Alfonso Cuaron on the set of ‘Gravity’/Photo © Warner Bros.
Alfonso Cuarón is a “movie visionary of the highest order,” critics say – and we need no more proof of his focus and endurance than the path he took to launch “Gravity.” Still in theaters, “Gravity” stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts working to return to Earth after a catastrophic accident. The acclaimed film holds a rating of 96 out of 100 on Metacritic.com and is up for ten Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Achievement in Visual Effects. It recently netted Cuarón his first Golden Globe as Best Director.
For Cuarón, who once dreamed of becoming an astronaut after watching the Apollo moon landings on TV, seeing the film completed is its own reward. The 52-year-old and his son Jonas, thirty, hashed out the script for “Gravity” after the elder Cuarón finished the sci-fi drama “Children of Men” (2006). But the pieces took time to gel. Cuarón needed to wait for the technology to develop to depict realistic movement in space; he also had to secure studio backing and the right cast. Once greenlit and shot, the film spent more than a year in post-production.
“How do you eat an elephant?” Cuarón has said of the process. “One spoonful a day.”
I loved learning more about the creative streak and ambition he’s exhibited throughout his career for my article here.