Alfonso Cuaron’s—

 A Review

Unlike any other movie I watched, watching Gravity followed a thorough perusal of anything and everything available as reviews. I came across many wonderful movie reviews, but found none, in fact, that can stand true to what I saw and how I felt during my watching of Gravity. It seems, not many of the reviewers caught a good glimpse of what the movie is all about and what stays hidden, behind the lines, for the connoisseur to observe and savor.

Image Courtesy: Google

The two actors, the only living human beings that appear during the 90 plus minutes, are chosen wisely. They have, to use a worn out phrase, done their jobs well. Writing department has imparted the best work, giving Hollywood an appealing show to cherish. Gravity is a survival story directed by Alfonso Cuaron, and is typical in its structural alignment, the beginning-- ambitious space project, middle—the catastrophic accident, and end—an epic struggle for survival, like many other survival movies in Hollywood.  

Image Courtesy: Alfonso Cuaron

Gravity is rich with symbolism, with amazing graphics, and that helps it rise above the mundane Hollywood numbers. Ryan Stone’s (Sandra Bullock) fetal position, the sunrise over the earth, seen from outer space, and the shower of space debris seen up in the sky when Ryan Stone looks up from the ground, just after the narrow escape into gravity—form the tripod of fascinating moments in this movie. Alfonso Cuaron’s Golden Globe is a doubtless side effect of this remarkable achievement.

Although only through his voice from Houston, Ed Harris was impressive too. This movie is a classic from our time.

Although the first hype to the movie is borrowed from a George Clooney-Sandra Bullock chemistry, those who watch it from start to finish can realize that Mr. Clooney has a very short length of screen space for himself. As Tina Fey observed during the Golden Globes 2014, “It’s the story about how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age.” However, this very nature of Clooney’s role makes it the classical centre of audience sympathy. The character played by Mr. Clooney, Lieutenant Matt Kowalski, although attempts to help the medical engineer and Mission Specialist Ryan Stone, is overpowered by the perils of the vast and mysterious Space. Nevertheless, Matt Kowalski is sure to satisfy Clooney fans.

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Although Clooney’s character seemed to be a typical flat one, Sandra Bullock’s Ryan was dynamic. Psychologically, Ryan Stone moves from point A to point B, learning through her experiences. Ms. Bullock had enough screen space to exhibit her acting skills too. A definitive attraction is Ms. Bullock’s long and toned legs when Ryan Stone floats inside the zero gravity Space station.

The central precipice of the story is the loss and discovery of meaning to life. This is narrated through Ryan Stone’s character and how she identifies the necessity to stay alive, which in turn makes the character ‘round’—a changing and dynamic one. The events through which the story resolves suggest that even in the dizzying vastness of space, if one holds on to the essence of life, a cause that can lead one forward, survival is guaranteed.