Guillermo del Toro promises Alfonso Cuarón’s “completely mind-blowing” Gravity (2012) will “forever change” filmmaking

Alfonso Cuarón not only has deeply entertained audiences with the dark and artsy Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, (2004) arguably the best of the franchise, but also pushed the envelope in filmmaking techniques with his dystopian epic Children of Men (2006) with several unusually long yet fluid single-shot-takes (for a featurette discussing the long takes in the film, click here).  For example, he created a six-minute tracking shot (found here) through a war-torn urban environment as well as a four-minute long take of an attack on the protagonist’s car (found here).  The amount of foresight and control needed to orchestrate the numerous elements for each scene to work is immeasurable; simply, it is filmmaking genius.  Yet Cuarón looks to innovate again in his next feature-film Gravity (2012).

In a three-minute interview with MTV, half devoted to his Frankenstein project, Guillermo del Toro has nothing but high praise for Cuarón and his upcoming ambitious space epic Gravity, found below.

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Or if you’re unable to watch the interview, a couple of snippets from it follow. First, del Toro comments on how Cuarón consulted other renowned directors, some of which thought his new techniques couldn’t be done:

What is incredible about what they did is, they talked to David Fincher, they talked to Jim Cameron; I connected Jim and Alfonso for that. And what Alfonso is trying is so insane. And Jim [Cameron] said, well look, you’re about five years into the future…it’s too early to try anything that crazy. And [yet] they did it!

Wow, if James Cameron, creator of the 3D catalyst Avatar (2009), said Cuarón couldn’t complete the project as imagined then it must be insane.  When asked to tell the viewer or hint at what Cuarón has up his sleeve, del Toro comments:

I think he would kill me if I reveal [what is so crazy about it], and in time it will be publicized, but I think that in the same way that he pushed the narrative in Children of Men…[they] are absolutely pushing a new boundary in filmmaking, completely mind-blowing. And the way they’re making [Gravity] will I think foverever change certain types of productions. The engineering and the ingenuity of the machines they’ve created to film that way is fantastic.

Reports indicate that Cuarón will have a whopping twenty-minute+ single-shot opening-take and the whole film may consist of only a few takes and plenty of well-rendered computer generated imagery (CGI).  What’s more, the film will feature only two characters, but more on the plot below.  Lastly, he givens perhaps the most provocative statement of the interview in claiming:

[The story] is incredibly human but “Kubrickian” in precision.

For the uninitiated, this quote refers to the late director Stanley Kubrick who was a perfectionist to a fault, but he made some brilliant films widely regarded as benchmarks in filmmaking, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Shining (1980), and Full Metal Jacket (1987).  Indeed, if Gravity is to consist of several single-shots strung together, Cuarón will need to be painstakingly precise and deliberate.

Previously, producer David Heyman stated:

We’re using technology that’s never been seen before. This film will be more immersive, I believe, than anything you’ve seen before. You will really feel like you are in space. It will not be an objective view of space, it will be an immersive view of space.

In sum, Cuarón and crew promises Gravity will be truly innovative achievement that may usher in a new era of filmmaking.  For this and a few other reasons, Gravity ranks highly on my Most Anticipated Films list.  However, after several other high-profile actors passed on the project I became slightly less enthused about the project and especially when Cuarón cast Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in the film – the two veteran actors are capable of greatness but when initial impressions aren’t “wow this will be amazing.”  Still it is definitely worth your attention given all of the hype, ambition, and the filmmaking pedigree, so keep an eye out for it when its marketing campaign picks up and the film is released next year.

Plot synopsis: Two astronauts survive a catastrophe in space where satellite debris destroys their space station and fellow crew.  One of them, a mother, desperately tries to return to Earth and reunite with her daughter.

Gravity – starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney – glides into theaters on November 21, 2012.

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