Alfonso Cuarón, who has an impressive collection of prestigious awards like Oscars, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes, was once doubtful about where life would lead him. He recently opened up about the lowest point of his life when he was completely out of money and revealed that ‘Gravity’ helped him to revive his career and make a comeback in the industry. There are countless rags-to-riches stories in Hollywood, and Cuarón happens to be a super-successful name.
With an expansive portfolio, he further divulged his interest in pushing his creative boundaries and his desire to try the horror genre.
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Alfonso Cuarón Talks About The Lowest Point In His Life
Alfonso Cuarón got emotional about the lowest point in his life at the Locarno Film Festival where he received the Lifetime Achievement Award, as reported by Variety. He mentioned that he was completely “completely out of money” and asked his collaborators to “write something but no arty sh*t.” He needed a screenplay that would let a studio give him a cheque. And that same evening they came up with ‘Gravity‘.
After knocking out a workable screenplay with his son Jonás, Cuarón said Warner Bros. bought in money but said that they wouldn’t give him a high budget. He accepted the challenge, and the movie starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney went on to become a great success.
The multiple Academy Award winner also gave an insight into the projects he has to get off the ground. “My aspiration is to one day do a horror film,” he told the packed crowd at the film festival.
He added, “I love Rosemary’s Baby, and the other Polanski films, and films like The Babadook. They’re so grounded in reality and character so I love those. As a spectator, I have a wider taste but anything I feel I could do would need to be more grounded”.
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How ‘Gravity’ Solved The Lack Of Technological Advancements Demanded By The Screenplay
Cuarón further shared that the problems didn’t stop after they came up with the idea of ‘Gravity’. They had to wait six years to get the technological advancements they needed for the project. “James Cameron told us how we could do it but that was a 400 million dollar film. We told him only you can do that. And he said yeah you’re right. So we developed our own way,” Cuarón said.
Cuarón and Lubezki brought “their own” way which included a mix of animation work and live-action camera work that utilized Industrial light and magic LED-based stagecraft technology known as The Volume. He added, “We developed the film over three or four years technologically. Thank God we had an Exec who was very geeky.”
Warner Bros. was adamant about testing the film with the audience but the VFX of the film was underwhelming and some work had to be done with them. Cuarón said that the studio began to cool down on the project and extended his “thanks to film festivals” for the commercial success of the film, which led him to his first Academy Award for Best Director as well.
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