Alfonso Cuarón

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Alfonso Cuarón at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2013

Alfonso Cuarón Orozco (born November 28, 1961 in Mexico City ) is a Mexican film director , screenwriter , producer and film editor . In 2003 he directed the third part of the film adaptation of the commercially successful fantasy saga Harry Potter and became known to a wide audience. Cuarón won a total of five Oscars as well as the Golden Globe Award for best director for the science fiction thriller Gravity (2013) and for Roma (2018) and was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival after two previous nominations (2018) .

life and work

Childhood, youth and education

Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born in Mexico City . Alfredo Cuarón, his father, was a cardiologist in a hospital. Even as a young boy, his son wanted to be either a director or an astronaut. Eventually he got a camera for his twelfth birthday and began to experiment with it. Cuarón developed into a film lover: he made his mother think he was going to friends, but in reality he went to the cinema. When he finished school, he decided to study philosophy at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and film at the Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos (CUEC) . There he made the acquaintance of director Carlos Marcovich and cameraman Emmanuel Lubezki . Together they shot the short film Vengeance is mine (1983) in English . But the professors didn't like the language or the film; In 1985 Cuarón was therefore expelled from school. He then worked for a Mexican television station as a technician and a little later as a director. During his studies he met Mariana Elizondo and had his first son Jonás Cuarón with her. In 1993, after thirteen years of marriage, he divorced her. In 2001 the Tim Burton fan fell in love with Annalisa Bugliani and had two more children with her, Tess Bu Cuarón and Olmo Teodoro Cuarón.
His brother Carlos Cuarón , who is five years his junior, is also a director, and the two of them worked together on several film projects. His son Jonás Cuarón works as a director and screenwriter.

The beginnings: 1987 to 1999

In 1987 Cuarón acted as assistant director on the film Gaby: A True Story (1987). He then wrote the screenplay for the film Sólo con tu pareja (1991) together with his brother Carlos . When he had the money to make this film, he also took over the direction. The film won an initial hit and won several awards at the Toronto International Film Festival . Sydney Pollack became aware of the young director and suggested that he direct an episode of a television series called Fallen Angels (1993), with Alan Rickman in a role. Then Cuarón moved to Los Angeles . In 1994 he read the script for the film Little Princess and was so excited about it that he decided to direct the film.

breakthrough

Alfonso Cuarón 2005 at the San Sebastian International Film Festival

With the film drama Great Expectations (1998), which was based on Charles Dickens ' novel of the same name, Cuarón's first major film came to the cinema . The cast consisted of stars like Robert De Niro , Ethan Hawke , Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Cooper . Alfonso Cuarón acted as director but did not write the script. Overall, the film was received quite positively by the critics. James Berardinelli wrote that while the film was "not a triumph" it was better than "just a good attempt". In total, the film grossed around 45 million US dollars worldwide.

After the literary film adaptation, the erotic road movie Y Tu Mamá También - Lust for Life with Diego Luna , Gael García Bernal and Maribel Verdú in the leading roles followed. The film was shot in Mexico , no longer in Hollywood, because Cuarón wanted to make a film in Spanish, actually in the slang of the residents of Mexico City. The film opened in Mexican cinemas on June 8, 2001 and became a financial success. Therefore, it gradually started in more and more countries. In the end, the film grossed over $ 33 million. The film critic Roger Ebert gave the film the highest rating and spoke of the birth of a new Mexican cinema. The road movie has received over 30 international awards such as the Golden Globe for best foreign language film and has been nominated for numerous others. According to Cuarón, the film tells of the "class society, of the many different Mexicans that coexist at the same time and in the same space, but seemingly unconnected."

In 2004, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , the third part of the Harry Potter films, came to the cinema and suddenly had a completely different look than the two predecessors, which came from Chris Columbus . The "sometimes scary" film was the first in the Harry Potter series to be rated 12 and over. The fantasy film grossed over 790 million US dollars worldwide, making it the Mexican director's most successful film.

In 2006, the science fiction thriller Children of Men hit theaters. The novel of the same name by PD James served as a template . Alfonso Cuarón adapted the novel for the screen together with Timothy J. Sexton . Actors such as Clive Owen , Michael Caine and Julianne Moore played the leading roles under Cuarón's direction . The film had a budget of about 76 million US dollars , and filming began on 2 November 2005 and ended on 27 August 2006. The film was shot mostly positive by international critics. The special effects and camera work were largely praised. Nevertheless, there were also critics among the renowned reviewers who criticized individual points, such as the simple story line or the Christian symbolism . Children of Men was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 2006 Venice International Film Festival .

Seven years later, Gravity (2013) was again directed by an international cinema production for which Cuarón also wrote the screenplay and co-produced with his son Jonás. The science fiction thriller focuses on a brilliant medical technician and an experienced astronaut (played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney ) who have an accident during a routine mission in space. The 3D film opened as an out of competition world premiere on August 28, 2013 at the 70th Venice International Film Festival and earned Cuarón the Oscar and the Golden Globe Award for best director.

The series Believe , which he co-developed , started in 2014 and was canceled after one season.

In 2015 he was the jury president of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival .

In 2018, his film Roma , which was awarded the Golden Lion , took place at the 75th Venice International Film Festival . The drama is largely autobiographical, based on Cuarón's memories of his childhood in Mexico City . The film opened in several theaters to meet the criteria for film award nominations before it was released as Original Production on Netflix . In early 2019, Cuarón also received a Golden Globe Award in the Best Director category , while Roma also won the award for Best Foreign Language Film . When the 2019 Oscar nominations were announced , Roma received 10 nominations. Cuarón himself was nominated in four categories (best film, director, original screenplay, camera), of which he was awarded in three (director, camera, foreign language film).

Others

Since the end of May 2007, Cuarón has been Vice-President of the Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs (CISAC), an international umbrella organization of collecting societies .

In 2008 Cuarón was appointed to the competition jury of the 61st Cannes Film Festival .

Next will Cuarón Ron McLartys bestseller The Memory of Running , and the novel The History of Love by Nicole Krauss film.

In the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace , Cuarón made a cameo as a helicopter pilot.

According to himself, Cuarón never watched one of his films again after it was released: even if he happens to come across one on TV, he immediately switches off. In contrast to others, for whom a separate film would be like a baby, for him it would be like an ex-wife. The reason he gives is to concentrate solely on things that bother him about the film.

Filmography (selection)

Awards (selection)

Oscar

Golden Globe Award

  • 2014: Best Director for Gravity
  • 2019: Best Director for Roma

BAFTA Award

  • 2007: Best Non-English Language Film for Pan's Labyrinth with Guillermo del Toro and Bertha Navarro
  • 2004: Best Children's Film for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  • Nominated in the category :
    • 2003: Best non-English language film and best original screenplay for Y Tu Mamá También - Lust for Life

Venice International Film Festival

  • 2001: Best Original Screenplay for Y Tu Mamá También - Lust for Life
  • Nominated in the categories :
    • 2001: Golden Lion for Y Tu Mamá También - Lust for Life
    • 2006: Golden Lion for Children of Men
  • 2018: Golden Lion for Roma
Critics' Choice Movie Award
  • 2014: Best Director for Gravity
  • 2019: Best Director and Best Cinematography for Roma

Web links

Commons : Alfonso Cuarón  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Cuarón's biography in the IMDb
  2. Film review by James Berardinelli on reelviews.net
  3. Y Tu Mamá También - Lust for Life on Box Office Mojo
  4. Critique of the film magazine Cinema
  5. Children of Men on Box Office Mojo
  6. Interview with the director on variety.com
  7. Awards and nominations for the Oscars 2019 on welt.de
  8. Information about Cuarón ( Memento of February 10, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  9. biography
  10. Two directors are guests at Bond
  11. Gravity: Interview with Alfonso Cuarón about the film with Sandra Bullock - SPIEGEL ONLINE . Spiegel Online . October 7, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2017.