One of the most anticipated films this year has to be Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity, which became part of the unending hype machine that is Comic-Con over the weekend. The film’s star, Sandra Bullock, came out to Hall H for the first time, along with Alfonso Cuaron and the film’s producer David Heyman. What’s clear from the outset is that Gravity is going to be about two things – the internal journey of the film’s main character – Bullock, whose part is going to be that rare creature in Hollywood that won’t have her sleeping with someone to justify her existence. Gravity is going to be about what happens as she become unattached to anything that can safely bring her back to earth, to the people she knows and loves, to the life she has built so far.
The footage, which had Hall H whipped up into a frenzy (though nothing like the news that Batman and Superman are going to be in a movie together) gave the audiences a taste of what Cuaron is doing this time around – and that includes two things he holds close to his heart: his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut (which he hands over to Bullock) and his desire to test his limits as an artist by utilizing long, extended takes. The best of those have been catalogued by film geeks for years – like, Hitchock’s Rope, like Orson Welles’ A Touch Evil, like Scorsese’s Goodfellas. Gravity will feature many of these. What we saw is much like what’s in the trailer only longer and more terrifying. The movie will be almost entirely dependent on Bullock’s performance and the visual effects.
For those who prematurely predict Gravity will win Visual Effects are probably right, even if the effects on Pacific Rim are mind-blowing – story tends to matter more, even where effects are concerned. It’s too early to say whether it’s a contender for Best Picture but I feel fairly confident that Bullock, along with Cate Blanchett, and Julie Delpy, are right at the top of the pile for Best Actress at the moment. Bullock and Blanchett completely carry their films. Whether they will be considered “hot” enough or whether Oscar voters will fall in love with them, as they often do when they award these prizes, is not known. But Oscar or not, these are great roles for actresses.
Gravity’s message came through loud and clear from the panel at Comic-Con and the press conference afterwards – the movie is really about appreciating the oh so very brief time you have left. When you are about to lose everything you hold dear, suddenly even the things you hate become precious to you.
The hype and chaos of Comic-Con tends to warp things way out of proportion. Most of the time, the hype barely lasts through the summer. But Cuaron and Bullock are making Gravity for reasons other than to create a tentpole with a subsequent sequel and reboot and blah blah blah. That alone makes it exciting. It will open the Venice Film Fest by the end of the summer and then we’ll have a better idea of how it will play.
