One of the most spectacular Oscar-winning films of 2014 can rightfully be called Gravity. Alfonso Cuaron shot not just science fiction, he created a drama, a space epic about loneliness. So who is he, the new Oscar winner?
Director Biography
Cuaron was born in 1961. At the National University of Mexico City, he studied cinematic art and philosophy. After completing his studies, he began working on television. He had to start as a technician. Then he became a director all on the same Mexican television.
A career on TV helped Alfonso get into several film projects as an assistant director. And in 1991, he himself released his own tape to the screen.
Debut
The debut project was called “Solo con tu pareja”. If translated literally, it will turn out "Only with my partner." Although the film was directed by the director under the name "Love during Hysteria." Under this name, the picture came out in an English-language rolling version.
Alfonso Cuaron, co-authored with his brother Carlos, wrote a screenplay for a comedy about a businessman who loves changing lovers. But the fun ends when he is diagnosed with AIDS. True, then it turns out that he is false. The film was shot, Cuaron himself produced it. The picture did not go unnoticed. The audience enthusiastically accepted it. And for the amazing virtuoso balancing on the verge of drama and farce, the brothers were rewarded with the silver Ariel, a prize from the Mexican Academy of Cinematography.
Success was seen in the United States. Sidney Pollack invited Alfonso to the set of the series Fallen Angels. He was the director of one of the series. The episode was called Indirect Killer. The director coped with the task brilliantly, which was marked in 1993 with the "Cable Ace Award".
Fairy tale for children
"Little Princess" appeared almost by accident, she took the place of the film "Dependent on Love." For the Warner Brothers company, Cuaron was supposed to take it off. Alfonso, whose filmography will then be replenished with another fairy tale story, found the script of the “Princess” and insisted on the need for its adaptation.
The plot of the picture is the story of little Sarah. A girl cherished by a loving father is forced to leave the fabulous India and move to a boarding school, as her dad is called to the front. Brought up in an atmosphere of adoration, a cheerful and kind "princess" is perceived within the walls of the boarding school as an exotic flower, not adapted to harsh conditions. But it is precisely those qualities that are perceived by others as weakness that give Sarah the strength and courage to help her new friends.
And although the film was rather coolly received by the viewer, film academics reacted favorably to him. Alfonso's tale was put forward for two Oscar nominations.
"Big hopes"
The next project, directed by director Alfonso Cuaron, is an adaptation of the classic work of Dickens into the cinema language.
Cuaron transferred his heroes in our time, and for the embodiment of them on the screen he invited Ethan Hawke, Robert de Niro, Gwyneth Paltrow.
Ethan Hawke plays Finn, the artist whom the mysterious patron invites to New York. In The Big Apple, Finn is again confronted with his childhood love. Estella is just as beautiful, just as desirable, and a passion for her will lead the artist to the top, where even the wildest dreams come true. But this same love will raise Finn's deepest fears to raise his head.
The rolling fate of the film was unsuccessful. Both critics and viewers did not appreciate the tape. Although Alfonso Cuaron shot a beautiful story with beautiful actors.
Return to Mexico
The director began to shoot the next film at home. To work on the painting "And your mother, too," Couaron invited his brother. Carlos agreed to be a co-author, and in 2001 the tape was released.
The manner in which Alfonso filmed "And Your Mom, too," can be called pseudo-documentary.
The plot of the picture almost does not lend itself to a clear retelling. This is a teenage road story. Two friends who decided to break away in full accidentally meet Louise. Together they decide to go in search of the mythical Heavenly Mouth beach. It is believed that in that blessed place all dreams come true.
Along the way, the heroes "cling" to all kinds of adventures, conduct frank conversations about sex, smoke weed. In general, they just live. Enjoy youth, drive, sex. Just have to come back anyway. And as a result - the end of friendship. Unsupported by anything other than an invented leaflet with the rules, it does not withstand the growing up of the main characters.
The picture contains very naturalistic scenes, as well as branded long doubles, so beloved by Cuaron.
But, despite some similarities, “And your mom, too” is not at all the Mexican counterpart of American Pie. Not at all, this film is much more dramatic than the usual youth comedy road movie.
The picture was successfully released in worldwide distribution and was shown in almost thirty countries. And the young actors Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal got a chance to try their hand at Hollywood.
Storyteller Alfonso Cuaron
Films shot by a Mexican director shortly after the film “And Your Mom, too” replenished with another fairy tale. Alfonso was entrusted with the creation of the third part of the saga of the famous Harry Potter. "Prisoner of Azkaban" was shot for almost a year. Quaron spent all this time in England.
His view of the wizarding world turned out to be darker and more aggressive. The notes of Dickens' novels clearly slipped through it. Some fans did not accept this version of the story about the wizard boy.
But the creator of Harry Potter, Joan Rowling, was delighted with the creation of the Mexican. She called "The Prisoner of Azkaban" the best film adaptation of the novel, accurately conveying the essence of the book.
"The child of man"
After Harry Potter, Alfonso Cuaron took up the film adaptation of Dorothy James's book "The Child of Man." This time he had to work with world stars: Michael Kane, Julianne Moore, Clive Owen.
The plot of the novel develops in an atmosphere of global destruction. The familiar civilized world has disappeared. Terror and anarchy are everywhere. Humanity is dying. And not only because of mass self-destruction, but also because it has lost the function of reproduction. And the appearance in such a world of a pregnant black woman is truly a miracle. And the miracle is trying to save Theo, a former left-wing radical who performs humanitarian missions for the ministry as best he can. Theo was played by Clive Owen.
The film itself, some critics called the "Gospel of the era of anti-globalism." Indeed, there are plenty of Christian motives in it. And a hint of the Immaculate Conception, and persecution of a mother and her child. Even the ship on which the last human child is departing is symbolic. He is like Noah's ark, leaving the sinking world in search of a bright Tomorrow.
“Child of Man” received an award in Venice and three nominations from American film academics.
The long-awaited Oscar
Yes, although Cuaron’s paintings were nominated for a prestigious Academy award, the Oscar stubbornly left the director’s hands.
All the more pleasant was the victory in 2014. The long-awaited figure was marked by Alfonso Cuaron's film "Gravity."
Again the genre of fiction, only this time scientific. Again starring actors of the highest standard - Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. They play a three-dimensional space drama on the screen. Two astronauts who remained unconnected, threatening to end with oxygen, were forced to fight for life.
The picture is amazing visual effects, stunning camera work. In terms of its impact on the viewer, the film can be compared with Stanley Kubrick's Space Odyssey.
In an interview, Cuaron notes that his painting is primarily about accepting loneliness. The fact that you need to put up with it, get used to it, and then start the path to the loneliness of others. And with the example of two space prisoners, the director gets the opportunity to illustrate this idea more clearly.
The tape liked the audience. At the end of 2013, she was named one of the best films. And critics favorably responded to the picture, emphasizing the indisputable virtues that “Gravity” fully possesses.
Director Alfonso Cuaron has already announced new plans. The project is called "Believe." The Mexican will work on it together with JJ Abrams. Spectators are waiting for a science fiction series about a girl endowed with incredible abilities. Not without charismatic villain. He will be played by Kyle McLachlan. Judging by the pilot series, the series promises to be no less intriguing than previous Quaron films.