There is still much we don’t know about Alfonso Cuarón’s upcoming and much-anticipated science fiction film “Gravity.” What has been revealed is that the film will star Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts whose shuttle is destroyed during a spacewalk, leaving the two to find their way home in the abyss of space. It is also known that the film has been post-converted for 3D and will be released in IMAX sometime in 2013.
Almost everything else about the film remains a mystery. One publicist has explained that the film is composed of only 156 shots — most films include about 400 — and the opening shot is 17 minutes long. The long take is something Cuarón specializes in, as demonstrated by his iconic one-shot action sequence in “Children of Men.” Plus, with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, who previously worked on the ethereally beautiful “Tree of Life,” “Gravity” is set to be a virtuosic film.
“Gravity” may well be the most ambitious science fiction film to be released in years. With Cuarón’s pedigree, “Gravity” may thankfully mark a high point in the new revolution of more cerebral mainstream sci-fi productions. This new wave began with Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” and it seems to be only continuing full-speed-ahead with this grand space epic.
“Gravity” is an important entry in this revolution because, even without having released any footage yet, the film has begun building buzz from its promise of technical brilliance. A 156-shot film that lasts two hours means that each shot will, on average, last for 46 seconds; for comparison, the average shot length in Michael Bay’s “Transformers” was just three seconds long. More importantly, this thinking person’s sci-fi, complete with formal elegance, signifies that audiences are watching genre films for intellectual stimulation. While it remains true that moviegoers enjoy mind-numbing entertainment, it also holds that films like “Looper” and “Inception” — genre films that aspire to reach greater heights — have a substantial audience. “Gravity’s” box office fate remains unclear, but regardless of its monetary haul, this film will be remembered for the risk-taking and intelligence atypical of the sci-fi genre, and as a result, whatever audience the film attracts will almost certainly embrace it.
A version of this article appeared in the Thursday, Dec. 6 print edition. Alex Greenberger is a staff writer. Email him at [email protected].
