Alfonso Cuaron

Most Americans find it difficult to watch foreign films and we tend to mock them quite often. In America we are used to certain formulas in film; explosions, witty dialogue, hot chicks and a happy ending. The best films don’t follow that formula and the ones that usually don’t happen to be foreign films. Imagine how different cinema would be without films such as The Bicycle Thieves, Nosferatu, Breathless and Alfonso Cuaron’s film Y Tu Mama Tambien. Foreign directors are the innovators of their craft, they are the ones that experiment more with film. Most American directors seem to be stuck in the same formula that works quite well with audiences everywhere. Not all audiences are so easily amused though; some audiences enjoy a provocative thought or camera angle. That is why Alfonso Cuaron is such an important director in the history of cinema.

            Alfonso Cuaron may not be a director most people have heard of but when you hear the list of films he has directed you may be surprised. Cuaron’s biggest box office success was the third Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, which even though it was not well received by fans of the series it was critically claimed by movie critics everywhere saying it captured the true spirit of the books. The film still scores the highest ratings on the movie review website Rotten Tomatoes with a 91% and a review stating “In Cuaron's hands, Azkaban has emotional depth to go along with the technical wizardry”. Cuaron’s first critically acclaimed film, Y Tu Mama Tambien, is considered one of the top 100 foreign films of all time. It is considered a highly controversial film for its candid portrayal of sex which gave it an initial rating of NC-17 by American censors. Y Tu Mama Tambien opened a lot of doors for Cuaron, including the offer to direct the third Harry Potter film. Eventually Cuaron would go on to direct what would become his masterpiece, the 2006 sci-fi thriller Children of Men. Cuaron was nominated for Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Editing and Best Writing/Adapted Screenplay. Children of Men won many awards from other associations including two BAFTA awards and Best Picture from the COFCA (Central Ohio Film Critics Association). In Children of Men, Cuaron uses continuous shots and one shot in particular is quite famous in the world of cinematography. Cuaron helped invent a new camera rig that would enable him to film inside a car with a continuous shot.

 This scene was one of many scenes that made Cuaron stand out from the crowd. Cuaron is working on a new movie called Gravity that is rumored to have a twenty minute long continuous shot at the beginning of the film. Cuaron may not be as big of an inspiration as other directors but he is just now starting to have an impact in the world of cinema. Many young directors cite Cuaron as a main inspiration for their films such as the director of Duck Season, Fernando Eimbcke. Eimbcke made the film with practically no budget and Cuaron was so impressed by his film that he distributed the film himself. Cuaron is not just a director; he has also worked along side many other directors on such groundbreaking films as Pan’s Labyrinth and The Assassination of Richard Nixon. I cannot wait to see what else this visionary director has in store for us in the future.