Alfonso Cuarón's science-fiction
thriller "Gravity", which debuted October 4, invites its audience to experience
the visual and emotional effects of zero-gravity suspended above Earth. Mission Specialist Dr. Ryan Stone, portrayed
by actress Saundra Bullock ("Speed", "The Blind Side"), is on her first space shuttle
mission where she is to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Stone is accompanied on the crew by veteran
astronaut Matt Kowalski, played by George Clooney ("Solaris", "The Descendants"),
who is commanding his final expedition.
The suspense is triggered when a
Russian missile strike on a defunct satellite causes a chain reaction of
destruction with its path heading towards the shuttle crew at bullet speed. Both Stone and Kowalski are outside the
shuttle upgrading the Hubble when they receive this news and do not have enough
time to respond. Communication with
Mission Control is lost and the large debris field collides with the shuttle. Both
Stone and Kowalski are left floating in space as the sole survivors.
Writer-director Cuarón ("A Little
Princess", "Children of Men") seems to have made this film to not simply be a
story of survival in space but also about detachment. As the story progresses Dr. Ryan Stone reveals
a dissociation to her own suffering due to the tragic loss of her
daughter. She would rather be adrift in
denial than feel the gravity of her pain.
This choosing becomes an apparent impasse to her survival.
The cinematography is reminiscent of Stanley
Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), with one scene brilliantly portraying
Dr. Stone hovering in the fetal position together with floating hoses and wires
as if she were in the mother's womb. This
image, among others, invites us to transcendently watch this film. The realms of space and the planet it
overlooks are merely canvas.
Sound
also plays a transcendent role in "Gravity".
As the film's opening text recognizes, there are very few molecules in
empty space to mobilize sound. By
honoring the laws of gravity, this film acknowledges the dynamics of both sound
and silence through its suspenseful sequence of events. Dr. Stone confesses silence is what she loves
most about space, and later in the film she indicates how silence is an escape
for her.
To
bring this down to earth, "Gravity" is fun to watch because of the breath-taking
cinematography and screenplay. It errs
on the side of melodrama yet maybe this is the movie's strength. Both Bullock and Clooney play convincing
roles even though the cinematic effects detach you from their acting. It was inspiring to witness the attachment
between Dr. Stone and Kowalski because of the hope we have in the face of each
other. Whose face, touch, or words can
be a life-line when we encounter the emptiness and void of our own heart? How can we be a life-line?
