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When he was younger, film came first for Alfonso Cuarón. These days, the Oscar-winning director says, life does.
He made the remark at his Busan International Film Festival masterclass on Thursday, a day after he and
his son Jonas Cuaron, his co-writer on 2013 space survival drama “Gravity,” revisited the film following an Imax screening.
At that talk, the pair reflected on the shared love of cinema and technical experimentation behind “Gravity,” which won Alfonso the best director Oscar. Jonas also brought “Campeón Gabacho” to Busan for its Asian premiere in the World Cinema section.
For Jonas, “Gravity’s” core was rebirth: two characters confronting loss and finding a way forward, with limited dialogue and an environment that made every action matter. Alfonso recalled their discussions about how setting and movement could express the desire to survive.
Their collaboration also drew on the films they watched together. At a press conference, Alfonso remembered Jonas’ childhood affection for Robert Bresson’s “A Man Escaped” and Vittorio De Sica’s “Bicycle Thieves.”
“Growing up watching movies that he loves, and then discovering what I love, I tend to tell a story that is simple but powerful in terms of emotions,” Jonás said.
Alfonso cited Hitchcock’s approach of putting ordinary people in extraordinary situations as a reference for “Gravity,” emphasizing the human stakes behind its spectacle. Its extended takes were conceived from the outset to sustain the audience’s emotional involvement.
The senior Cuaron recalled drawing inspiration from LED displays at a Rolling Stones concert. For “Gravity,” the production used a custom-built LED light box to simulate the shifting light of its digital space environments on the actors, alongside robot-controlled cameras and extensive CGI.
At the masterclass, Alfonso expanded on his approach to long takes and framing, invoking French filmmaker Alain Resnais. “There are 1,000 possibilities to place a camera, but only a right one,” Alfonso said. “It’s not about what you see but about what you don’t see.”
That emphasis on choosing what remains outside the frame informed his view that virtual reality cannot replace cinema.
His relationship with filmmaking has also changed over time. “When I was younger, film was everything and life was just part of it. Now it’s the opposite,” he said. “Life as an experience is what I now care about the most.”
Jonas, meanwhile, expressed his admiration for Korean genre filmmaking and its humor, citing “The Host,” “Parasite,” “Hope” and “No Other Choice.” His young son’s enthusiasm for “Train to Busan,” he added, made the trip especially exciting for his family.
Asked about future work, Jonas said he remained focused on his newly completed film while exploring different approaches to projects in development. Alfonso expressed an interest in making a comedy and learning from a younger generation of filmmakers.
“I believe in the audience,” Alfonso said. “Before a filmmaker, I am a cinephile.”
