Visual effects-defying GRAVITY has opened the 70th Venice Film Festival, bringing in very positive reviews for Alfonso Cuaron’s new project. The space drama, focusing on astronauts Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, sees the pair floating around above Earth before their shuttle is ruined by space debris.
With an intense, unsettling trailer, GRAVITY is set to thrill, and that’s exactly what reporters have said. The Hollywood Reporter has stated:
‘Not at all a science fiction film in the conventional sense, Alfonso Cuaron’s first feature in seven years has no aliens, space ship battles or dystopian societies, just the intimate spectacle of a man and a woman trying to cope in the most hostile possible environment across a very tight 90 minutes.’
Variety has followed suit:
‘It falls among that increasingly rare breed of popular entertainments capable of prompting genuine “How did they do that?” reactions from even the most jaded viewers, even as its central premise is so simple and immediately gripping that one might just as readily ask, “Why didn’t anyone do it sooner?”‘
…while Cine-Vue says much of the same:
‘This is a film that has to be seen on the big screen (and, one would presume, IMAX where possible). Only the canvas of cinema can provide the grandeur, scale and – when it comes to the sound design – the volume to tell such an epic tale.’
But what do the film’s stars think? Bullock, who along with Clooney, Cuaron and others attended a press conference discussing the film, has stated that GRAVITY is ‘physically, mentally, the craziest, most bizarre, challenging thing’. When asked why he decided to take on something so wild, Clooney replied that the film consists of some of the best scripting, directing and casting he’s experienced. If Clooney approves then so do we!
Prepare to float away with GRAVITY from 4th October 2013 (US) and 8th November (UK).
Source: Deadline/IMP Awards
