November 16, 2013
by Mason Lancianese
For those who haven’t kept up with the details surrounding this film, Gravity is a science-based drama that mainly focuses on two astronauts (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney) that are on a space expedition and are thrust into survival mode when debris separates them from their space shuttle above Earth. The movie has been described as a non-stop thrill ride, sucking the audience in with the tension while taking their breath away with its astonishing use of special effects and intricate camerawork. This film-making mastery should come as no surprise once it’s known that the director of this is Alfonso Cuaron, the man behind the third Harry Potter film as well as the finest science-fiction film of the last decade, Children of Men. Garnering universal acclaim, Gravity has exceeded financial expectations, taking the top spot at the box office for three straight weeks with little drop-off. On top of that, it has been cited for potential Oscar nominations/wins. For all intents and purposes, the film has become a phenomenon.
Having seen and loved the movie and witnessing its box office journey in the last few weeks since its release, I’m ecstatic over not only seeing the majesty that is Gravity, but seeing it doing the business it’s been doing for the last week or so. I’m eager to boil down why this is a shining beacon of hope for the purity of cinema in today’s Hollywood landscape, because really, this kind of thing doesn’t happen very often. Gravity‘s success defies a dilemma in the current big-budget film-making world, and one that is defied very rarely. It’s that a movie with a unique idea can’t be marketed well enough to attract audiences to come and see it, thus not making the studio any profit to justify the backing of the project. That’s why most blockbusters are either an adaptation of an established property or a sequel/continuation of a previous film, so that profits are almost always guaranteed. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that strategy, but it does get tiring when we see the ads for the next film based on a board game being plastered everywhere. It’s only when films such as District 9, Inception and now Gravity rise above and show how there can still be success to be had with originality. As with any smash hit, there are multiple factors to ponder over that could have directly led to its surge of popularity. Is it the gripping advertisements? The pushing of the IMAX 3D experience? Or is it the fact that it has two of the biggest stars in the world as the only two principal characters? Whatever the case may be, Alfonso Cuaron withstood the barrage of marketability ideas from the studio executives to put his vision on the screen, and he did it magnificently. Now, it’s even better that his ambition is being rewarded. Author’s Note: While I’m currently taking J.I. Abbot’s course for Creative Writing here, I’ve only taken one other class in full at Tunxis Community College, and it was English 101, taught by Karen Piantek. It was the first college course I’ve ever taken, and being unfamiliar with the goings-on of the college experience, I expected to be slightly overwhelmed in comparison to the structure of grade school that I had become so accustomed to. But in reality,with Professor Piantek’s focus on analyzing aspects of our culture while educating us on the proper form of writing essays, I was immediately hooked. Although I was already grateful for what Professor Piantek’s lessons had done for my writing, I didn’t fully realize the benefits of her method of writing until I took a second glance at my review for this year’s surprise smash hit, Gravity.
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