2) Gravity
The sensory experience of Gravity is not as universally awe-inspiring as I had first assumed, it turns out. By that I mean to say not everyone seems to have been as taken by the revolutionary visuals and effects that were accompanied by a relatively simple but emotional narrative as I and many others were. And that’s completely fine. Despite the comparisons to Stanley Kubrick (which seem to only go as far as…they both did space movies), I would side with those comparing director Alfonso Cuarón to Alfred Hitchcock, particularly his more experimental suspense work like Rope. Gravity is a 90-minute experiment in suspense.
Anyone who was fortunate enough to see the film in proper 3D IMAX form will likely attest to the deeply immersive quality of the movie, which is further enhanced by the effective realization of contemporary common knowledge that sound does not travel in space. This lack of auditory warning makes the visual details more acutely notable—the slightest bit of debris signals to us that trouble of a massive scale is on its way and there’s little we can do to avoid it.
The use of continuous editing and perspective shots at opportune moments make it feel that much more real as we watch. At least for me, there were more flinch-inducing moments in Gravity than I can remember in any other film. Classifying it as almost more of a “ride” than a movie is appropriate, and shouldn’t take away from its perceived artistry.
