
Stone and Kowalski are on a mission in space when debris from a destroyed satellite hits the Explorer and they’re left stranded. From then on, their sole focus is on making contact with Earth again and be rescued before the storm of debris completes its journey around the planet and hits again.
In space, no one can hear you scream, we’ve learned from the first “Alien” movie and, boy, is that confirmed here.
Structured on a very basic narrative, that of man’s struggle for survival, “Gravity” plays out like a study in weightlessness and claustrophobia and, at the same time, in near-perfect cinematography.
With outstanding special effects and superb camera angles, Cuaron, who also wrote the script for the film, offers viewers the closest thing they’re ever going to get to a real experience in space. Minutes within the film, you’re not just watching, you’re experiencing.
Of course, extra credit also goes to cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, who offers breathtaking imagery that you’re bound to take with you once you’re out of the theater, like that of the sunrise in space or the image of a sole tear floating from Dr. Stone’s eye.
Because this is the closest thing you’re going to get to a first-person experience in space, “Gravity” is tense throughout, a white-knuckled journey that includes explosions and crashes but, most eerily of all, moments of pure nothingness, complete deadness. By the time it’s over, you’re almost panting.
“Gravity” is a film that is as amazing to experience as you’ve just read it is.
It runs for exactly 90 minutes, and is rated PG-13 for intense perilous sequences, some disturbing images, and brief strong language. It came out in theaters in the US on October 4, will arrive in the UK on October 10, and will end its run in Japan on December 13.
