Movie Review : Gravity

[amazon_link id=”B005LAIIGW” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Rating : 4.5/5
Genre : Sci-fi
Director : Alfonso Cuaron
Cast : Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris, Paul Sharma

You probably know what Gravity is about : astronauts marooned in space because of a freak accident. I will say no more of the plot. I will say though that I loved the film.

Gravity reminded me of films like Moon and “Castaway on the Moon” , and even “Inception”, to a certain extent – films which had only a few characters in a closed setting. Not that space is a closed setting, but the film never moves out of space. The characters are either in space or in their vehicle. To make a film with like 2 characters (more if you count the voice (Ed Harris) from “Houston” coming in via the communications panel, and the peripheral character of Sharif played by Paul Sharma) and keep it interesting is hard. The screenplay, the writing, the dialogues, the pauses – all must be meaningful and placed ever so carefully by someone who knows what he is doing. Thankfully for us director Alfonso Cuaron is pretty good at that.

Since all the drama happens in space, we don’t get to see the characters as regular people. Initially they are disembodied voices in big bubble suits, knocking around rather haphazardly in space. What we know of the two astronauts, Mission Commander Matthew Kowalski and Dr. Ryan Stone, is gleaned off of their conversation. Dr. Stone is a rather taciturn introvert. Matt Kowalski is a glib, unflappable, charm-you-off-your-feet kind of a guy, nattering on and on trying to keep the mood upbeat. He remarks on Stone’s baby blues; she tells him that she has brown eyes. He is also a rock, the rock that steadies a panic-stricken Stone when she contemplates their predicament. Still, their problem is hard; home seems very far away and here they are stuck in deep space, with nary a solution in sight.

Clooney looks like a lifelike Buzz Lightyear in his spacesuit; we don’t get to see him out of it. Bullock is great as Dr. Ryan Stone, steadying herself in big gulps of air. I am blown away by the fact that slim and svelte and amazingly physically fit Bullock is 50.

Gravity is great when seen in 3D IMAX, the vastness of deep space and the predicament of being stuck up there all alone is comprehended so much better. What with every second film posturing as a “3D film”, the whole 3D experience was getting a bit jaded. Gravity though is the kind of film where 3D actually makes sense; my local theatre actually has more 3D/3D IMAX shows of Gravity rather than regular D ones.

With much improved technology it is possible now to amaze us with the grandeur of space travel. Gravity does that but in a very understated, humanist, we-are-all-regular-people sort of a way. Stuck up in the isolation of space, Kowalski and Stone are still 2 people who wax nostalgic, yearn for the love of familiar things and just want to come home. This is their story, and we are all in there with them.

Gravity is a fantastic watch; highly recommended.

P.S. : Paul Sharma plays Sharif, a desi character, who sings a quick line of “Mera Joota Hai Japani” – which was a little odd, considering that Shariff is a younger man, presumably in the year 2013, and “Mera Joota Hai Japani” is a hit from the 1955 “Shree 420”; it might be that Cuaron is still stuck in Raj Kapoor-Nargis-land, as far as Hindi movies are concerned.