October 10, 2013.
Cast: George Clooney, Sandra Bullock.
Cast: George Clooney, Sandra Bullock.
Director: Alfonso Cuaron.
A veteran astronaut (Matt
Kowalski played by Clooney) on his last mission enjoying his final space walk;
another one who is literally jumping at the view of the earth from space; and a
medical engineer (Ryan Stone) who is trying to fix a problem with the Hubble
Telescope. This is the opening scene of gravity; this is the beginning of the
opening scene rather, ..... a continuous shot for around 13 minutes giving the
audience a full round view of the crew, the
machines, the space and the earth.
Starting with such an
amazing sequence to capture the audience’ attention, Gravity never lets you sit
back comfortably on the seat. Though it is kind of a slow start with a little
less reliance on drama the film keeps you tense and anxious about how it is
going to pan out for the protagonist (Sandra Bullock and NOT George Clooney
fyi).
You are presented with
nothing less than an exquisite view, a visual pleasure by the director and his brilliant
technical team. The cinematography is another important element that needs
special mention; apart from the breathtaking shots what really stands out is the
sense of control that Lubezki has over all the scenes with an articulate
presentation of the surroundings as well as the confusion that is going on inside
Ryan’s head.
The gruelling research that
has gone into the making of the film is evident in each scene with such importance
being given to the scientific side of things; the atmosphere on the earth’s
surface, tear drops and little flames of fire floating inside the spacecraft, the
movement of particles in space; just to name a few.
This is one of the best
roles played by Sandra in her career. She is terrific as the scared engineer
who is struggling to stay alive with nobody to help. There is such strength in
her performance that in spite of being the only character in the film most of
the time she manages to grab the audience attention throughout!
Halfway through you the
audience would have already become quite acquainted with space but it is in the
final moments of the film in the terrific climax that you totally lose track of
the fact that you are in a theatre.
Combined with a superb background score, amazing
cinematography and stunning graphics this could easily be one of the best
thrilling sequences you have seen in the recent past.
Finally a word about Alfonso
Cuaron. With his amazing vision and execution he has created magic out of a
simple plot.
I
am giving a 4 for Gravity. Do not miss this one!!
Rating Scale (Out
of 5)
Less than 2
-
Unwatchable.
2 to 2.25
-
Below average.
2.5 to 2.75
-
Average.
3 to
3.25
-
Good.
3.5 to
3.75 -
Really Good.
4 to
4.25
-
Great.
4.5 and
above
- Extraordinary.
