Alfonso Cuaronwas reflective but playful this afternoon as he headlined the latest session in theLocarnoFilm Festivals popular masterclass series.
Theyre so grounded in reality and in character so I love those, he said.
Ive been trying to write something like that, but somehow, it doesnt fully work.
Alfonso Cuarón at the Locarno Film Festival with his lifetime achievement award.Alessandro Levati/Getty Images.
So I started writing and developing a film with my son.
I started prepping and the cast featured Charlotte Gainsbourg and Guillaume Canet.
It was about a road trip from the South of France to the north of Scotland.
It was very difficult to finance and the film fell apart.
At the same time, I was going through the worst times in my personal life.
He needed a screenplay that would let a studio give me a cheque.
That same evening we came up with the outline ofGravity, he said.
He accepted and took the screenplay to his longtime collaborator, DoP Emmanuel Lubezki.
Fincher told us to forget about it, theres no tech, wait 6 years.
And he wasnt wrong, Cuaron said.
James Cameron told us how we could do it but that was a 400 million dollar film.
We told him only you’re free to do that.
And he said yeah youre right.
So we developed our own way.
We developed the film over three or four years technologically, he said.
Thank God we had an Exec who was very geeky.
Cuarons troubles withGravitydidnt stop there.
The films complex VFX work had yet to be completed.
As Cuaron expected, the film tested poorly, with audiences slamming the visuals.
It opened at Venice and the reception was amazing, he said.
Thats when the studio started to love it.
As part of his trip to Locarno, Cuaron will also receive the festivals Lifetime Achievement Award.
TheLocarno Film Festivalruns until August 17.
