Gravity – An experience to cherish!

No, it’s not a critical dissection of the film because I am not eligible or educated enough to do so. After I watched Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity, I felt very inconsequential of the things I have been doing. So, I thought of penning down my experience of the film in a few words and how deep impact it had me on and my senses. I wonder why I liked Gravity so much, the answer is so many reasons “The creation of silence, the masterful reality of space, the visual effects, the brilliant performances, the nerve racking nail-biting drama and the list just goes on…”

In India Gravity had a limited release this week only in IMAX; next week it will be released across all the multiplexes in 3D and normal screens.  However in the US, the film had a gigantic release this week with innumerable shows in IMAX 3D, Real 3D and normal screens. I have been following Gravity for quite a while ever since the mind boggling first trailer came out. I didn’t know it will be good or bad but it was something I had never seen in a film before, the fascinating exploration of space on such a massive scale. Then, the film was screened in North America in Telluride Film Festival and it opened to a spectacular response with everyone considering at a strong Oscar contender this year alongside 12 Years a Slave. Few of my acquaintances who watched the film in Telluride just couldn’t stop praising about the film and that made me more restless. And then James Cameron said “I was stunned, absolutely floored. I think it’s the best space photography ever done, I think it’s the best space film ever done, and it’s the movie I’ve been hungry to see for an awful long time.”

As a film buff, I have always been more passionate about the whole concept of film-making than just mere worshiping of stars. For me, a brilliant and honest film is about the vision of a film-maker, a journey that starts with the inception of an idea and ends with presenting it in front of the audience across the globe. In between lies days and months of hard work, dedication, pushing yourself and thriving to do something extraordinarily different which no one has ever dared to dream. And to give your vision a reality, you need to have a great team who will have a faith on your dream and will be your strongest support system from day one till the post production is complete. I have read few articles ever since I watched Gravity to understand the background story behind the film and I came to know about some fascinating details which I can stop sharing. The original idea came from Cuaron’s son Jonas and the father-son duo co-wrote the script after extensive research and study and it took four and a half years to turn their dream to reality. Before actually working on the project, Cuaron and his cinematographer Lubezki would just spent days after days to create the appropriate visual effects. If you watch the film, you would understand how important the element “light” is in film-making.  Some days would just be just devastating where they would take only 3-4 shots of Sandra Bullock floating inside a cube with the projections of the earth and entire galaxy all around.. But that’s what film making is, that’s how you create a ground breaking cinematic experience which sometimes changes the definition of cinema.

I am fond of 3D technology but I don’t realize the logic behind most of the films which are being unnecessarily being made in 3D just for crowd pulling rather than actually utilizing the craft. So, I strongly supported Nolan when he decided not to make The Dark Knight series in 3D format because it made so much sense (read the full article about Nolan here). Then I watched Gravity and I realized the power of 3D, the mind blending brilliance of it and how it can change the vocabulary of film-making in years to come. Gravity must be watched in 3D (if not IMAX 3D) and as Cuaron says “Experiencing this film in 2-D is only getting about 20 percent of the experience of Gravity.” That  infinite vastness of the space, feel of floating  or spinning along with the characters and the pens, papers and even tear drops floating around,  the screw falling from Bullock’s hand  and approaching towards you and Clooney just grabs it in time is nothing else but sheer magic. If you don’t see films like these; you will never realize the magic of cinema, films will only be “time-pass entertainment” for you, nothing beyond that.

To call Gravity to a science fiction film would mean to limit its genre because it’s so much more. The best part is, it is not just about technology or visual effects, it about the beauty of existence, the struggle for survival and the tale of hope, courage by overcoming the fear within. The story telling is fearless and gripping, the characters are beautifully written and Sandra Bullock and George Clooney give such heart-felt memorable performances that you cherish each and every frame of the film being immersed in it. As soon as the film was over, I felt rushing back to the theatre and watch it again.

Here’s listing down some brilliant moments in the film which I really enjoyed (I know I have missed many):

• When the film begins, the terrific atmospheric thrill that Cuaron creates through the tranquility, the infinite vastness, the camera movement, the lighting – everything took me to a different place all together.
• The scene of the sunrise and sunset on the earth and the view of it from the outer space. Sheer brilliance of film-making and cinematography.
• When the camera is placed inside the space helmet of Sandra Bullock and you can actually see the entire space through her eyes and you can literally feel her pain and helplessness.
• The scene where she just floats and spins around the wires while attempting to enter the space shuttle.
• The awe-inspiringly beautiful heart wrenching moment when Sandra Bullock breaks down and you see the tears floating around with her own reflection in the tear drop.
• When the Chinese space shuttle was approaching the earth with massive speed with fireworks all around it was only one thing that’s happening inside me – “Goosebumps”
• Finally, when Sandra Bullock puts her feet on the sand alongside the lake shore, that feeling of the realization of existence is priceless. A moment back you were up in the space, the next moment you are under water and then finally you are on the heart of Mother Earth, up and standing.

People say some films needs to be experienced and mere viewing won’t satisfy your creative impulses and Gravity is one of those gems. Yes, I will watch Gravity again because it made me fall in love madly with cinema, it re-affirmed my strong secret desire yet again that if re-birth exists I would like to be a film-maker in my next. And once I came out of the theatre with tremendous excitement I remembered the words which Scorsese said.

“Movies touch our hearts and awaken our vision, and change the way we see things. They take us to other places, they open doors and minds. Movies are the memories of our life time; we need to keep them alive.”