In my mind, the mark of a truly great film is its ability to make viewers lose themselves in its storytelling. By that measurement, Gravity isn’t just the greatest film of 2013, but also one of the greatest films I’ve ever had the pleasure of losing myself in.
Looking back on my experiencing watching Gravity in theaters, I knew I was witnessing something truly special almost immediately. Director Alfonso Cuarón goes straight into his money shot with a gorgeous, absorbing and completely petrifying opening sequence, one which lasts an astounding 17 minutes. It’s a bold move, and one that grabbed me like I’ve rarely been grabbed by a film before. His images, of the blissful Planet Earth, of the cold emptiness of space and of two intrepid astronauts, scientist Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and veteran Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney), braving the most hostile of conditions in the pursuit of knowledge,...
Looking back on my experiencing watching Gravity in theaters, I knew I was witnessing something truly special almost immediately. Director Alfonso Cuarón goes straight into his money shot with a gorgeous, absorbing and completely petrifying opening sequence, one which lasts an astounding 17 minutes. It’s a bold move, and one that grabbed me like I’ve rarely been grabbed by a film before. His images, of the blissful Planet Earth, of the cold emptiness of space and of two intrepid astronauts, scientist Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and veteran Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney), braving the most hostile of conditions in the pursuit of knowledge,...
- 2/26/2014
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
"Gravity" has become a bona fide Oscar contender, with much of that buzz thanks to the incredible performance by Sandra Bullock as Dr. Ryan Stone. She spends most of her screen time alone, stranded in space with little hope of survival. In one of the film’s most pivotal scenes, Stone makes contact with someone on Earth while floating around in a Russian Soyuz capsule. However, the static radio reception is met on the other end by a man speaking in a foreign language and the sounds of a barking dog and crying baby. This exchange serves as a major cathartic moment for Bullock’s character, so if anyone was wondering who the mystery man was, look no further than the new short film “Aningaaq.” Jonas Cuaron, co-writer of “Gravity” and son of its director, Alfonso Cuaron, has written and directed the short companion piece to the $500 million-grossing space odyssey.
- 11/21/2013
- by tooFab Staff
- TooFab
If you've seen Gravity - and judging by its monster box office, you have, twice - cast your mind back to the moment Sandra Bullock's astronaut Ryan Stone gets on the comms in the Russian space station and, Major Tom-style, has a fleeting interaction with a disembodied voice on Earth. Well, in a lovely moment of loose-end-tying, the movie's screenwriter, Jonás Cuarón, has made a short film showing what happened at the end of that line. The seven-minute short film, entitled Aningaaq, was originally intended as a Blu-ray extra but has now debuted over at The Hollywood Reporter. It shows an Inuit, played by Greenlander Orto Ignatiussen, providing Stone's garbled lifeline, and offers a starkly beautiful counterpoint to the expanseless reaches of space. "It's this moment where the audience and the character get this hope that [Stone] is finally going to be Ok," Jonás Cuarón told The Hollywood Reporter. "Then...
- 11/21/2013
- EmpireOnline
A lot of credit must be given to Sandra Bullock and her performance in award hopeful Gravity as the Oscar winner spends the majority of the film on screen alone. In one of the most memorable moments toward the end of the film, Bullock’s character Dr. Ryan Stone believes she has made contact with Earth while floating in a Russian Soyuz capsule. However, the static radio reception is met on the other end by a man Stone realizes doesn’t speak English. Through her conversation, however, Stone has kind of a cathartic moment listening to a young child cry and howling like a dog.
- 11/20/2013
- by Jake Perlman
- EW - Inside Movies
During a pivotal scene in Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity, Sandra Bullock’s character Ryan Stone finds herself running out of hope when trapped inside a Russian space capsule. During the sequence, she makes contact with a man down on earth who is speaking in a foreign language. What unfolds on the other end of that broken conversation, is the subject of a short film by Jonas Cuaron, son of director Alfonso Cuaron, who co-wrote the screenplay. The seven-minute companion piece which was financed by Warner Home Video, introduces Orto Ignatiussen as the title character, an Inuit fisherman on a remote fjord in Greenland, where the short was shot on location. Though it was originally made to be used as bonus content on the Blu-ray release, Warner Bros. has now decided to submit Aningaaq for Oscar consideration in the Best Short Film category due to the positive response it has received at festival screenings.
- 11/20/2013
- by Kyle Reese
- SoundOnSight
While watching Sandra Bullock fight for her life in "Gravity" this fall, did anyone else wonder about the voice on the other end of her distress call? Jonas Cuaron's "Aningaaq" shows us who was on the other end of that radio. Read More: Alfonso Cuarón Tells Indiewire Why TV Trumps Cinema at 'Gravity' Reception In a moving scene during "Gravity," Bullock's stranded astronaut Ryan Stone finally makes it into a Russian space capsule to send out a distress call only to be answered by an Inuit who doesn't understand her. Stone listens to the Earthly sounds of dogs howling and a baby crying as she begins to embrace the idea of her death, perhaps soothed by the Inuit's lullaby. Flip that scene and we get "Aningaaq," a short look into the life of man, played by Greenland's Orto Ignatiussen, whose isolation and survival on a barren tundra echoes Bullock's experience in space.
- 11/20/2013
- by Casey Cipriani
- Indiewire
One of the most moving moments in Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity" comes when stranded astronaut Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) reaches someone on the radio. At first, she thinks it is Mission Control but quickly realizes it is a stranger who can be of no help to her. Or can he? Jonas Cuaron, who co-wrote the script with his father, travelled to Greenland to shoot "Aningaaq," a seven-minute short named for the Inuit fisherman who finds himself on the other end of the distress call. Orto Ignatiussen plays the part of this kindly soul who, despite not speaking English, connects with Bullock's character even introducing her to his dog and baby. The film unspooled at the Venice filmfest and will feature on the upcoming home video release of "Gravity." And Warner Bros. has submitted it for consideration at this year's Oscars in the Live Action Short category. -Break- Take a look below and then vot.
- 11/20/2013
- Gold Derby
While we're still baffled as to why Warner Bros. didn't use this as a post-credits treat for the theatrical run of "Gravity" (though they could try and snag audiences a second time by adding it to the movie in an awards season, second run push) this will more than do. "Gravity" co-writer Jonas Cuaron's seven-minute spin-off short film "Aningaaq"has now arrived online in full for you to see. Premiering rather quietly this summer at the Venice Film Festival (where, oddly enough (again), it didn't even feature alongside "Gravity"), the short film centers on the Inuit ice-fisherman in Greenland (played by Orto Ignatiussen) that Sandra Bullock's imperilled astronaut Ryan Stone makes radio contact with briefly while floating in outer space, trying to make her way back home. Cuaron tells THR this short was assembled "guerilla style," shot for $100,000 on location in Greenland (most which covered transportation for the crew...
- 11/20/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
I already wrote about Jonas Cuaron's short film Aningaaq, which is something of a companion piece to Gravity, which Jonas co-wrote with his father, Alfonso Cuaron, who, of course, directed Gravity. Jonas, however, directed Aningaaq, a Greenland-set short film centered on an ice-fishing Inuit by the name of Aningaaq (Orto Ignatiussen), who happens to be the voice on the other end of the line during the scene in Gravity where Sandra Bullock's character manages to briefly make contact with Earth. In Gravity we only see Bullock's side of the conversation, Aningaaq shows the other side. The short will be made available on the DVD and Blu-ray for Gravity, but it has now come online and can be watched directly below. Here's the synopsis from the Venice Film Festival where it played earlier this year: Aningaaq, an Inuit fisherman camping on the ice over a frozen fjord, talks through a...
- 11/20/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
In the film Gravity, Sandra Bullock's character, astronaut Ryan Stone, is pushed to the brink of death, but when she comes into contact with an Inuit fisherman, that doesn't speak English, she founds the strength to give life one more shot. Click on the video below to see this scene from the perspective of the Inuit fisherman (Orto Ignatiussen). Aningaaq, an Inuit fisherman camping on the ice over a frozen fjord, talks through a two way radio with a dying astronaut who is stranded in space, 500 kilometers above earth. Even though he doesn’t speak English and she doesn’t speak Greenlandic, they manage to have a conversation about dogs, babies, life and death. Plot Summary: Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk,...
- 10/30/2013
- ComicBookMovie.com
As you might recall from HitFix's Telluride Film Festival coverage, Jonás Cuarón's short film "Aningaaq" is a companion piece to Alfonso Cuarón's "Gravity." It depicts the other side of an Sos radio conversation between that film's main character, Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), and an Inuit fisherman named Aningaaq (Orto Ignatiussen) on the icy mass of Greenland. The short works both in tandem with the feature and separately as an emotional sliver of the greater work's themes. It could also join "Gravity" in the Oscar discussion later this season as Warner Bros. has submitted it for consideration in the Best Live...
- 10/29/2013
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Gravity (2013) Film Review from the 57th Annual BFI London Film Festival (Lff), a movie directed by Alfonso Cuaron, starring Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris, Orto Ignatiussen, Paul Scharma, Amy Warren and Basher Savage. Gravity is a visual masterpiece and an emotional powerhouse. There are only a few films which could [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Gravity: London Film Festival 2013...
Continue reading: Film Review: Gravity: London Film Festival 2013...
- 10/14/2013
- by Deyan Angelov
- Film-Book
"Gravity" comes hurtling like so much space debris into theaters this weekend, where Alfonso Cuaron's long-awaited thriller is expected to do big business to go along with the rave reviews (here's ours). What folks may not know is that there's even more, but from this point forward, there are spoilers ahead, so if you haven't seen the film, stop reading. As you already know, "Gravity" follows Sandra Bullock's astronaut, Ryan Stone, who is caught adrift in space, fighting for her survival as she tries to figure out a way to return to Earth after her ship is destroyed. For much of the film she is beyond radio contact, however as "Gravity" nears the finale, in an attempt to reach Mission Control, she winds up speaking with Aningaaq, an Inuit ice-fisherman in Greenland (played by Orto Ignatiussen). They don't speak the same language, but they do manage to communicate with each other,...
- 10/4/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
If you haven't seen Gravity yet and/or don't want to have a plot element spoiled for you then don't read any further as it has now been revealed Alfonso Cuaron's son and Gravity co-writer, Jonas Cuaron directed a short film companion piece to Gravity titled Aningnaaq, the narrative of which is the ying to Gravity's yang. Toward the end of Gravity, Sandra Bullock's character manages to briefly make contact with Earth and instead of reaching Mission Control, she is actually speaking with an ice-fishing Inuit in Greenland by the name of Aningaaq (played by Orto Ignatiussen), listening to a language she doesn't understand, a dog barking and a baby crying. In Gravity we only see Bullock's side of the conversation, Jonas' short film shows the other side. Film critic Neil Young (who saw the short at the Venice Film Festival where Gravity served as the opening...
- 10/3/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
If you haven't seen Gravity yet and/or don't want to have a plot element spoiled for you then don't read any further as it has now been revealed Alfonso Cuaron's son and Gravity co-writer, Jonas Cuaron directed a short film companion piece to Gravity titled Aningnaaq, the narrative of which is the ying to Gravity's yang. Toward the end of Gravity, Sandra Bullock's character manages to briefly make contact with Earth and instead of reaching Mission Control, she is actually speaking with an ice-fishing Inuit in Greenland by the name of Aningaaq (played by Orto Ignatiussen), listening to a language she doesn't understand, a dog barking and a baby crying. In Gravity we only see Bullock's side of the conversation, Jonas' short film shows the other side. Film critic Neil Young (who saw the short at the Venice Film Festival where Gravity served as the opening...
- 10/3/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
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