By Brett Blake GRAVITY is one of the best films of the year. I just wanted to get that out of the way right up front, and whatever nitpicks I have (or others have), nothing can take away from the fact that it’s an incredible example of the cinematic art form, and as astonishing a piece of technical filmmaking as I’ve seen in a long, long time. That it comes up a little short of being some kind of cinematic “Second Coming” should not take away from what director Alfonso Cuaron, the cast, and the crew have achieved. It is masterfully directed, at times almost unbearably tense, and more frightening than most full-blooded horror films could ever hope for. The story is straightforward. Astronauts Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Kowalksi (George Clooney) are in the process of making repairs to the Hubble Telescope when their shuttle is struck by debris from a Russian satellite. Flung out into space, the two must attempt to find a way to survive. It’s pretty much that simple; no convoluted plot machinations, no intricate motivations or digressions, just two people trying to stay alive in the most unforgiving environment imaginable. This is one of the movie’s biggest strengths - by presenting a stripped-down, nearly real-time narrative, we truly feel like we are on a life or death journey with these people, which makes for some incredibly compelling drama. Given that they’re - essentially - the only two people in the whole film (save for a few vocal cameos, including one by Ed Harris), Bullock and Clooney have to shoulder the bulk of the responsibility for keeping the audience engaged, and they both do terrific work. Clooney’s obviously quite a charismatic guy, and he uses this to full effect with Kowalski, rounding out the character without resorting to elaborate explanations of who he is; we get the sense that he’s a “big deal,” one of the rock stars of NASA who’s about to retire. Clooney provides a nice, calming anchor for Bullock’s Stone, who’s something of a “rookie,” relatively uncomfortable with working in space. Though the film starts out as a story with two leading characters, it’s Bullock who eventually emerges as the movie’s true focus, and it’s one of her finest performances. It’s also a demanding one, wherein the character has to be frantic and frightened a lot of the time, and other, less skilled performers might have had trouble making such a character interesting, but Bullock nails it. We sense her panic, her deep fear, and - ultimately - her will to survive the horrifying ordeal she’s going through. Having said that, while Bullock is consistently affecting, the screenplay does try a bit too hard to add some extra emotional layers to the proceedings that, I think, are frankly unnecessary. I won’t get into what that entails, but there are points where the movie almost stops to present us with some moments that border on the overly-saccharine. I understand the impulse, but the nature of Bullock’s struggle is really compelling enough without having to add on those additional elements. A nitpick, sure, but it did stick out to me, and I think the movie could have done without it. But let’s talk about what really makes the movie special: the sheer cinematic craft that is on display. It is filmmaking at the very highest level, and all of the technical categories are absolutely phenomenal. The cinematography is utterly astonishing, employing long takes and incredibly complex camera moves that - to borrow an awful, old cliche - really put you right in the middle of what’s happening. The first shot of the film, for example, seems to last well beyond ten minutes without a cut (though surely there are some “hidden” cuts in there somewhere), and it’s part of a dazzling (and terrifying!) opening sequence that pinned me to my seat. It’s an incredible setpiece, but there’s even more to come, and the usage of the camera is always totally first-rate. It feels like the sort of thing people would call “ground breaking,” and it’s certainly remarkably ambitious. Going hand-in-hand with that are the special effects, which are also on an incredibly high level. One would assume that a great deal of what we see in the movie has been created inside a computer, but for the most part (and save for some dodgy zero-gravity fire effects), the CGI is seamless and completely photo-real. There are moments when the characters are being flung across, into, and around the surfaces of various satellites, shuttles, and space stations, and I found it impossible to ascertain what was a real set and what was computer generated. I’ve heard that the film’s effects were worked on for nearly two full years, and that kind of investment of time has really paid off in a huge way. If the film wins anything come Oscar time (and, hopefully, it wins quite a few things), the “Visual Effects” category should certainly be a lock. Also of note are the sound and music, which form a kind of harmony not often seen (or, rather, heard) in most films. Most of the time, there’s a kind of tension between the sound effects and music departments, with each jockeying for supremacy (that’s a gross overstatement, but you get the idea), but here they truly complement each other. Given that sound cannot travel in space, the sound design makes use of low, droning tones to underline the unsettling absence of conventional sound effects, and similarly, the music is of a rather ethereal, atmospheric quality (except for the more intense, action-y scenes, which have an appropriately harsh and scary edge to them). The strategic uses of complete silence at certain points are also enormously effective. Of course, the person who orchestrates all of these departments, the one who brings it all together, is the director, and Alfonso Cuaron has done the finest job I’ve seen this year. There is such a clear vision behind that camera, and then such a clear execution of that vision, that I can’t praise Cuaron enough. GRAVITY is bravura filmmaking on multiple levels, and I can’t overstate how thrilling it is to be in the hands of someone with complete command of the cinematic medium. There’s really not much else to say. If you’re somebody who likes movies, who likes to go into the dark and see something incredible, then you owe it to yourself to see GRAVITY on the biggest screen you can find. It may not work entirely for everybody who sees it, but I doubt anybody could deny that it’s an exceptionally-made picture, and a fantastic technical accomplishment.
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