NEWS
EVENTS
Sandra's Orbit to the Oscars
Other | Thursday 14th November 2013 | Mark
Gravity starts off sluggishly but it soon orbits you into the non-stop action, clinging to survival thousands of miles above Earth. It sets up the central characters through slow paced, at times cringe worthy dialogue, but with fantastically innovative camera work, gives a great sense of being in zero gravity. It’s this camera work, which sells you into thinking, and rightly so,that this is a Hollywood masterclass in CGI, photography and acting.
After establishing this sense of loss through the breakdown in communication with headquarters back on earth and expendable characters put in there just to be killed off when disaster strikes, you are sucked into the dilemma that Sandra Bullock and George Clooney face in getting back to Earth, despite the impending sense of how inevitable their deaths are.
The film glorifies, in taking moments when they fill up screen time, through periods, of reflection to appreciate the beauty of Earth and the peace out in space. The peace, which in the right situation can be wonderful to have because you are free of the busy and hectic life that Earth provides is juxtaposed to how desperate you are for contact and civilization.
The ending is a fantastic pay off for the adventure, you are sent through hopping from one space station to the next hanging onto survival. By the time Sandra Bullock enters the Earth’s orbit, you feel a great sense of relief to get your first feeling of the proximity to home. Furthermore, you share in her achievement at reaching the end of her physical (reaching Earth alive) and emotional journey (ready to live her life and enter back into the world after the loss of her daughter). All resulting in a breathtaking and exhilarating worthwhile watch.
