Showing posts with label alfonso cuaron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alfonso cuaron. Show all posts

Saturday, January 05, 2019

Roma (2018 film)



Written, directed, shot, and co-edited by Alfonso Cuaron, Roma is the story of two housekeepers working for a middle-class family in early 1970s Mexico as they help a mother of four children whose husband has gone away for business. The film is a semi-biographical story of Cuaron’s life at a time when Mexico was going through social and political changes as a family cope with uncertainty prompting two housekeepers to get things going. Starring Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa, Carlos Peralta, Diego Cortina Autrey, and Fernando Grediaga. Roma is a ravishing and evocative film from Alfonso Cuaron.

Set from September of 1970 to the summer of 1971 during a tumultuous period of social and political changes in Mexico, the film revolves the life of a middle-class family told from the eyes of a housekeeper who is helping out in keeping the house clean and watch over the four children. It’s a film that play into the life of a family that seems to have it all but it would start to unravel when the family patriarch leaves for a medical conference in Quebec for a few weeks only to suddenly never return. Alfonso Cuaron’s screenplay has a straightforward narrative as it follows the life of one of the two family maids in Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) as she watches over this family during a school year for these four kids as well as tending to the house that often include lots of dog shit in the garage. While Cleo also have time for an active personal life as she’s in a relationship with Fermin (Jorge Antonio Guerrero).

Things would start to get complicated not just for herself but also for her employer Sofia (Marina de Tavira) whose husband Antonio (Fernando Grediaga) hasn’t returned home. Cuaron definitely lets the audience be aware that Sofia and Antonio’s relationship early in the film is strained but the former is trying to hide all of that from her children who are asking questions. Amidst this personal family drama that is around Cleo as well as her own issues, Cuaron’s script also play into some of the events that is happening around them where a New Year’s Eve party is disrupted by arson relating to a land dispute as well as student protests that include a small recreation of the Corpus Christi Massacre of June 10, 1971. It would lead to these moments for both Sofia and Cleo who are both misused and mistreated by the men in their lives as they also watch out for the children who are starting to ask questions about their father.

Cuaron’s direction is definitely mesmerizing for the images and compositions he creates as it is shot on location in Mexico with much of it shot on location at the Colonia Roma section of Mexico City. Serving as the film’s cinematographer, Cuaron shoots the film in a black-and-white film format as it add to this element of nostalgia to the period of the times as well as play into a period that was lively but also chaotic. Since the film revolves around a middle class family as many of the locations that Cuaron shoots is in and around the city. He uses a lot of wide and medium shots to get a scope of not just the house from the inside but also the locations out of the house. There are also a lot of long takes that has Cuaron not just get a look of the usual activities that occur daily at the house in what Cleo does but also the activities of Sofia and the children with another housekeeper in Adela (Nancy Garcia) helping out. Even as the simple medium static shot of a car trying to get into the garage as there’s so much attention to detail that include dog shit on the floor with close-ups of a tire driving over a piece of dog shit.

With the aid of co-editor Adam Gough in the editing of the film as much of it is straightforward, Cuaron would allow the shots to linger that include a gorgeous scene at the New Year’s Eve party where the people are trying to put out a fire at the forest. It has this man wearing a costume singing a song to count down the New Year as it play into this sense of hope that this man is wishing for although things would get worse into the coming months. Cuaron’s direction manages to get a lot of attention to detail as it play into the compositions into the action that is happening in the foreground as well as what is happening in the background. Notably a sequence during the Corpus Christi Massacre where the Los Halcones paramilitary group emerge and there is this awful aftermath of a woman clutching a young dead man’s body asking for help while Cleo, Sofia’s mother Teresa (Veronica Garcia), and a family driver leaving the building in the background.

Cuaron’s approach to the drama is low-key as it adds to an air of realism into the film with the kids being naturalistic in their activities and enthusiasm. Particularly in the scenes set in the beach during its third act which would play into revelations the kids had to face as it relates to their father. Yet, the scenes on the beach also play more into not just loss but also what Sofia and Cleo have to endure for themselves having both been spurned by the men in their lives. Overall, Cuaron crafts a touching and enchanting film about the life of a middle-class family from the eyes of its housekeeper.

Production designer Eugenio Caballero, with set decorator Barbara Enriquez plus art directors Carlos Benassini and Oscar Tello, does excellent work with the look of the home that Sofia and her family live in as well as the rooms that Cleo and Adela live in. Costume designer Anna Terrazas does fantastic work with the costumes as it is largely casual with some of the posh clothing that Sofia and some of her rich friends live in. Makeup designer Antonio Garfias does nice work with some of the makeup as it include the look of a famed figure teaching a group of young men during a seminar. Special effects supervisor Alex Vaszquez, with visual effects supervisors Dave Griffiths and Sheldon Stopsack, does brilliant work with some of the film’s visual dressing in a few exterior scenes as well as creating some invisible cuts in some long takes.

Sound designers Craig Berkey and Sergio Diaz do amazing work with the sound as it add to the immense atmosphere of the home along with sound of planes flying by from afar as well as sounds that occur in and out of the house on a typical day as it is one of the film’s highlights. Music supervisor Lynn Fainchtein creates a superb soundtrack of music that is played on location as it features many of the songs that were being played in Mexico at the time from artists/acts like Leo Dan, Rocio Durcal, Jose Jose, Juan Gabriel, Los Pasteles Verdes, Rigo Tovar, Javier Solis, Jeff Christie, Perez Prado Orchestra, Yvonne Elliman, Daniel Santos, Los Terricolas, Los Pulpos, Roger Whittaker, Carmela & Rafael, Ray Coniff, Luis Perez Meza, and many others.

The casting by Luis Rosales is great as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Jose Manuel Guerrero Mendoza as Adela’s lover Ramon, famed Mexican professional wrestler Latin Lover as a famed martial arts professor in Professor Zovek, Zarela Lizbeth Chinolla Arellano as Cleo’s doctor, Kjartan Halvorsen as a man wearing a costume at the New Year’s Eve party, Enoc Leano as a politician, Jorge Antonio Guerrero as Cleo’s boyfriend in Fermin whose devotion to martial arts would eventually disconnects him from Cleo, and Fernando Grediaga as Sofia’s husband Antonio as a doctor who leaves for a conference in Quebec to suddenly not return raising questions about his marriage to Sofia as well as his activities outside of the family.

Veronica Garcia and Nancy Garcia are fantastic in their respective roles as Sofia’s mother Teresa and the housekeeper Adela as two women who help run the house with the former trying to keep an eye on the children while the latter helps clean the house as well as be Cleo’s friend. The performances of Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa, Diego Cortina Autrey, and Carlos Peralta in their respective roles as Sofia/Antonio’s children in Pepe, Sofi, Tono, and Paco are excellent as these four kids who are full of energy and innocence as they deal with their father’s absence while trying to figure out what is going on as they lean towards Cleo for comfort. Marina de Tavira is brilliant as Sofia as the family matriarch who is dealing with her strained marriage and the chaos it would follow prompting her to try and figure out what to do next as well as not reveal anything to her children. Finally, there’s Yalitza Aparicio in an incredible performance as Cleo as a housekeeper who is trying to be this stable force for the family as well as caring for the children and do the activities while coping with her pregnancy and the chaos that is surrounding the family and Mexico itself.

Roma is a magnificent film from Alfonso Cuaron. Featuring a phenomenal ensemble cast, intoxicating visuals, a simple yet touching story, and its approach to nostalgia. The film is a rapturous portrait about the life of a family told from one of its maids who sees a family struggle with not just personal issues but also the social and political changes around them while that character also goes through struggles of her own in a world that is often defined and driven by men. In the end, Roma is an outstanding film from Alfonso Cuaron.

Alfonso Cuaron Films: Solo con Tu Pareja - A Little Princess (1995 film) - Great Expectations (1998 film) - Y Tu Mama Tambien - Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban - Children of Men - Gravity (2013 film) - The Auteurs #11: Alfonso Cuaron

© thevoid99 2019

Sunday, October 06, 2013

Gravity (2013 film)




Directed by Alfonso Cuaron and written by Alfonso and Jonas Cuaron, Gravity is the story of two astronauts struggling to survive in outer space after a satellite debris crashed their space shuttle. The film is an exploration into the world of outer space where two astronauts deal with survival as they do whatever it takes to return to Earth. Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Gravity is an absolutely tremendous film from Alfonso Cuaron.

What happens to two astronauts as they’re stranded in outer space after a satellite debris has crashed their space shuttle leaving the two to survive and reach for whatever space craft there is left? That’s pretty much a summary of the film as it is about these two astronauts floating and drifting around in outer space as one of them in Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) is a veteran astronaut on his last mission as he has to guide Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) to a space station as she has to cling on to him in order to survive. Yet, Dr. Stone is someone that is carrying a lot of emotional baggage and anxiety as she’s on her first space mission where she has to do a lot of the work while carrying little oxygen that she has. Even as she and Kowalski have to through many obstacles as the satellite debris orbits around the earth every 90 minutes in their path.

The screenplay by Alfonso and Jonas Cuaron does have a traditional three-act structure yet its plotting and approach to suspense is very different as it is about survival where a lot of things have to happen. Especially as Dr. Stone has to be the one to get inside the International Space Station with a couple of Soyuz space capsules to get one of them used so they can reach the Chinese Shenzhou space capsule that will get them home. Of course, it’s not just the satellite debris that becomes a problem but the fact that some of the equipment inside the space station and the capsules are either out of date or have parts that aren’t working. It just adds to the stakes that Dr. Stone and Kowalski have to deal with as the former is wracked with fear and frustration where the latter has to tell her to stay calm and do whatever to survive and go back home.

The direction of Alfonso Cuaron is definitely out of this world in not just the way the presents the film as it’s set entirely in outer space. It’s also a film where what happens when two people are in outer space where something goes drastically wrong and they’re in absolute danger that is a matter of life and death. Much of the film is set in outer space where there is a sense of unknown and it’s a world that is very different. Everyone is floating and has to wear space suits or else they die. There is no walking for much of the film as the characters are often floating around or sometimes spin-drift as they have no idea what to do or to hold on to. That element of suspense is very gripping and also very dangerous in the idea that something like this could actually happen.

Many of the technical elements that Cuaron puts in has him making a lot of shots set with many long takes including this very intense sequence that is very long where the satellite debris has crashed with Dr. Stone attached to an arm as she suddenly have to take off her belt where she suddenly drifts in a circle. It’s shot largely in one entire take where it goes from Dr. Stone spinning in space where the camera moves closer to her as it is shown from her perspective and inside the spacesuit as she’s struggling to breath whatever oxygen she has left and having to hear Kowalski’s voice who is trying to get her back. It’s among the many moments in the film where it is about that sense of danger and need to survive. Some of the shots set inside the space station and capsules are quite intimate yet the characters are either floating around or sitting on a chair on a seatbelt tied on them.

The direction of Cuaron also plays into the emotion of the characters where both Dr. Stone and Kowalski have to talk to each other as they’re the only survivors of this horrific incident that left their crew dead. Yet, there is also that sense of isolation where Dr. Stone has to be the one to go inside the space station and capsules as she’s left alone dealing with the chaos as well as the emotional baggage that she’s carrying. Cuaron’s camera is always on her as it’s mostly her story as she is on her first space mission and has to do things to survive no matter how inexperienced she is. Overall, Cuaron creates a thrilling yet exhilarating film about survival in outer space.

Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, with additional work from Michael Seresin, does incredible work with the look of the film in terms of its lighting and imagery as he creates amazing lighting schemes for many of the exteriors set in space to the use of low-key lights for the scenes inside the space station and capsules as Lubezki‘s work is an absolute highlight of the film. Editors Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Sanger do brilliant work with the editing by creating cuts that capture the element of suspense while using very little cutting to play out every action that occurs to get the sense of danger that goes on in space. Production designer Andy Nicholson, with set decorator Rosie Goodwin and supervising art director Mark Scruton, do fantastic work with look of the space shuttle as well as the space station and capsules in its interior scenes.

Costume designer Jany Temime does excellent work with the look of the astronaut and cosmonaut space suits that Dr. Stone would wear in her journey. Visual effects supervisors Chris Watts and Timothy Webber do phenomenal work with the visual effects in not just the way outer space looks outside of earth but also in the look of the debris as it‘s another technical highlight of the film. Sound designer Glenn Freemantle is amazing for the atmosphere he creates in the way satellite debris sound as well as the air of silence that occurs in space where it‘s a world of the unknown. The film’s music by Steven Price is superb for its chilling yet intense music that ranges from calm, ambient pieces to thrilling, orchestral-based suspenseful cuts to play out the action while music supervisor Alejandro de la Llosa uses an array of music that is played in the background such as a country song that Kowalski likes to hear.

The casting by Richard Hicks and David Rubin is great as it features a lot of voice actors playing the role of the other astronauts and those in mission control with the most famous being Ed Harris as the NASA mission control director. The performances of George Clooney and Sandra Bullock are outstanding in the way they play to the sense of danger they deal with as well as their struggle to survive. While Clooney gets to bring a bit of humor in his role as Kowalski, he adds that grounding that his character needed in order to ensure that Dr. Stone would not panic. Bullock is in top form as Dr. Ryan Stone where she plays into that sense of fear and anxiety of what she’s facing as well as being someone that has to succeed despite her inexperience as Bullock brings a lot of emotional weight to her performance.

Gravity is a truly magnificent film from Alfonso Cuaron. Thanks to the remarkable performances of Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as well as its phenomenal technical work from its crew including cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. It’s a film that is unlike anything that is out there as well as a gripping suspense film set in space that bends all sorts of genres as well as what to expect in the world of science fiction. In the end, Gravity is a triumphant achievement from Alfonso Cuaron.

Alfonso Cuaron Films: Solo Con Tu Pareja - A Little Princess - Great Expectations (1998 film) - Y Tu Mama Tambien - Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban - Children of Men - Roma (2018 film)

Related: Aningaaq - The Auteurs #11: Alfonso Cuaron


© thevoid99 2013

Saturday, May 05, 2012

The Auteurs #11: Alfonso Cuaron



One of the new filmmakers to help revive Mexican cinema from near-extinction, Alfonso Cuaron is another of the key figures of the Nuevo Cine Mexicano (New Mexican Cinema) scene that would emerge beyond the world outside of his native country. Creating a diverse array of films ranging from fantasy, sci-fi, and sexual exploration, Cuaron is among one of the top filmmakers working today who was able to have a style that appeals to a much wider audience. Setting to return with his seventh feature in the sci-fi film Gravity, Cuaron has already amassed a reputation as a creative filmmaker who is willing to take things further with everything he’s making.

Born Alfonso Cuaron Orozco on November 28, 1961 in Mexico City, Cuaron was part of a middle-class family as his father Alfredo was a nuclear physicist who worked for the United Nations. Less than five years later, Alfonso gained a younger brother in Carlos who would become a key collaborator as well as a filmmaker in his own right. The two would watch movies at an early age as they would accidentally discover art films such as Vittorio de Sica’s Bicycle Thieves late one night that would be a key moment in their education through cinema. During the early 1980s when Cuaron was a student studying philosophy and filmmaking at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Mexican film scene was emerging into its darkest period.

The days when Spanish filmmaker Luis Bunuel would make great films in Mexico were long gone while the brief period of 1970s Mexican films from filmmakers like Arturo Ripstein and Felipe Cazals was hit by political changes. Funding became very difficult as few films from Mexico in the 1980s reached attention outside of its native country. The only way for filmmakers to work steadily were in Mexican television or state-funded films where the government had control of the final product. During those years when Cuaron was a film student, he would make a trio of short films during his tenure as one of them in a short called Vengeance is Mine had him kicked out of school. The short, that was co-directed with Carlos Marcovich featured camera work by a young cameraman that would become one of Cuaron’s key collaborators in cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki.

Quartet for the End of Time


During his period as a film student, Cuaron made a 24-minute short entitled Cuarteto Para el Fin del Tiempo (Quartet for the End of Time) about a lonely man who rarely goes out as his only friends are a goldfish and little turtle. The black-and-white short was made in the early 80s would feature a trademark of Cuaron’s later work in long tracking shots that would follow the film’s protagonist. The short was rarely seen until 2006 when it was included as an extra feature for the Criterion DVD release for Cuaron’s 1991 feature film debut Solo con Tu Pareja in 2006.

The three shorts that included Who’s He Anyway would have Cuaron work as an assistant director for various productions in film and TV. Most notably would the late 80s cult TV horror Hora Marcada with Emmanuel Lubezki working as a cameraman while Alfonso’s brother Carlos would write some episodes for the show. The show would also have Cuaron meet another young filmmaker named Guillermo del Toro as the two would collaborate on various episodes with del Toro providing makeup work for some of the episodes. Still, the two young filmmakers wanted to branch out into the world of filmmaking as they would support each other throughout their respective careers.



After the end of Hora Marcada in the late 80s, Cuaron still worked as an assistant director for various productions where he and his brother Carlos worked on a project that would become Cuaron’s first feature film. Entitled Solo con Tu Pareja (Love in the Time of Hysteria), the film centered around a womanizer who falls for his new stewardess neighbor while a spurned lover played a joke on him by claiming he has AIDS. Thanks to a production that got canceled, the Cuaron brothers got the funding they needed from the government who were unaware of what they were funding.

With a cast that would Daniel Giminez Cacho, who had previously worked with Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro on episodes of Hora Marcada, in the lead role of Tomas Tomas while playing the woman he falls for Clarissa would be telenovela star Claudia Ramirez whom Cuaron was involved with at the time. With Lubezki helping out to shoot the film and a young art director named Brigitte Broch, who would later help out Guillermo del Toro with his debut film Cronos and later become Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu’s regular production designer. The three would help create a visual palette that Cuaron would want for his debut film as they chose an array of greenish colors to help with the film’s look.

With Lubezki, and another up-and-coming cinematographer in second unit director Rodrigo Prieto, coming up with lighting schemes to add a dream-like look to the film’s interiors as well as broad exterior shots of Mexico City. Since the film is an AIDS comedy which was really unheard of at the time, Cuaron sought the influence of the comedies of Blake Edwards for the film’s humor while not wanting to go too far into slapstick. Notably as the Cuaron brothers wanted to take on the chauvinistic attitude towards AIDS at the time since there were a lot of prejudices in Mexico at the time.

Led by Cacho’s charismatic performance, the film would feature lots of images that would become some of Cuaron’s trademark such as the opening scene where Tomas is having sex with another woman. It’s Cuaron not wasting time to establish what is happening as well as who this man is. Since it’s likely that his womanizing will eventually get him trouble, it comes a very crucial time when he falls in love but does thing that makes him look more like an idiot in front of his dream girl. The humor is what makes the film stand out such as Tomas running down the stairs to get his paper while he’s naked or reading about a story of how an American woman accidentally killed her dog in a microwave. Notably in the latter where he and Clarissa try to kill themselves by putting their heads in the microwaves after she learned her boyfriend was cheating on her. It’s part of the quirky sense of humor that wasn’t seen much in Mexican films as the overall result is this amazing debut.

The film was released in 1991 in Mexico where the film wasn’t an initial success due to negative reviews from critics who didn’t like the film as well as an audience that found the film to be too middle class for their taste. Yet, it would be a younger audience that would help raise the film’s status where it would win the Ariel prize (Mexican equivalent of the Oscars) for Best Original Screenplay as well as a few nods. In the fall of that year, the film made its international premiere at the Toronto Film Festival as a surprise hit. The film would eventually get a U.S. release 15 years later that would later be followed by a prestigious DVD release from the Criterion Collection.

Fallen Angels-Murder Obliquely


The success of Solo con Tu Pareja would help start a new wave of Mexican cinema to emerge like Alfonso Arau’s Like Water for Chocolate, Jorge Fons’ Midaq Alley (that featured Salma Hayek), and Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos would reach beyond the world of Mexican as the films were being seen internationally. Among those that discovered this new wave was American filmmaker Sydney Pollack who asked Cuaron to take part in a neo-noir TV anthology series entitled Fallen Angels. The project would feature contributions from filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh, Agnieska Holland, and Peter Bogdanovich while top American movie stars like Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise would also direct an episode.

Cuaron’s contribution would be based from the works Cornell Woolrich’s novelette Violence entitled Murder Obliquely. With a script by Amanda Silver, the segment is about a woman who falls for a millionaire who is already in love with another woman. The segment would star Laura Dern, Alan Rickman, and Diane Lane as it is a classic noir story where a woman fights to win over a man who is dealing with this other woman’s newly married life. Yet, it is told through the perspective of Laura Dern’s character who is so infatuated with Rickman’s character while dealing with the Lane’s temptress character who Rickman is in love with. The segment features many of Cuaron’s visual touches such as his entrancing close-ups that is complemented by Lubezki’s lush cinematography.

The episode premiered in September of 1993 where it got good reviews while it earned a Cable ACE Award for Lubezki’s cinematography along with a Emmy nod for Laura Dern. Though the show only lasted two seasons on Showtime and only drew a cult audience, the episode is considered one of its best for the visual tone Cuaron created as well as paying true to the 1940s-1950s setting.



The buzz Cuaron had received from his first film and the work he did in Fallen Angels gave him the chance to make his first film with a major film studio in Warner Brothers. For his first studio project, Cuaron was attached to direct an adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess. The story was about a young girl who briefly lives at an all-girls school while her father is serving military duty until he’s lost at war where she has to work as a maid for the school. There, she relies on her imagination to deal with her harsh reality.

The story had been made into many film and TV movie adaptations with the most famous is a 1939 film version that was directed by Walter Lang and starred Shirley Temple. For the new version, Cuaron and screenwriters Richard LaGravenese and Elizabeth Chandler decided to do something different with the story while being faithful to the plot of the original story. The big change is setting it in the early 20th Century during World War I as well as emphasizing more on the fantasies the film’s protagonist Sara Crewes would tell to her friends at the school to keep their hopes up.

With Cuaron and Lubezki wanting to maintain the same kind of visual palette from their previous film for the color green. They collaborated with production designer Robert W. Welch III to create a dazzling look for the orphanage as well as early 20th Century New York City to help play out the colors along with more uses of yellow. For the fantasy scenes set in India, Cuaron and Lubezki brought in array of lighting schemes while having Liam Cunningham, who also plays Sara’s father, play the hero Sara is telling in these fantasy scenes.

While the cast would also include veteran actress Eleanor Bron as the cruel headmistress Miss Minchin along with a cameo appearance from famed character actor Vincent Schiavelli. The film would have Cuaron also work with young children for the film as Liesel Matthews played the role of Sara while Vanessa Lee Chester got the part of the school’s adolescent black maid Becky. Cuaron’s approach was to play out the innocence of the child as well as create a film that is helped by imagination vs. reality. Notably as it is made specifically for a family film audience that does more than what is expected in the genre.

The film was released in May of 1995 but poor promotion and playing against such blockbuster releases like Tony Scott’s Crimson Tide, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and Mel Gibson’s Braveheart made the film a commercial failure despite recouping $10 million against its $17 million budget. However, the film did manage to garner rave reviews from critics as the L.A. Film Critics Association awarded the film three prizes for Patrick Doyle’s score, its production design, and a New Generation prize to Cuaron along with getting 2nd place as best film of that year. Lubezki meanwhile, gained his first Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography while the art direction was also awarded with an Oscar nod. Through home video and TV airings, the film was able to be considered one of the finest family films of the 1990s as well as upping the buzz towards Cuaron.



With the success of Baz Luhrman’s 1996 modern update of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, 20th Century Fox wanted to repeat the success of updating a modern classic by asking Cuaron to helm an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. Cuaron takes the job as the screenplay would be written by Mitch Glazer as Cuaron would also involve himself in the screenplay. With renowned playwright and filmmaker David Mamet taking un-credited work for writing the film’s narration, the idea was to once again update Dickens’ story for a young audience.

With Lubezki helming the cinematography while music composer Patrick Doyle and editor Steven Weisberg decided to work with Cuaron again after previously collaborating with him on A Little Princess. Cuaron and his team decided to shoot the film almost entirely in Florida along with some work in New York City. Production designer Tony Burrough was asked to help create the ruined yet posh home of the Ms. Dinsmoor character to update the character of Miss Havisham for the original film.

The casting would prove to be big as Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow were selected to play the adult roles of Finn and Estella, respectively, while Anne Bancroft got the part of Ms. Dinsmoor. Along with Chris Cooper as Finn’s kind guardian Joe, the biggest coup was getting Robert de Niro in the role of the convict Abel Magwitch that is given a new name in Arthur Lustig. The changes to update the story would have the Finn character be this talented artist as the time span would run from the 1970s to the late 1990s. Notably as they brought in artist Francesco Clemente to create Finn’s artwork.

While Cuaron and Lubezki once again played to the rich green palette of their previous films, it was among one of the film’s highlights to play to the world that the Finn characters encounters in Florida while the photography would also go to much darker places in New York. Despite the promising of working with a great cast and getting some wonderful production value, the film turned out to have problems due to the screenplay. Largely because it focused too much on Finn’s desire to win over the cold-hearted Estella as it was among the many reasons for the film’s downfall.

Released in January of 1998, the film received mixed notices from critics who complained about some of the updated changes in the adaptation as well as its emphasis towards the romance rather than the other ideas Dickens’ book had. Though it made more than $50 million to be a modest box office hit while the visual look of the film was praised. Cuaron decided to retreat to Mexico following the film’s release wanting a break between projects.



After the disappointing reaction towards Great Expectation, Cuaron still found himself in the center of the Nuevo Cine Mexicano movement as the movement was starting to gain ground in 2000. Notably with the release of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Amores Perros where Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro helped out in the film’s international release while new changes were also emerging politically. The biggest is the end of the 71-year reign of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) where Vicente Fox became the country’s new president. Seeing the changes that is happening around his home country, Cuaron decided to create his next film by returning to Mexico.

Writing with his brother Carlos, the two created a project that would reflect the changing times of Mexico told from the perspective of two young teenage boys. Entitled Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too), the film would bend many genres as it tells the story of two teenage boys who go on a road trip through Mexico with a Spanish woman in her late 20s. The film would also feature narration told by Solo con Tu Pareja actor Daniel Giminez Cacho that would reveals bits about the lives of its characters as well as the changing times in Mexico as the film was set in 1999.

Gaining a new collaborator in Alex Rodriguez to help edit the film, Cuaron decided to for a very different approach for the visual layers of the film. Wanting to stray away from the lush green palette of his previous feature films, Cuaron and Emmanuel Lubezki decided to strip things down for a more dream-like yet naturalistic look to the film. Particularly to capture a lot of what is happening in Mexico from the numerous political protests that occur in Mexico City to the rural areas of the country. For the scenes in these more lower-middle class parts of Mexico, Cuaron and his crew aimed for a more cinema verite approach to capture a moment that is happening on screen such as small ceremonies or an old woman dancing at a restaurant.

It would be among the many things the film’s protagonists would encounter throughout the journey. For the casting, Cuaron decided to get two emerging actors from Mexico to play the roles of Tenoch Itrube and Julio Zapata. It would be in the form of two young telenovela actors in Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal, the latter of which just garnered some major attention for his work in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s 2000 film Amores Perros. For the role of the older Spanish woman Luisa, Maribel Verdu of Spain nabbed the role as it would become her international breakthrough.

With the film being a coming-of-age drama as well as a road film set against the changing times of 1999 Mexico where the PRI party’s reign in the Mexican government would end. Cuaron also wanted to create a film that pushed the boundaries of sexual content by actually showing full-frontal nudity and a more realistic depiction of sex. Notably as it features a scene of Tenoch and Julio masturbating on diving boards as one of them would ejaculate onto a pool as a drop of semen is shown underwater. Since the film revolves around two teenage boys and an older woman, a three-way is likely to happen as Cuaron also decides to take shots at Mexico’s chauvinistic attitude towards homosexuality.

Another major change to the film was Cuaron’s approach to music by taking on an actual film soundtrack instead of a score. With a mixture of ambient electronic music, Mexican alt-rock, traditional ranchero music, and other sorts of music. Cuaron and music supervisors Annette Fradera and Liza Richardson would create music that is heard as if they’re playing it on Julio’s sister’s station wagon along with some pieces played to set a mood. One key scene is the use of Marco Antonio Solis’ Si No Te Hubieras Ido in a very simple yet entrancing scene where Luisa is dancing while holding a shot full of tequila as both Tenoch and Julio are entranced. It’s where Cuaron is able to create a pure moment of cinematic magic with sound and image to express what these characters are feeling.

The film premiered in its native country in June of 2001 where it would become a major box office hit in Mexico. Though the film would gain controversy for its depiction of sex, it was hailed as landmark film as it get its international premiere at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Best Screenplay prize. The film would also gain a limited U.S. release where it received the dreaded NC-17 rating but was widely praised by critics as the film won various foreign film awards from the Independent Spirit Awards, the New York Film Critics Circle, and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The film also gave Alfonso and Carlos Cuaron an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay while making Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna international film stars.



After the worldwide success of Y Tu Mama Tambien, Cuaron found himself in favor with major film studios for any kind of project that was available. Yet, he would find himself be attached to one of the hottest film franchises of the 2000s in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. The story of an orphaned boy who discovers to be a wizard as he goes to a prestigious school of wizardry and witchcraft to learn how to become one while learning about his parents’ death in the hands of a dark wizard named Lord Voldemort. By the summer of 2003, Rowling had already released five acclaimed books of the seven-part series as there was high anticipation for the third film entitled Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban.

After American filmmaker Chris Columbus had helmed the previous two features to excellent reviews and being box office hits, Columbus decided to take a step back to produce the third film as many filmmakers were in line to direct the film including Cuaron’s friend Guillermo del Toro. Cuaron was in line though he admitted to not reading the books as until he finally did where he decided to helm the third film. The decision for Cuaron to take on the project was a delight to its novelist J.K. Rowling who had been a fan of Cuaron’s version of A Little Princess as well as Y Tu Mama Tambien.

While not being able to use most of his collaborators for the project including Emmanuel Lubezki, who was attached to various projects including Terrence Malick’s 2005 film The New World. Cuaron was able to attain the services of cinematographer Michael Seresin, who was famous for his work with Alan Parker, while working closely with production designer Stuart Craig to give the film a look that was different than its predecessor. Changing some of the designs for the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft as well as wanting to find ways to make the computerized visual effects more realistic. Notably in the use of puppets as he teamed with Basil Twist to help create the kind of movements needed for the dark creatures known as Dementors.

Since the film would be about Harry Potter discovering about the man who had betrayed his parents to Lord Voldemort, Cuaron and screenwriter Steve Kloves decided to go for a different approach to the story. Notably in focusing on Harry’s friendship with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger as well as the mystery surrounding the fugitive named Sirius Black who is later revealed to be Harry’s godfather. With Columbus’ films having a very faithful although pedestrian approach to the filmmaking, Cuaron decided to loosen things up as he worked closely with the young actors while letting them be much looser in their performances.

Since the film was also going to have changes by having Michael Gambon replace the late Richard Harris as Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore while veteran British actors Emma Thompson and David Thewlis joined the franchise in their respective roles as Divinations Professor Sybill Trelawney and Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Remus Lupin. It would the addition of Gary Oldman as Sirius Black that would add to the newness of the story as Cuaron would also add some eccentric humor to the film including an opening scene of Harry playing with his wand to the bedazzlement of his magic-hating uncle.

Released in May of 2004 in the U.K. and a U.S. release four days later, the film drew rave reviews with critics while becoming a major hit in the box office. Though the film would receive lots of criticism from Harry Potter purists over the changes Cuaron made as well as material that got left out. It would later be cited as one of the best film of the series for the way Cuaron was able to do something different with the franchise as it garnered two Oscar nods for John Williams’ score and its visual effects while winning an Audience prize from the BAFTAs.



For the 2006 anthology film Paris Je T’aime, Cuaron would be among a group of many filmmakers to present 18 short films set in the city of Paris. With a group of filmmakers as diverse like the Coen Brothers, Alexander Payne, Tom Tykwer, Sylvain Chomet, Gus Van Sant, Walter Salles, Wes Craven, and many others. Cuaron joined the project as he teamed with Prisoner of Azkaban cinematographer Michael Seresin and editor Alex Rodriguez to create their short. While Parc Monceau was the most stylized short that was shot in one continuous take as it revolved around an older man, played by Nick Nolte, walking with a younger woman, played by Ludivine Sagnier, to meet with someone named Gaspar.

While it is a short that is quite weak compared to others due to its lack of plot, it’s sense of style is what makes it standout from the rest. Notably as it reveals a very surprising pay-off towards the end. It also proved that Cuaron was able to do things by showing posters for the works of other filmmakers of the project to exemplify that he’s a fan and it’s all about the bigger picture.



For his sixth feature film, Cuaron decides to return to Britain to create a very different film from his previous work. This time, it would be in an adaptation by taking on P.D. James’ dystopian novel The Children of Men. Set in 2027 London where women are unable to give birth setting for the world to collapse as chaos ensues in Britain. There, a former activist has to take a young woman who is revealed to be pregnant to a shelter only to deal with revolutionaries who want the woman for their own political reasons.

The project had been in the making for years as Cuaron had been attached to it since 2001 as it went through many writing stages during its development. First, it was written by Paul Chart and then re-written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby. Though Cuaron chose not to read the novel, he and screenwriter Timothy J. Sexton decided to do more work on re-writing the script with Sexton reading the book for guidance. What would end up would be this very harrowing story of a man trying to save this pregnant woman to ensure the future of humanity without any kind of selfish motivations whether its political or capital.

The casting for the film would prove to be big as Cuaron was able to gain a massive ensemble that led by Clive Owen as it also included Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, Danny Huston, newcomer Claire-Hope Ashitey, Peter Mullan, Prisoner of Azkaban co-star Pam Ferris, and Michael Caine. Since the film is set in Britain and Cuaron wanted to go for a film that was a bit futuristic and out of control. Notably by creating a place where the poor is very poor as they live in shantytowns, the rich lives well while the middle class live dreary but stable lives. Cuaron wanted to establish a world that is about to explode.

Since the film was going to be a road film of sorts like Y Tu Mama Tambien where Clive Owen’s Theo character has to help out this young pregnant woman. Cuaron wanted to go for something where things are set in real time where things are out of control. That meant creating scenes in long takes such as the film’s opening scene where Theo is introduced as he walks out of a café that later explodes. Other scenes include the intense scene where Theo and various characters are in a car where they encounter rioters as there’s a camera inside that is constantly moving around though the film’s DVD release reveals how that scene is made.

One of the film’s key crucial moments involves an eight-minute shot where a battle is going on where Theo and Claire-Hope Ashitey’s Kee character are trying to walk through this intense fight where there’s blood on the camera while Kee is carrying the baby. Through Cuaron’s direction, Lubezki’s stark yet gorgeous cinematography, and Richard Beggs’ brooding sound design. It’s a scene that is filled with amazing suspense as if it was done in a cinema verite style where a lot is happening where the audience is part of this battle that is going on as they’re trying to evade the gunshots and explosions around them. It’s a moment where Cuaron would truly confirm his stature as one of the most thrilling filmmakers of his time.

The film premiered at the 2006 Venice Film Festival in September with a limited U.S. release later that December. The film became a huge critical and commercial hit for Cuaron as it also nabbed two Oscar nominations for its visual effects and Lubezki’s cinematography. The film’s success was even more important as it would prove to be a landmark year for Mexican cinema as Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Babel garnered several Oscar nods including Best Picture while Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth won three Oscars as well as a nomination for Best Foreign-Language film. For Cuaron, the film’s success elevated him as one of the world’s best filmmakers.



Following the release of Children of Men in 2006, Cuaron was involved with several small projects including a documentary short called The Possibility of Hope that was released for the Children of Men DVD and in 2009, co-wrote and produced a short that he directed by his Jonas based on Naomi Klein’s book The Shock Doctrine. With Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Cuaron formed a production company called Cha Cha Cha films that produced his brother Carlos’ first feature film entitled Rudo y Cursi that starred Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna.

It was around this six-year gap between films that Cuaron was attached to several projects that went through development issues including a film about the turmoil of student movement in Mexico of 1968. Other projects that Cuaron is attached to that might come out in 2013 and beyond is a collaboration animation project with Marjane Satrapi, Emir Kusturica, and Michel Gondry entitled Tales from the Hanging Head and a romantic film he co-wrote with Jonas entitled A Boy and His Shoe. These possible projects will have to wait as Cuaron will finally return with his sci-fi film entitled Gravity.

The story of a survivor from outer space who is desperately trying to get home to her daughter is a film that is likely to recall some of the themes of innocence previously told in a film like A Little Princess. Yet, it is also set to be different as it’s Cuaron’s most ambitious project to date as it will star George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. The project is written by Cuaron, his son Jonas, and Colombian filmmaker Rodrigo Garcia as it will also feature dual cinematography work from Emmanuel Lubezki and Michael Seresin. The latter of which, is filling for Lubezki as he’s currently working on various film projects for Terrence Malick. While there remains no still or promotional photos set, it is a film that is carried with a large degree of anticipation due to its star power, premise, and the buzz that Cuaron has had in the past few years.

Through the six features he’s made and a new one on the way, Alfonso Cuaron is among one of the top filmmakers who can work in a Hollywood film system while attaining certain kinds of freedom few filmmakers can have in that system. While is also someone who can do projects that are very different while carry similar themes about growing up, facing some sort of sexual revelation, ambition, or trying to change the world in some strange way. It’s one of the reasons why there’s a group of people that hold Alfonso Cuaron in high regard. It’s because he’s one of those filmmakers who is willing to take the extra step into telling a story and make it into a true, worthwhile experience that isn’t seen much in today’s commercial-driven cinema.

© thevoid99 2012

Thursday, May 03, 2012

Children of Men


Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 1/7/07 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.


Based on P.D. James' novel The Children of Men, Children of Men is the story of a dystopian United Kingdom in 2027 where a man tries to save mankind's extinction from infertility by trying to help a young pregnant woman from political radicals and others. Directed by Alfonso Cuaron and screenplay by Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby, the film is a dystopian sci-fi drama where the world is in danger by declining population and infertility where a man tries to bring hope. Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Charlie Hunnam, Claire-Hope Ashitey, Pam Ferris, Peter Mullan, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Danny Huston. Children of Men is a brilliant yet harrowing film from Alfonso Cuaron.

Following the death of the youngest person living on Earth named Diego (Juan Gabriel Yacuzzi) at 18 years old, total has erupted in totalitarian Britain as a former activist named Theo (Clive Owen) goes to an unsecured countryside to meet an eccentric scientist named Jasper (Michael Caine). Still mourning the loss of his son years ago, Theo has given up activism until he was kidnapped by a group of radicals led by his wife Julian (Julianne Moore) and her cohorts Luke (Chiwetel Ejifor) and Patric (Charlie Hunnam). Julian wants some transfer papers for a person to get around the immigration camps as Theo asks his cousin Nigel (Danny Huston) for help since he's a government official though Nigel warns him about the chaos that is to happen from immigrants and anarchists. Theo ends up getting a different kind of transfer paper as he, Julian, Luke, and a midwife accompany a young woman named Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) to a drive through the country to reach a mythical ship where a group of scientists are trying to find the cure to end infertility.

Instead, things go wrong during the trip where Theo had to return to a remote farm as Luke takes over. Theo learns that Kee is pregnant with a child as she reluctantly makes the decision to stay with Luke to not make any risks. When Theo learns what Luke and Patric are really doing, he decides to take Kee and Miriam away from the farm as they hide out in Jasper's place. With Jasper's help, they learn that a ship called Tomorrow is the project that will hope to end fertility with Kee as the thing they need. With Theo, Miriam, and Kee go into Jasper's car to the sea while Jasper holds off Luke, the trio continue onto their road trip as they meet Jasper's contact in a man named Syd (Peter Mullan) who sends them to the immigration camps to hide where Kee starts to feel contractions. At the camp, things become troubling forcing Kee and Theo to make their way through the decayed British ghettos where they meet a gypsy named Marchika (Oana Pellea) who reveals that Theo and Kee are fugitives. With trouble brewing as radicals and governments are fighting, Theo and Kee try to find way to get to a boat and evade those that are trying to find them.

Though dystopian ideals is nothing new, the idea of a world in a state of chaos itself due to the fact that there's no future is still something that is scary. What Alfonso Cuaron and his writers bring is the idea that a world where no children is going to come to save mankind as the world is on the brink of collapse as hope finally arrives. Yet, the film's themes of dystopia is really the background in which the film is about a man's revitalized activism takes hold as he tries to save a young woman in having her child that could save the world from the government and those with political motives against the government. The result is truly an intense, harrowing film that Cuaron brings. While the script is filled with provocative tales of science, humanity, and politics, its his direction that brings weight to the film's themes and images.

While Cuaron does add a little bit of humor in terms of dialogue and a few references (including one for fans of Pink Floyd), he still maintains the idea of Britain in a bleak state where the world is in chaos. Some of the film's intense scenes are shot with hand-held cameras with little moments of sunshine to reveal the brief, serene peace of Britain with most of it still shivering with its grey, morose look. Cuaron also doesn't sugarcoat the brutality of totalitarian Britain where officers will kill people, immigrants or not, depending on what's going on as citizens are being watched left and right. The drama and development of characters are true to the situation they're in as it's really Theo's story and how he tries to do right despite his own flaws and idealism. There's even a moment that amidst the brutality in one of the film's fighting, battle sequences where a moment of peace and realism occur into how absurd everything is and it is brief. It is there where in Cuaron's direction, that the film has a moment that can't be replicated into any other film and it's truly an idea that can be felt among its audience.

Helping Cuaron in his visual presentation is his longtime cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. Fresh off from shooting Terrence Malick's 2005 film, The New World, Cuaron goes from the beauty of Malick's historical revision of 17th Century Virginia to the bleak futurism of Britain in the 21st Century. Lubezki's lighting and grey vision really adds nuance and atmosphere to every frame where in the interior settings, he brings little amounts of artificiality to bring a realism while his exterior shots are exquisite. To the brief moments of sun to the shade of green and grey in other sequences that reveals Britain in a new light where it's not tinted or given any kind of style. It looks and feels real as Lubezki does incredible work with its look.

Production designers Jim Clay and Geoffrey Kirkland along with visual effects supervisors Frazer Churchill and Timothy Webber did amazing work in recreating futuristic London and Britain with graffiti on the walls plus buildings and bridges that are created by some visual effects to convey the sense of decay of the future. Costume designer Jany Temime also does great work in the costumes of its cast where there's no flashy, bright clothing as everything looks contemporary and dark. Cuaron and editor Alex Rodriguez do some excellent work in the editing in bringing a nice, rhythmic pace to the film's intense scenes while bringing some long shots to convey the action where no cuts were involved. Sound designer Richard Beggs does amazing work in the sound with his sound mixes of battle scenes and screaming along with moments of serenity to convey the atmosphere. Beggs work in this along with Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antoinette are the highlights in the year of sound for film.

The film's score is largely ambient and operatic from composer John Tavener that adds the sense of melancholia and drabness of the world while the film's soundtrack is wonderfully diverse. With cuts by Radiohead, King Crimson, John Lennon, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, the Libertines, Roots Manuva, Aphex Twin, Digital Mystikz, and a great cover of the Rolling Stones' Ruby Tuesday by Franco Battiato. The soundtrack adds punch to the film's political feel as it's provided in the scenes with Michael Caine who is a hippie with some great taste in music. It's truly one of the year's best soundtracks.

The film's cast is wonderfully assembled with small performances by Juan Gabriel Yacuzzi, Philippa Urquhart as Jasper's catatonic wife, Oana Paella, and Paul Sharma as Ian, a cohort of Luke's. Charlie Hunnam is pretty funny as the psychotic Patric while Danny Huston gives an excellent performance in the one scene he has with Clive Owen. Peter Mullan brings a comical performance as the corrupt cop Syd who has some hilarious one-liners as a man who helps Theo despite his own motives. Pam Ferris of Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban fame is very impressive as the midwife Miriam whose knowledge of births and history of the infertility epidemic is important to the plot as Ferris is amazing while sporting cool dreadlocks. Julianne Moore is good in her role as Theo's ex-wife Julian who hopes to reconnect with Theo as Moore brings realism and drive to her character who helps revitalize Theo's activism. Chiwetel Ejiofor is excellent as radical Luke who isn't a total villain but whose political motives make him a complex character who wants to do the right thing but is addled with the idea of no future as he's a character who is forced to make sacrifices for his own reasons.

Michael Caine is brilliant as the eccentric, witty hippie-scientist Jasper who always brings a "pull-my-finger" joke whenever the film needed it. Caine brings a wonderful sense of humor and warmth to the film as he's the man who acts like a father figure to Owen's Theo character. Claire-Hope Ashiey is amazing in her performance as Kee, the young woman who is aware of her role as she tries to maintain her pride while knowing that she doesn't trust anyone other than Miriam and Theo. Ashitey is really the film's most breakthrough performance. Finally, there's Clive Owen in another magnificent performance. Owen really shows his depth as a man on the brink of acceptance of his own disillusioned role when he's thrust back into the world of activism. Owen really adds a bit of humor and heart to the character as he becomes an unlikely father figure to Ashitey in which, they have great chemistry together. If there's anyone, aside from Ashitey, that is the highpoint of the cast, it's Clive Owen.

***Additional DVD Content Written from 4/30/12-5/2/12***

The 2007 Region 1 DVD for Children of Men from Universal presents the film in an anamorphic widescreen format to preserve a 1:85:1 theatrical aspect ratio with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround Sound in English, Spanish, and French with Spanish and French subtitles along with English for the hearing impaired. The DVD includes various special features to coincide with the film’s DVD release.

The first big one is a twenty-seven minute documentary short film directed by Alfonso Cuaron entitled The Possibility of Hope. It’s a documentary about the possible end of the world due to many things including globalization and policing borders. With comments from various philosophers and scientists including Slavoj Zizek and Naomi Klein, the documentary film is filled with footage of a world in chaos and the idea that things might not get better but there’s also a semblance of hope that might happen. It’s a very compelling piece from Cuaron that unveils the idea of what might happen if things do go bad like in Children of Men.

Other features includes three deleted scenes that total for nearly two-and-a-half minutes that includes a small scene of Theo giving a homeless man a cigarette while an immigrant is getting illegal dental work, a scene of Theo being confronted by his landlord about rent, and a scene where Theo talks to Arthur that got cut from the final film. The six-minute interview with Slavoj Zizek has the poltical/social commentator discuss the film’s themes and why he thinks it is an important film for the way it plays the world in a state of chaos. He also compares the film to Y Tu Mama Tambien as they’re both road movies with backdrops of a world changing.

The seven-minute, thirty-five second Under Attack featurette is an in-depth look of how the filming was made for two of the film’s intense action scenes including the car scene where Theo, Julian, Kee, Luke, and Miriam encounter rioters and the opening scene where a café blows up. Cuaron, Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and crew members reveal how some of it was done while in the car scene. A camera was made above the car to slide and spin around to capture everything that is happening while where’s a driver in front of the car that is unseen while a small crew is up there. It’s truly a wonderful look for those wondering how these scenes are done.

The four-minute, thirty-nine second Theo & Julian featurette discuss the two characters and their development where Cuaron, Owen, and Moore revel into the character’s history and why their story is important to the main plot of the film in relation to Owen’s character. The eight-minute, thirty-seven second Futuristic Design is about the making of the film’s art direction where Cuaron and his team of set designers and costume designer Jany Temime discuss what needed to be done. They wanted to aim a very realistic look while creating shantytowns that was unheard of since England is cold and never had such a thing. The three-minute featurette on how the birth scene is made is shown just as the scene is playing from the way it was originally filmed to the final additions made in the visual effects. The overall DVD is superb for the special features is added while actually providing something that is worth the money for this film’s home video release.

***End of DVD Tidbits***

Children of Men is a sprawling, intense, and harrowing film from Alfonso Cuaron. With a great cast led by Clive Owen, Claire-Hope Ashitey, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Pam Ferris, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and a great crew led by cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. This is truly one of 2006's best films as Cuaron continues to delve into different film genres and such. Along with fellow Mexican auteur Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel, Cuaron brings a unique vision to the world and how messed up it is whether it's in the present or in the future. In the end, Children of Men is a film that must not be missed by those who love dystopian imagery.


© thevoid99 2012

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Y Tu Mama Tambien



Directed by Alfonso Cuaron and written by Alfonso and Carlos Cuaron, Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too) is the story of two teenage boys who go on a road trip through Mexico with a Spanish woman in her late 20s. There, the young boys deal with the rules they have created as they fall for this woman as they all try to reach a secret beach. The film is a coming-of-age film of sorts set in 1999 Mexico where the political landscape was changing. With narration by Daniel Gimenez Cacho, the film stars Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, Andreas Almeida, Ana Lopez Mercado, Maria Aura, and Maribel Verdu. Y Tu Mama Tambien is a dreamy yet powerful road drama from Alfonso Cuaron.

With their girlfriends Ana (Ana Lopez Mercado) and Cecilia (Maria Aura) leaving for a trip to Europe, their respective boyfriends in Tenoch Iturbide (Diego Luna) and Julio Zapata (Gael Garcia Bernal) figure out what to do for the summer. Hanging out with their friend Saba (Andreas Almeida), the two have no idea what to do as they become bored until Tenoch’s sister is getting married as his father is a high-ranking government official. With the middle-class Julio also attending, the two meet up with a beautiful woman from Spain named Luisa (Maribel Verdu) whose novelist/professor husband Jano (Juan Carlos Remolina) is Tenoch’s cousin. After chatting with Luisa about a mysterious beach called la Boca del Cielo (Heaven’s Mouth), the two decide if they want to go to that beach.

After learning that Jano had been cheating on her, Luisa decides to go to the beach with Tenoch and Julio as they borrow Julio’s sister station wagon for this long road trip. There, Luisa learns about the boys’ manifesto that is filled with lots of rules as they drive through rural parts of Mexico as Luisa is still hurt over Jano’s confession. After the car’s radiator gets overheated as they stop in a town, the depressed Luisa would have sex with Tenoch to Julio’s confusion where makes a startling confession. Things start to get tense between the two friends as Luisa would also have sex with Julio where Tenoch would also make a confession driving a wedge between the two friends.

After Luisa eases the tension and taking over, the three finally land on a beach where they meet a fisherman named Chuy (Silverio Palacios) and his family who takes them to la Boca del Cielo where they hang out with his family and have a great time. There, the three would ultimately have the time of their lives while the two boys would face an uncertain future in the trip‘s aftermath.

The film is essentially a road drama where two teenage boys and an older woman travel through Mexico to go to a mysterious beach as they would deal with personal issues about themselves while the friendship of the boys is also tested by temptation and startling confessions. Throughout this coming-of-age journey through rural Mexico, there’s a lot that is happening around them told through a narrator who reveals bits about the lives of the characters as well as the surroundings where things are changing.

The screenplay that Alfonso and Carlos Cauron creates is a story that bends genres where it’s a coming-of-age film of sorts with elements of the road movie as well as a melodrama of sorts that concerns the character of Lucia who is dealing with a lot of things including her husband’s infidelity. It’s also a film about sex where Tenoch and Julio each have girlfriends but neither of them are very experienced as indicated by their many rules including their own sexual moments with Lucia. During this journey, the friendship between Tenoch and Julio starts to disintegrate because they each broke the rules that they and their other friends made. By the time they arrive at the beach and things seem to calm down between the three, there is an uncertainty over what will happen.

The screenplay also succeeds in not just creating characters that are very interesting as well as flawed but also manage to find a way to utilize the narration to be part of the story. Notably as it unveils some details into the lives of its characters while providing insight to the places the main characters encounter. Some of it involves a lot of the political changes that is surrounding Mexico as the film is set in 1999 as its penultimate scene reveals the end of the PRI party reign. Throughout the narration and the dialogue of the character, there is also an element where the Cuaron brothers take shots at the chauvinistic attitude towards homosexuality. Notably as Tenoch and Julio reveal that one of their friends is gay and they have a hard time dealing with it because homosexuality was sort of frowned upon in Mexico at that time. It’s a very complex and drawn-out script that does a lot while not straying into conventional ideas of drama.

Cuaron’s direction is truly entrancing in the way he presents the film through its wandering images and uncompromising ideas towards sex. Notably as the film opens with Tenoch and his girlfriend having sex as they make a vow to not stray into their relationship. Cuaron doesn’t shy away from the fact that the sex will be open and exposed though it doesn’t stray too far into explicit content. Plus, it’s presented with humor as there’s a scene of Tenoch and Julio masturbating on diving boards where a shot of semen is dropped onto the pool. It’s among the many uncompromising ideas Cuaron wants to display in his approach to sex as well as making it feel real.

Since the film is shot on location in various place of Mexico, there is a cinema verite style to the shoot as it includes a lot of hand-held camera work to get into some crowd scenes or smaller moments in the rural parts of Mexico to focus on something that is actually happening. Notably as the camera is always there to exemplify the beauty that is Mexico from its poorest areas to the rich parties such as Tenoch’s sister’s wedding where the Mexican president is present. Overall, Cuaron creates a truly delightful and hypnotic road film that bends various genres and gives a very uncompromising approach towards sex.

Cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki does amazing work with the film‘s rich cinematography that is filled with amazing natural lights for many of the film‘s daytime exterior shots and locations including the beach along with some gorgeous lighting schemes for some of its nighttime interior shots. Editor Alex Rodriguez, with Cuaron, does excellent work with the editing to play up some the rhythm of some of the film‘s sex scenes as well as hilarious comic montages involving Tenoch and Julio that doesn‘t delve into fast-cuts by emphasizing on a more methodical approach to the pacing. Production designers Marc Bedia and Miguel Angel Alvarez, with set decorator Roberto Loera and co-art director Diana Quiroz, do superb work with the set pieces such as the posh home of Tenoch‘s family to the middle-class home of Julio‘s family with some of the set pieces like a local ceremony Tenoch, Julio, and Luisa encounter.

Costume designer Gabriela Diaque does wonderful work with the costumes from the casual clothing of its characters to the gorgeous white dress that Luisa wears at the wedding party. Sound designer Ruy Garcia does fantastic work with the sound from the atmosphere of the parties to the intimate sounds of the beach locations the characters are at. Music supervisors Annette Fradera and Liza Richardson do brilliant work in creating a music soundtrack that mixes to various genres. From low-key ambient pieces from Brian Eno, Bran Van 3000, Miho Hatori, and Natalie Imbruglia to wild alternative Mexico music from Café Tacuba and Molotov with Dub Pistols. Along with music by Eagle Eye Cherry covering the Bee Gees and Senor Coconut covering Kraftwerk, there’s also ranchero music and a wonderful ballad by Marco Antonio Solis in one of the film’s key moments. Playing in the closing credits is the soaring Watermelon in Easter Hay by Frank Zappa.

The casting by Manuel Teil is incredible for the cast that is assembled as it features appearances from Emilio Echevarria as Tenoch’s dad, Diana Bracho as Tenoch’s mother, Juan Carlos Remolina as Luisa’s husband Jano, and Silverio Palacios as the Campos-loving fisherman Chuy. Other notable roles include Ana Lopez Mercado and Maria Aura as the respective girlfriends of Tenoch and Julio in Ana and Cecilia. The film’s funniest performance comes from Andreas Almeida as Tenoch and Julio’s stoner friend Saba who always likes to get high and be cool with the people.

Maribel Verdu is phenomenal as Luisa, the wife of Tenoch’s cousin who is dealing with her own existential issues as well as her husband’s infidelity as she goes on a trip to escape while teaching the young boys how to seduce women as it’s a very entrancing yet mesmerizing performance from the Spanish actress. Finally, there’s Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna in outstanding performances in their respective roles of Julio and Tenoch. With Bernal as the middle class Julio and Luna as the more posh Tenoch, the two bring a lot of humor and energy to their characters as well as a sense of humility when the two betray each other. In the scenes they have with Verdu, the chemistry between the three is engaging and intoxicating in the way they play each other out as they all give very lively performances.

***Additional Text Relating to DVD Releases Written from 12/31/14-1/4/15***

The 2002 Region 1 DVD for the film presents it in its 1:85:1 theatrical aspect ratio in 16x9 widescreen enhanced for widescreen televisions with 5.1 Surround Sound in Spanish with English subtitles. The special features on the DVD include a TV spot and a trailer for the film’s U.S. release as a feature-length audio commentary track from actors Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, and Andres Almeida. The commentary is in Spanish where one of its drawbacks is that the commentary doesn’t feature subtitles yet it is quite humorous and lively for the fact that they talk about sex and aspects on the film’s production. The special features also includes 4-minutes of three deleted scenes from the film as two of them are scenes set on the road where they meet an old man and another where Tenoch, Julio, and Lucia talk about sex. The third deleted scene involves a scene where Cecilia tries to give Julio a hand job on their way to the airport.

Two other major special features on the DVD release is a 23-minute making-of documentary on the film as it’s one of the most enjoyable and in-depth looks into making the film. It’s a documentary that explores some of the elements of fun in making the film as well as a few pranks Alfonso Cuaron and his crew would do on Maribel Verdu because she is Spanish and the film is set on location in Mexico. Other things on the documentary involve some of the antics involving Cuaron and producer Jorge Vergara as it’s a very lively and fun making-of doc to watch. The final major special feature is a short film by Carlos Cuaron entitled Me La Debes (You Owe Me One) as this 12-minute short revolves a man returning home unaware that his daughter’s boyfriend is in the house while the man is having an affair with his maid. It’s a very funny short that plays into the world of sex from Carlos Cuaron.

The 2014 Region 1/Region A 2-disc DVD/1-disc Blu-Ray dual-disc release from the Criterion Collection presents the film in a brand new 2k digital transfer for its original 1:85:1 theatrical aspect ratio under the supervision of Cuaron and cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki. Along with a newly remastered 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound in Spanish with newly improved English subtitles translation as the film looks and sounds more beautiful in its new remastered presentation. The DVD set retains not just the TV spots, the trailers, the deleted scenes, the making-of documentary, and Carlos Cuaron’s short from the 2002 MGM DVD all in remastered form. It also includes two new special features relating to the film.

The first is a 52-minute section of interviews as it features 11-minutes of old interviews with the Cuaron brothers, Lubezki, Bernal, Luna, and Verdu during its production in 2001. Alfonso talks about the genesis of the idea dating back to the early 90s before he would helm his first feature in Solo con tu Pareja in 1991 as it took years to get the project going. The cast and crew talked about the production while Bernal and Luna talked about their longtime friendship and how they often competed for their roles. Lubezki also discusses his collaboration with Cuaron which dates back to the mid-80s as they both were yearning to evolve in their collaboration. The 2014 41-minute interviews with the same personnel, minus Lubezki, discuss about the film and how it evolved during the production as Bernal and Luna talked about their audition process as the former suggested the latter to Alfonso who was reluctant about hiring Luna because he was a soap star at the time. The biggest coup in the production was getting Verdu on board as she was a major star in Spain as Verdu talked about her experiences as well as the fact that Bernal, Luna, and Alfonso were all fighting each other to get her attention.

She also talked about the slang in the film and Cuaron’s approach to improvisation which she found freeing as an actress. Cuaron also talks about a lot of the film’s influences which were primarily films of Jean-Luc Godard and the French New Wave which inspired the film’s narration. It’s a very amazing interview segment that includes some rare onset photos as well as to see the cast and crew be quite upbeat about the film and its legacy. The nine-minute interview with philosopher Slavoj Zizek about the film’s political/social commentary on the film is a very enjoyable interview where Zizek discusses a lot of the film’s approach to narrative and why it shot Mexico as it is. Some of Zizek’s comments are quite humorous while playing into the main story about Tenoch and Julio as they each represent different classes and political backgrounds as it relates to some of the events that was happening in Mexico. Yet, Zizek also plays into the theme of maturity and how bitter it can be since the idea of change isn’t something easy to accept.

The DVD features a booklet that features an essay by film critic Charles Taylor of the Yale Review in an essay titled Dirty Happy Things. Taylor’s essay explores much of the film’s sexual content but also the theme of maturity that parallels with the sense of change that would emerge in Mexico. Taylor discusses the film with Cuaron’s other films in how they’re all related as well as discuss some of the political context that is in the background in the film. It’s a very engaging essay that understands the film as a road trip, a coming-of-age film, a political film, and a romantic film. The dual-disc set features character bios by Alfonso and Carlos Cuaron on the three principle characters that explores much of their background as it would be used in the film’s final product. The DVD/Blu-Ray set is definitely one of the finest additions to the Criterion Collection it deserves its place to be among the list of great films in that home video series.

***End of DVD Tidbits***

Y Tu Mama Tambien is marvelous yet evocative film from Alfonso Cuaron featuring top-notch performances from Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, and Maribel Verdu. The film is definitely not just one of the best films to come out of Mexico but also one of the great international film treasures from the last decade. It’s a film that show Cuaron being fearless in his depiction towards sexuality without going too far as well as a very human drama about a road trip that would be unforgettable. In the end, Y Tu Mama Tambien is an extraordinarily rich and intoxicating film from Alfonso Cuaron.


© thevoid99 2012