Gravity - Alfonso Cuaron (2013)

"Gravity" is a science fiction film with exceptional electronic processing, present in 80 out of the 91 minutes of the projection. It is a film that must be seen in 3D and only with a sound processor suitable for the number of channels for which the soundtrack was made. The renowned special effects company Framestore Oxford Street from England took three years to produce the digital processing and a whole host of single-use equipment was built specifically for key scene filming.

The film is a milestone, a step forward for cinema, and a production where audio-visual is the main beneficiary of progress. The majority of its value lies in the quality of its presentation on screen. In other words, the movie theater is indispensable here, and a copy viewed online, on CD, DVD, computer, or laptop, means practically anything other than the film itself. Even though a cast with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney could discourage many, both have remarkable performances in "Gravity." Sandra probably achieved the best role of her career.

The presentation clip is not overly convincing, and the promotional campaign, if there was one, failed to attract anyone. The audience and interest came only after the film received the deserved recognition from the American Academy. It is at least strange how seven years of assiduous work (from the beginning of the project to the premiere) and a budget totaling 100 million USD could be treated with such neglect on the commercial side.

Perhaps the producers thought that we were dealing with an excellent film that would impose itself on its own. Possible.

"Gravity" is a tense adventure, smoothly narrated, with off-commented images alternating between absolute silence and unfamiliar sounds. Gravity, the main heroine, is exactly what we like… precisely because it is absent for the most part of the plot.

Although the narrative is solid, and the images and sound are surrealistically exotic, you will love the film to tears not only for that but especially for Alfonso Cuaron's ingenuity that cleverly exploits some essential themes. First brought to peripheral attention, then proposed for debate, none of them are developed to conclusions, each remaining in the same state of suspension as the crew member Dr. Stone, who drifts dangerously through interstellar space.

Religious and mystical metaphors are also present and are treated with delicacy, subtlety, and elegance. The memory of the angel, the statue of Buddha on the Chinese ship...But by far the most successful scene is the one in which, at the Russian station, Dr. Stone finds an icon of Saint Christopher, the spiritual patron of travelers in Christianity, on board. Before making the decision to give up the fight for life (by disconnecting the oxygen), she gazes at the icon for a few moments. No words are spoken and it is not very clear what is going through the scientist's mind as she looks at it. However, just like in response to a prayer heard, things that can be considered supernatural or just unnatural happen...they radically change her determination and fate. Suddenly, and with total dedication, Dr. Stone wants to live with her entire being.

Another impressive parable concerns a divided world...Dr. Stone's journey through three space stations/ships, which have all the controls and instructions in completely different languages (alphabets: English Latin, Russian Cyrillic, and Chinese ideographic), takes her through circumstances that can save her life. The chaos that ensues is mostly overcome through luck and similarities, but the indication is transparent: in order to increase the chances of total success, society must eliminate the barriers that divide it and forget its disagreements.

At the end of exhausting efforts, Dr. Stone succeeds. From the flooded belly of the rescue capsule (dramatically landed on the bottom of a lake), she is born, leaving the placenta (astronaut suit) and emerging into the light. She floats inert for a while on the water's surface, and then, upon reaching the shore...face to face with gravity itself, she crawls in the sand like a reptile, walks on all fours like a primate, and hesitantly becomes bipedal in the end...Symbolically, the most important stage of the evolution of life on Earth (amphibians) is evoked here...

"Gravity"...for most people, it's the thrilling story of a shipwreck combined with the invincible force of hope and trust...it's also something else.