Gravity (2013): Bringing Art Film Down to Earth for the General Audience

Alfonso Cuarón's latest film Gravity has been a worldwide hit. 

The film has grossed over $400 million and won awards in both the Hollywood and Venice Film Festivals. 

Gravity follows the story of two astronauts, Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), as they try to survive and escape from a mid-orbit explosion and return to Earth. 

I'm pretty unfamiliar with Cuarón's other work outside of Children of Men (2006), and Gravity is a huge departure from that kind of style. Cuarón, once again, teamed up with Emmanuel Lubezki (cinematographer for every one of Cuarón's films except for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban).

Gravity has been universally acclaimed and it can be seen in the film. What I mean is that the symbolism, dialogue, and character motivation can all be read by everyone; the themes are absolutely universal. The film is extremely easy to read and understand without having a background in film theory. This was one of my gripes with the film; it is so unsubtle that it begins to be annoying. I groaned when Bullock curls up like a fetus after escaping the first wave of debris speeding around the Earth. I hated the ending shot of her crawling up on to the beach like an evolving animal. The film does not challenge anyone; it does not invite a closer reading.

But this is Hollywood, baby, it isn't Cannes. This film is exciting and new. Gravity has been one of the most stressful movies I've ever sat through. I don't mean that in a negative way, but the way that the film flows and moves stresses me out. The first 17 minutes of the movie is in one sequence shot (no cuts), and once the debris starts rolling in from the satellite explosion my mouth dropped. I was in awe. I was immersed in the film outside of the obvious symbolism and borderline masturbatory imagery (Bullock's tears floating in space, I mean come on!). It's a very easy film to get caught up in. 

Now because the film has such a minimal story, it allows the audience to become engrossed in the image, which is a nice change from the typical story-focused, forced love story, cliche norms of Hollywood. The focus on the film is spectacle and that's not a bad thing. There is actual substance to the images (unlike Pacific Rim which is just dumb fun) whether they are heavy handed or not. The symbolism is obvious, but works in the context of the theme (Bullock's rebirth is showed during the fetus scene, her metaphorical baptism at the end of the film, and the evolutionary image during the ending sequence, etc). Everything fits together cohesively. There isn't symbolism that doesn't fit the thematic content.

This film is definitely worth your time. I would go so far as to say this is the best thing I've seen in theaters this year.

Overall, I had a great experience with Gravity. The film snob in me scoffs at the obvious imagery, but I feel that that does not matter to most people. It's an exciting film that really made me forget to breathe (much like Bullock, right?!). I'm just glad I didn't see it in IMAX 3D, because if I did, I would have probably thrown up. 

First time watch: 7/10