🎬 #141 Different Stories, Same Director.
Seeing the same director tackle two wildly different genres and stories is always an interesting thing to witness. One of my favourite filmmakers, Alfonso Cuarón, doesn’t necessarily have a style that’s as fingerprinted as say David Fincher’s, but there is a quality that seeps through his work. He tackles very different genres whereas certain filmmakers stick to the same kind of arena. However, there is always a unique attention to detail, a love of longer duration takes, a deep texture in the production design and…animals.
Happy choosing, happy viewing
Bry
FILM ONE: GRAVITY
2013 Dir Alfonso Cuarón
1 hr 31 mins
Legend has it that Cuarón took to sleeping under the desks of the visual effects artists as they were deep in post-production, or production, given how much of this film relies on a totally artificial world. Given that the film is over 10 years old, the CGI to me still remains some of the best ‘obvious’ work I’ve ever seen. Obvious in the sense that they clearly didn’t shoot in space amongst exploding debris. Other CGI work might involve street augmentation that you just don’t notice, because it’s executed so seamlessly and you’re not thinking about it being CGI.
This is like Speed in space in the best possible way. Pure adrenalised filmmaking where the central character is pummelled by obstacle after obstacle. Just when you think she is clear for a second, another obstacle raises its ugly head. You’re constantly on the edge of your seat as the protagonist hurtles around the earth at the edge of space. This is not pure action at the expense of emotional storytelling, we care deeply about the character’s plight, both in space and in her past on Earth. She has every reason to give up, but keeps fighting till the end.
TL;DR: Cuarón’s breathless space ride is an awesome spectacle to experience.
*Available for a small rental fee on Amazon and Apple in the US and UK.
Fact: The script reportedly took 3 weeks to write, the film took 4 and a half years to make.
FILM TWO: GREAT EXPECTATIONS
1998 Dir Alfonso Cuarón
1 hr 51 mins
My good friend Joe introduced me to this film, knowing that it was Cuarón but having not seen it, I was excited to sit down and watch. While it’s undoubtedly of its time in its aesthetics, it is also undoubtedly Cuarón. His adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel is a compelling look at ambition, love and legacy. Transplanting the action to New York where Finn [Pip] wants to become an artist, Cuarón effortlessly brings all the threads of his life together - while we navigate the lush New York art scene, and the decaying architecture of the American south.
The depth and detail of the costumes, the environments the characters find themselves in and the lensing by Chivo, Cuarón’s long serving DOP, are all immaculate. Perhaps his most ‘traditional’ film, it’s interesting to compare an early foray into Hollywood with a later one.
TL;DR: Romance and payback fuel this modern adaptation of the classic novel.
*Available for a small rental fee on Amazon and Apple in the US and the UK.
Fact: The voice overs were written in post-production by David Mamet.