Cuarón. Again this list has a 10-year moratorium so I’m not factoring in Gravity or Roma and Cuaron still lands at slot #60 here. I’ll get to it below but his work in the 1990’s is incredibly underrated (he has a total of 7 films that are in their respective decades top 100) and needs to be studied and propped up where it belongs. Y Tu Mama is in my top 200f films of all-time and it’s so formally accomplished. Children of Men rates as the single best film of the 00’s—so yeah—Cuaron is an unbelievable auteur who will have no trouble flying into the top 50 when the moratorium for Gravity and Roma lift.
Best film: Children of Men
- It has 3 or 4 of the best scenes and sequences in the last 15-20 years of film.
- the narrative is an outstanding biblical parable, there’s strong social undercurrents on pollution and immigration, but mainly- it’s a masterpiece because of the absolutely stylistic tour-de-force from Cuaron—it has become one of the textbook examples of film art in the 21st century– camera movement, long takes
- it’s not just camera movement—it’s as gorgeous a mise-en-scene as Cuaron has produced (which puts it up there with the masters)- detail in bodies, graffiti, rabble, architecture as character from Welles, Ozu or Rossellini
- greens, greys and light blues—a defined color palette- Cuaron is back on his color (like he was with his greens in the 90’s) after a bit of break with Y Tu Mama Tambien – the color is mood and it fits- it’s Antonioni Red Desert, Kieslowski color trilogy,
- “Ruby Tuesday” is used twice for 5 seconds for great affect- once to show emote on Owen’s beaten face remembering his son, and the other with Michael Caine’s goodbye to his wife
- Dystopian influences—1984, Brazil, Metropolis, Blade Runner, 12 Monkeys, 28 Days Later, Blade Runner– but this is its own thing- strong color
- Cluttered architecture
- Danny Huston’ breathtaking- “Ark of the Arts”- theological of course but stunning mise-en-scene
- There are noir elements- this is a reluctant hero
- The death of Julianne Moore (bit of a L’Avventura/Psycho killing off of the star early element) is an absolute stunner of a oner—Cuaron is showing off with the ping pong ball trick, the entire thing is about 4 minutes, complicated action, cracking glass, flames, stunt-work—it absolutely adds to the intensity of the scene
- Of course much of it is set in very green forest and woods
- Operatic music at the barn during the pregnancy reveal—beautiful- and Owen says “Jesus Chris” which will be done again three times
- The action sequences held without a break are the poster child to defy those who say it’s just style
- Caine dazzles in his scenes- humor, life, vitality in a bleak world
- The single greatest wall-art shot (and there are dozens) may but the shot of the swing set through the broken glass—we go back to again with Peter Mullan confronts Clive
- The scene where she gives birth in a long take would be the best scene in 99.9% of films and it’s probably 6th here- it’s a long take, intense, brilliant
- the finale is perfection
- The baby crying causing the cease fire and the long take (the longest of the film) of the POV battle tracking shot on Owen’s shoulder is transcendent- some of the best work of the decade and perhaps the decades best film
- Masterpiece
total archiveable films: 8
top 100 films: 1 (Children of Men)
top 500 films: 2 (Children of Men, Y Tu Mama Tambien)
top 100 films of the decade: 7 (Solo con Tu Pareja , A Little Princess, Great Expectations, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Children of Men, Gravity, Roma)
most overrated: Not a thing
most underrated: Cuaron’s 1990’s work. The sort of the “green trilogy” (7. Solo con Tu Pareja, A Little Princess, Great Expectations) before excelling with Y Tu Mama Tambien in 2001—they’re all top-10 of their year-worthy- visually sumptuous and ambitious.
gem I want to spotlight: Y Tu Mama Tambien
- Cuaron’s greatest film to date in 2001 and a masterpiece
- It marks a visual departure of sorts for Cuaron- it’s more naturalistic in the set design and lighting (frankly the entire mise-en-scene)—it’s not loaded in a sea of green
- It had broad comedy elements like his debut Sólo con Tu Pareja – and the lead there does the voice over here (though this one is much funnier – featuring far superior writing) but there’s a real social texture here- comments on politics and class
- Certainly it has connective tissue with Truffaut’s Jules and Jim with the two guys going for one girl dynamic— many similar scenes
- Formally it’s meticulously set forth- we have long takes (largely handheld) most feature tracking shots…. Then the audio drops off and the film goes mute—then we get a voice-over comment on the background of the situation, character motivations, side stories- really well done and a determined aesthetic choice carried on throughout
- It’s Cuaron’s 4th film, and del Toro had Cronos in 1993—but with this in 2001, Devil’s Backbone (which I don’t quite put in the class of Cuaron’s or Inarritu’s film), and Amorres Perros (2000) we have the Mexican New Wave here and it’s lasted until least 2018 with 4 of the last 5 (and could be another one with Cuaron in 2018) deserved best director Oscar wins and these three doing tremendous work
- Opening shot- Harold and Maude poster with nudity and long handheld camera take, goes mute and then voice over—sets the tone- and clearly we have a “Maude” here who is going to teach the two protagonists about life- absolutely love it.
- Great long tracking shot along the car as they talk about their manifesto
- We touch on the social texture- demonstrations, Maids (which could be connected again to Roma) and how Diego Luna’s character called her mom), cooks—the details of the lives around these central three
- There’s pain here- tragedy- in Maribel Verdu’s character exorcised through sex- not unlike Brando in Last Tango
- Three incredibly rich characters- envy
- The puka shells are very 2001- make me nostalgic
- One of the social texture sequences that is touching is Chuy- the 4th generation fisherman who had to be relocated and the end of the line of fisherman because of a resort relocation
- The high-point shot- the hilarious drinking long take which follows her to the jukebox, then her dancing with the camera and looking at the camera- masterful
- The epilogue meeting in the coffee shop—sobering—different hair—awkward- such a nice touch and the devastating “they will never meet again”
- Masterpiece
stylistic innovations/traits: First and foremost I’d still say it’s about the camera movement (and that audacious work with director of photography Lubezski (unlike Malick and Innaritu – Cuaron has worked with Lubezski since the beginning). There’s more though– parables (Christianity), the color green (meticulously detailed mise-en-scene which historically is rarely paired with someone who moves the camera like Cuaron). Coming off of Roma Cuaron is certainly one of the best auteurs on the planet currently if not the single greatest. His content (turning skeptics into believers on their way to transcendence in the last two films) and form (formally y tu mama tambien is virtually perfect here) are potent and married with his david bordwell-style definition of cinematography. Cuaron is known for long-takes (the two in Children of Men are all-timers, the shot of Hawke hunting down Paltrow in Great Expectations, the 12 ½-minute opening of Gravity, the beach/drowning tracking shot in Roma. Roma changes a great deal for Cuaron. It proves he’s also a master of mise-en-scene (not just a master but an all-timer, really) on top the camera-movement aesthetic. It proves that he can do it without Lubezki. I think it also enrichens both Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien. This is the intimate and the epic- the personal and the political or contextual at work here that is brilliantly set up here by Cuaron in the opening credits with Cleo cleaning the garage and the reflection of the world, eventually, stunningly, a plane— in this way it is married to Y Tu Mama Tambien– we have the story of Cleo and the family, but the world goes on around them (much like the formally brilliant voice-over in Y Tu Mama Tambien after they mute the action of Diego Luna and Bernal’s small life).
top 10
- Children of Men
- Roma
- Y Tu Mama Tambien
- Gravity
- A Little Princess
- Great Expectations
- Solo con Tu Pareja
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
By year and grades
| 1991- Sólo con Tu Pareja | HR |
| 1995- A Little Princess | HR |
| 1998- Great Expectations | HR |
| 2001- Y Tu Mama Tambien | MP |
| 2004- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | R |
| 2006- Children of Men | MP |
| 2013- Gravity | MP/MS |
| 2018- Roma | MP |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archive
I definitely think Prisoner of Azkaban deserves more praise. It’s easily the best Harry Potter film and far more artistic than the average “director-for-here” type of film. It bares Cuaron’s strong stylistic signature with the long take at the Leaky Cauldron when Mr. Weasly is telling Harry to stay away from Sirius. Not only is it a signature Cuaron long take but the wanted posters of Sirius on the walls is great mise-en-scene and the scene ends with Harry alone in the frame (a shot that began with him around a crowd of people) right next to one of the posters. Ties perfectly in with the narrative. Also, Cuaron’s motif of the camera moving through glass and even through a mirror during the Bogart scene (which would come back later in Gravity). And his positioning of the camera over the shoulder of an actor as he follows them in an unbroken take while having both them in focus and what they see in the distance (a sort of POV shot which would be heavily used in Children of Men). Personally, I think at the very least it’s better than Great Expectations and Solo con tu Pareja and probably even Little Princess, of course that’s personal preference but I certainly don’t think it’s his weakest by a long shot.
@Thomas Locke. http://thecinemaarchives.com/2020/01/04/harry-potter-and-the-prisoner-of-azkaban-2004-cuaron/
I think it is a little stronger than a Recommended, but I also think it is the weakest and it is definitely the best of the saga.
@Thomas Locke- thanks for sharing. I’m an admirer of Azkaban. But my confidence on the ranking of Cuaron films is pretty high. I just went through them all, in order, in 2018. I think Cuaron’s 1990’s work is tremendously under-seen and under-acknowledged. — All three made the top 100 of the 1990’s. http://thecinemaarchives.com/2019/03/18/the-best-films-of-the-decade-the-1990s/
[…] 60. Alfonso Cuarón […]
What is the greatest camera movement achievement of each decade?
1910s-1920s: This is the only decade for which any choice besides the obvious, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, might result in a Leone-esque glare from me (I think I’d stop short of attempting to drown the contrarian, as occurs in the film). The Passion of Joan of Arc makes room for some brilliant tracking shots as well, but they are not inseparable from the film’s other masterful aspects, while those in Murnau’s movie are.
1930s: There are two major elements in the mastery of camera movement: the gracefulness and precision of the movement itself, and the ability to reframe from composition to composition. Murnau was the first to master the former, and Renoir was the earliest genius of the latter. The Rules of the Game is his bold, energetic magnum opus.
1940s: Rope seems to be ignored or at least pushed to the margins of discussions when listing the most important films of Hitchcock’s work and the 1940s’ greatest achievements. I wholeheartedly disagree. It is a revolutionary piece camera movement artistry.
1950s: We will never know Madame’s surname, just as we will never know how Ophuls came to be such a master of effortless, elegant camera movement. However, the fact remains that he was, and The Earrings of Madame de… has a robust case as the greatest work of the cinematic style element in the entire 20th century.
1960s: It sounds odd to say it due to the decade’s high reputation as an especially artistically fertile period, but I believe the 1960s falls rather stagnant in the area of camera movement. First off, let me note I have yet to see I Am Cuba, which might flip that conjecture. 8 1/2 has some glorious moments of dynamic motion, and thus lands as a possibility. 2001 contains a few equally brilliant shots in the category, as do The Trial and Andrei Rublev.
1970s: Andrei Tarkovsky’s camera in Stalker does not, in fact, “stalk” anything. Instead, it glides along with its subjects, slowly, calmly, and most of all masterfully. Tarkovsky’s style barely lets the viewer even know that the camera is in motion, and still it adds to the mesmerizing effect of the movie.
1980s: Most horror films use flashy jump cuts and forceful craze to create eeriness and terror. In The Shining, Kubrick dabbles with these techniques, but he favors something more unique, and, I believe, better: he pushes us around with eerie tracking shots, most iconically the tricycle scenes.
1990s: As far back as it can remember, Goodfellas always wanted to be the best camera movement film of the 90s. To it, being the best camera movement film of the 90s was better than being a gangster.
2000s: Children of Men may ultimately prove to be considered the greatest work of camera movement throughout cinema’s history. Never has the technique created as much tension and intensity as in the movie’s car attack scene. With that, we have enough to declare the best camera movement of the decade, but there is another long take, arguably even greater, that you described in your page for the movie: “The baby crying causing the cease fire and the long take (the longest of the film) of the POV battle tracking shot on Owen’s shoulder is transcendent.” I agree.
2010s: The 2010s is clearly the triumphant decade of camera movement. Many of its best films are particularly exceptional with the technique. La La Land and Gravity’s opening scenes, Roma’s intimate yet grand tracking shots, and The Revenant’s graceful brutality present a solid case, but I choose Birdman as the leader. Innaritu successfully builds upon Hitchcock’s Rope technique, crafting an engaging, creative work.
What are everyone’s choices for each decade?
@Graham– this is awesome. You make the right choices (there’s a handful of films and filmmakers that you could debate for each) and you made my laugh several times here throughout. Thanks for sharing this. So for the 1960’s it is 100% I Am Cuba– excited to see what you think of that one when you get to it. I’ll leave out a dozen films (a few of those belonging to Bela Tarr) if I start adding my own but I’ll say Paths of Glory is a decent choice in the 1950’s (tracking along the trenches– also makes for a nice companion piece with The Shining), I like comparing young PTA in Boogie Nights to Scorsese in the 1990’s (there are other good choices too) and for the 2010’s you could go in a few directions– but I think you named the big ones here.
Thank you! I’m glad you agree with many of my choices. I Am Cuba remains the highest ranked film on your top 500 list I have not been able to find. I hope that when I am able to see it, my high expectations will be fulfilled. Boogie Nights is another movie I have yet to watch (I could not resist choosing Goodfellas due to the opportunity to parody the quote haha). I agree that Paths of Glory is also a great choice for the 1950s, as is Touch of Evil. I think there is a legitimate debate between PoG and The Shining for the title of Kubrick’s best instance of camera movement.
Wrapped up his filmography tonight with Roma, whew, that has me pretty speechless.
Watched this week:
Roma – MP (Just blew me away, I’m ready to say it must be at least in the top 05-10 of the decade which puts him as a genuine contender for best director of the century)
Gravity – HR (Didn’t hit hard as watching this on the TV but I also don’t like using that as an excuse for its quality)
Great Expectations – HR (Favourite from the “Green trilogy”)
Sólo con tu pareja – R/HR (leaning R)
A Little Princess – R/HR (leaning R)
Watched previously:
Children of Men – MP (Either best or second-best of the decade, can’t decide, his best film to me)
Prisoner of Azkaban – HR (haven’t seen in a few years but feel this is how I would rank it)
Y Tu Mamá También – Fringe R (DEFINITELY need to check this out again, must have had a bad day)
So I’ve got to give Y Tu Mamá También and Gravity some more chances but I feel pretty confident about where I stand otherwise. I could not believe Roma was done without Lubezki and it’s arguably his most beautiful film (Malick in black and white…) , has to be one of the finest products of a director working as a cinematographer I can think of.
I’ve done Innaritu and now Cuaron this year so I think I might get to Del Toro to wrap up the Mexican new wave studies.
Great job, I would love to go back and watch his earlier work at some point. Roma is my favourite of his and every so often I come dangerously close to putting it above The Tree of Life as the best of the decade. Just curious, were you a Harry Potter fan growing up? Those were probably the first movies I ever really got into as a kid, but I could tell Prisoner of Azkaban was something special among them.
@Declan Yeah I was definitely a fan of the first few when I was young and I remember being blown away by Prisoner of Azkaban
Do take a look at his older work when you have time, it’ll surprise you
@Harry- This is awesome- thank you for sharing.
Cuaron’s next project is a TV show with Cate Blanchett, and he’s reuniting with Lubezki! Can’t even begin to describe how excited I am for it! Also, seems like till now, Cate Blanchett is the only major actor who has worked with all the Three Amigos; Inarritu, Cuaron and Del Toro. Curious to know, is there anyone else who has done the same?
@Joel- certainly an exciting project- wish it wasn’t television- but still. I think you’re right on Blanchett working with all three. I can’t think of another actor – some (like Gael Garcia Bernal) has worked with 2 of the 3.
Apparently, Disclaimer has finally finished shooting after 230 days (?!!) – Blanchett remarked that it was more like shooting 7 movies. Sounds fascinating. And the DOP is not just Lubezki, it’s Delbonnel as well.
https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/eugcbjfw1pbdm9j56c9adby60joarn
@Joel- Just read this as well – I’m bouncing off of worldofreel.com multiple times per day – great site. Very fascinating, indeed. Can’t wait. Thanks for sharing this.
Yess – I check out that site quite a lot as well!
On a separate note, were you able to catch Tar Drake? Scorsese, PTA, Cuaron, all have come out in such glowing praise of Todd Field and Blanchett- and the critical acclaim is through the roof to say the least.
@Joel- I was able to catch Tar – twice actually. And yes- wow- saw the praise from Scorsese, PTA and Cuaron.
@Drake- what’r your thoughts on Tar? I think it’s overrated.
@M*A*S*H- still gathering my thoughts here a little- had the second viewing just two nights ago.
@M*A*S*H- Very curious to know why you thought so- I loved it.