Mr. Cuaron explains Gravity using his Oscars.
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco (born November 28, 1961 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican director who frequently directs mainstream fare in an artsy style, sometimes with an eye towards political commentary and/or exploring teen angst. His most notable films include Y tu mamá también, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men, Gravity and Roma.He was also the director for the infamous Autism Speaks advertisement I Am Autism. He likes to pretend it didn't happen.
He became the first Latin American director to win a Best Director Academy Award, for Gravity.
He is friends with fellow Mexican directors (and Oscar winners) Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu, the three being collectively known as "The Three Amigos of Cinema."
He is also a co-creator of the series Believe on NBC.
Filmography:
- Solo Con Tu Pareja (1991)
- A Little Princess (1995)
- Great Expectations (1998)
- Y tu mamá también (2001)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
- Children of Men (2006)
- Paris, je t'aime (2006) (one segment)
- Gravity (2013)
- Roma (2018)
Common tropes in his movies:
- Acclaimed Flop:
- A Little Princess (1995) got rave reviews from Siskel & Ebert amongst others but sunk against the much bigger-budget and starrier family film released the same week - Casper. It did do well on home video, and Cuarón still regards it as his favourite of his own movies.
- Children of Men, which received much praise yet fell $6 million short of recouping its budget.
- Justified for Roma, which made a fraction of its $15 million budget; it received only a limited release a few weeks before its release on Netflix, where most of its audience viewed it.
- Camera Abuse: Blood splatter on the lens in Children of Men; water on the lens in Gravity.
- The Film of the Book: A Little Princess (1995), Great Expectations, Azkaban and Children of Men.
- Money, Dear Boy: A significant portion of his work, according to this
interview.- That would explain I Am Autism, a highly controversial film by Autism Speaks that, like most of the organization's material, has been thoroughly criticized by autistic individuals for demonizing autism and promoting ableist and eugenicist cure rhetoric.
- The Oner: Part of his Signature Style. Children of Men was widely praised for its finale in this respect and Gravity has it in its opening, as well as in several scenes throughout the rest of the film. Many of his movie, including Children of Men and Gravity are shot by highly acclaimed cinematographer and frequent collaborator, Emmanuel Lubezki, who is a master of this style. In Roma, he shot these himself.
- Road Trip Plot: Y tu mamá también and Children of Men.
- Scenery Porn: Sometimes crosses over with Scenery Gorn.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: His films could rather be in the middle or more towards the idealistic end.
