Zero 'Gravity'

Gravity
Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron
Written by: Alfonso Curaon & Jonas Cuaron
Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney

Breathtakingly stunning, Gravity is a visceral experience that not only needs to be viewed on the largest screen possible, but with the largest audience possible.  It is an hour and twenty minute thrill ride best shared and it exemplifies what it means for film to be a communal experience.  When every audience member is as entranced as you are, caught up in the emotional roller coaster that is Gravity, another (often overlooked) facet of film viewing happens.  Film was always meant to be viewed with other people, and movies like Gravity reinforce this idea.  No one ever experiences something unique and wishes they were alone.  There’s always a desire to look to that person to your left and know they feel it too.  

In one fluid master shot, Gravity opens with Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalksi (George Clooney) on a space walk, repairing a broken satellite.  The cinematography is beautiful, showing the allure of space and the beauty of earth.  The banter between Ryan and Matt is natural and playful; building character without being forced.  The serenity of space doesn’t last long.  They get word from Huston of meteors and space debris headed their way.  Time is no longer on their side.  Events escalate very quickly and the film rarely gives you a moment to rest.  Each scenario is worse than the one before and given that they are stuck in space, the stakes for survival are incredibly high.  There is absolutely no chance of being rescued.  

Gravity is about rebirth.  There are numerous references through out (some subtle, others, not so much) alluding to Bullock’s character given a second chance at many things in her life (staying alive being the obvious one).  While most of Gravity’s very short run time is spent to her thwarting disaster after disaster, there is just enough back story and character work layered in for you to root for Ryan Stone’s survival.  It’s very easy for a film to go to much in either direction, making you either not care or get bored by too much information.  Screenwriter and director Alfonso Cuaron (who co-wrote with this brother Jonas) successfully walks a very fine line, artfully weaving character, action, special effects, and emotion to form a cohesive and striking film.  

It’s been seven years since Cuaron’s last film, Children of Men, a post-apocalyptic look a society that’s been rendered infertile.  Much like that film, the technical achievement of Gravity is awe inspiring and would make an intriguing case study in film classes.  The editing is very minimal.  Instead, Cuaron relies on very long single take shots where the camera never settles.  This constant motion adds to the inertia that allows you to experience and feel what Bullock is going through.  It allows you to float through space.  Bullock is excellent (could she become a two-time Oscar winner?) as Ryan Stone, allowing herself to be so overcome with fear you think they actually filmed this in space.  Clooney is, well, Clooney.  But, that’s to be expected.  Perhaps a little too charming for the role, but if there was going to be anyone I’d listen to in space, it’d probably be him.  Long enough to be a feature, but short enough to not send your hear into arrhythmia, Gravity proves that film is an experience best when shared.  If you waited until DVD then grab a group of your closest friends and watch it together.  This is an experience you want to share.