Some filmmakers become known for their ability to craft pulse-pounding blockbusters. Other filmmakers become known for more pensive and thoughtful dramas. Seldom do we see filmmakers that have the ability to combine the two schools of thought into something magical. Alfonso Cuarón is that sort of rare filmmaker, and the Gravity director's latest piece of cinema sounds like something we won't want to miss.
We've just learned that Alfonso Cuarón has officially partnered with Participant Media -- the same company responsible for last week's The Light Between The Oceans -- to direct his first film since 2013's Gravity. Specific details surrounding the upcoming collaboration remain limited at best, but we do know that the film will center on a year in the life of a middle class family in Mexico City family in the mid 1970s. It will be the director's first Mexico-based film since Y Tu Mamá También in 2001, which has become a modern classic with a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes - so let's hope he can recapture that magic a second time. We'll just have to wait and see, as we still know very little about the film.
That being said, we do know that this movie will have a very strong connection to Alfonso Cuarón himself. The Oscar winner has spoken out about the project, calling it "deeply personal," which makes sense when we consider the fact that the Mexican filmmaker actually grew up in Mexico City during that particular era. It might not be completely autobiographical, but it will surely come from somewhere very real and raw.
Based upon the basic description of the project, it sounds like Alfonso Cuarón intends to scale back the scope of the drama, at least compared to his recent films. Arguably the four most well known films on his resume -- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Gravity, and Children of Men -- are all very technical, and/or effects-driven movies. By moving to a more grounded and personal story, it looks as though Cuarón will offer mainstream audiences something very different than what they would typically expect from him.
Of course, if Alfonso Cuarón has a new movie coming out, that can only mean one thing: insane, long takes. Over the course of his last few films Cuarón has become incredibly adept at crafting uncut sequences that set new precedents for filmmaking. Go back and watch the opening 17 minutes of Gravity; it's all one, long take. Or, you could always go back and watch this classic single take scene from his 2006 epic, Children of Men:
We will keep you up to date with all of the latest and greatest details related to Alfonso Cuarón's upcoming project as more information becomes available to us. The film will commence production in Mexico this coming fall.
