Gravity(Alfonso Cuarón, 2013): A visual masterpiece or a tragic turn of events?

Ah, Gravity, a 2013 "epic science fiction adventure film" or is it really? The truth is it's only as good as the next space film, it doesn't really go anywhere, given that it's set in a vast emptiness pit of nothingness. It is quite interesting how even though the close ups of Earth and multiple long shots and pans of space, it still didn't give us everything we hoped for. The constant use of POV's and tracking can make the spectator feel quite queasy, which isn't what you want when you are in the cinema with your family, or curled up on the sofa with a bottle of wine with your mates. But regardless of the visual popularity, does the narrative live up to the expectations of a sci-fi film?

Sandra Bullock's character, Dr. Ryan Stone, is a masculine looking woman who seems to only have one disaster after another. Director Alfonso Cuarón must have wanted us to overly sympathise with Stone, as one problem after another, along with the heartache story of her daughter dying, all we can do is feel bad for her. However, Bullock's performance was outstanding, keeping us on the edge of our seats, not knowing if she is going to make it back to Earth alive or not. Her constant spinning and floating around certainly makes us feel sick, but the way she performs is truly incredible. Her defiance truly draws in the female audience, making us feel a sense on empowerment, as we do like a good leading female character that isn't sexualised.

George Clooney's character, Matt Kowalski, was more of a narrative filler if anything. Yes, Clooney did play the role of a cocky, yet charming veteran astronaut very well, and once again a heart throb to all middle aged women in the world. But we can't forget that Clooney is normally the leading actor in films like Ocean's Eleven, you can't help but think what the hell is he doing in a space suit? Not really him is it? Never the less, he's essentially only in it as one of two things: 1) A ploy to engage a wider target audience. 2) A narrative filler to aid Stone's journey. Yet when Kowalski sacrifices hisself to save Stone, we feel some sort of emotional attachment to the character, as if we don't want him to die, and Cuarón plays an evil trick on making us believe that Kowalski survived, yet this was only Stone's imagination from lack of oxygen, still, we can dream. Either way, was Kowalski an unnecessary character? who knows.

Now we certainly can't forget the outstanding cinematography, no wonder it was for Imax cinema. Not only did the use the space station telescope to shoot the Earth, but they also incorporated contrast of light and dark, and used reflections to highlight the beauty of the world, in the silent abyss that we call space. The long shots of the planet compared to Stone and Kowalski definitely shows how little we are compared to everything else, makes us feel small doesn't it? Regardless, you can't deny how beautiful the shots were, they were truly mesmerising, and that's what gained it the critical acclaim, seven academy awards (including best cinematography) and was considered as one of the best films of the 2010's. Even though it certainly did well, the back story which ties the film together could have been better, considering that if felt like the narrative never really went anywhere. Anyway, well done Alfonso for making such a intriguing film for us all to squabble over on whether it was good or not.

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