[Film] GRAVITY (Dir. Alfonso Cuarón)

Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris

Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: Do NOT watch Gravity at home or on your fucking laptop. This is a certified larger-than-life cinema event, so see it your favourite cinema. In my case, Bíó Paradís offers the best 3-D experience in Iceland and is the only theatre currently screening this Oscar contending super movie. It’s also worth noting that the film in question isn’t as mindblowingly staggering as the powers that be would have you believe. Gravity is unbelievably believable. Or was it believably unbelievable?

The good thing about being last in line in reviewing one of the biggest motion pictures of last year is that I don’t have to get into the story line and plot as such. You already know all about it. To make a long story short though, it starts by pretending to be a rare insight into what a NASA mission nearing its completion might look like. This part believably unbelievable. And as such is extremely realistic and otherworldly. I'm no expert in space technology or space missions, I've seen the debate around how plausible some of this is and ain't (some things are conceivably impossible astronauts and scientists say...Surprise!).

The audience gets a glimpse into the work scientists are supposedly doing way up there while you and I sleep or like each other Facebook statuses. We also get - in true Hollywood fashion - to listen in on the musings and camaraderie of individuals that do jobs we cannot even dream of, all the while coming off as carefree, jovial and “just another day at the office” about it. Personal jabs, in-jokes and pop culture references ensue. All is lax as it is supposed to be; crew captain Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) goofing around in perilous environment listening to country music and shootin’ the shit with his underlings. That's until NASA is on the radio warning our heroes that all isn’t well in space. Danger lurks and the numbers show that, yeah, shit possibly might go south, big time. And it does.

When things go “boom” in the night and our friends are fighting for their dear lives, things that are bad, get worse, and quickly Gravity dishes out disaster scenes of epic proportions that hit the audience over the head at a rapid pace. A manic ballet of flying space debris, machines being torn apart and humans being flung around like stiff rag dolls is like a thrilling and suspenseful symphony of terrible luck and harrowing helplessness. The special effects are impeccable here and make “space troubles” look like nothing one has seen before, and the editing (visual and sound) and cinematography yield scenes that are strangely claustrophobic even though the viewer is totally aware of the vastness of space. I'm tempted to say I've never seen 3-D utilised this thoughtfully. It sets precedence in terms of "less is more" (I know, that's hardly applicable to a 3-D movie of this magnitude), and hopefully dials back the 3-D wankary to come in Hollywood action/adventure movies. I digress.

When the action resides and the imminent yet silent violence of space retreats, Gravity turns into a larger-than-life meditation on life via a protagonist trying to survive against all odds. You cannot go wrong with that kind of story, 127 Hours didn’t and Open Water sure as hell didn’t either.
The movie can’t help being intimate what with Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) floating around in space - nothingness all around - desperately hanging on for her life with or without the help of her composed and calming protector Kowalski, who’s doing quite a bit a floating around of his own. Stone reflects on life and death, goes deep within herself examining her past (although it doesn’t get that literal in the movie) and the importance of the everydayness of life on earth.
With her death being so near, Gravity goes full circle as Stone's contemplations and reliance on chance and instinct becomes just as big a factor as reliance on skills and NASA training preparations (space/nature - and/or - science/grit).  Can an astronaut MacGyver it or does space give here a break? This predicament leads the audience on a quite enjoyable "Will she make or will she not... No she won't... Is this a dream?... Yeah she will!"
The full circle of life sub-text plays on this as well: Stone is born, becomes an adult, and Gravity sees her finalising a mission into space, facing certain death and as she gets closer to the end - the light at the end of the tunnel - her resignation takes on a fetus/womb analogy that are strewn throughout the later half of the film, some obvious and others not so obvious. Additionally, the score and wildly spacious sights I was seeing got me thinking, “If Alfonso Cuarón wanted to turn Enya's music in to a space movie, this would be the perfect outcome."In fact, that's just what I said to my date, sitting on my left, that night at the movies.

Clooney is his usual self, playful and warm. His performance adds little to his repertoire of characters. Bullock on the other hand reminds us that there’s more to her than the typecast tomboy goofball “character” many have come to see her as. That said, her performance is not the tour-de-force I expected but that’s probably what a green screen and from-neck-up acting will get you. It's built-in limitations to project character and marry that with body language and expression make the roll a challenging one, but Bullock squeezes as much juice out of it as a Hollywood blockbuster can allow. Now, scenes that include her alone, very alone, sans space suit, are my favourite ones.
Ah, the spectra of a blockbuster. One one hand, the enormity of Gravity’s awesome and mind boggling visuals (it sets a new standard), I cannot separate it from what I know (green screen and people sitting in front of computers), thus it let’s the air out of the human drama that’s at play here. It’s difficult for me to plant my feet on what is before me, it is just too impalpable, where as Open Water in comparison, was harrowingly tangible.
In terms of visceral connection, palpability and emotional resonance, it is an unfair comparison: Almost every one has floated in sea and thus can imagine the innate fear of the unknown associated with something that “earthy.” It placed that film’s protagonists in a realm that moved me in a very profound way. “This could be me and my significant other!” This is a connection Gravity lacks for obvious reasons. Maybe too tall an order and the film's splendorous grandeur doesn't allow a deeper connection with the humanity it strives for. Because in the back of my mind I was thinking about Danny Boyle's Sunshine (2007) which still to this day resonates more strongly with me despite its ridiculous premise.

In conclusion: Gravity is a cinematic accomplishment that has no equal and every space movie from here on will be measured by it. How Cuarón and his people made it leap off the screen like it does has me thinking about it days after seeing the film. Again, and this is a fair warning, see it in the cinema!
- Birkir Fjalar

Gravity is currently screening in Reykjavík's Bíó Paradís. Follow the cinema's goings on facebook, and peep the screening schedule here.

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