Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born 28 November 1961 inMexico City,[3] the son of Alfredo Cuarón, a doctor specializing in nuclear medicine, and Cristina Orozco, a pharmaceutical biochemist.[4] He has a sister Christina, and two brothers;Carlos, also a filmmaker,[5] and Alfredo, aconservation biologist.[6]
Cuarón began working on television inMexico, first as a technician and then as a director. His television work led to assignments as an assistant director for several film productions includingLa Gran Fiesta (1985),Gaby: A True Story (1987) andRomero (1989). In 1991 he landed his first big-screen directorial assignment,Sólo con tu pareja, a sex comedy about a womanizing businessman (played byDaniel Giménez Cacho) who, after having sex with an attractive nurse, is fooled into believing he's contractedAIDS. In addition to writing, producing and directing, Cuarón co-edited the film with Luis Patlán.[10] The film, which also starred cabaret singerAstrid Hadad and model/actressClaudia Ramírez (with whom Cuarón was linked between 1989 and 1993) was a big hit in Mexico. After this success, directorSydney Pollack hired Cuarón to direct an episode ofFallen Angels, a series ofneo-noir stories produced for theShowtime premium cable network in 1993; other directors who worked on the series includedSteven Soderbergh,Jonathan Kaplan,Peter Bogdanovich, andTom Hanks. The episode was entitled, "Murder, Obliquely" (1993) starringLaura Dern,Alan Rickman, andDiane Lane.[11]
In 1995, Cuarón released his first feature film produced in the United States,A Little Princess, an adaptation ofFrances Hodgson Burnett's classic1905 novel of the same name. The film received critical acclaim withJanet Maslin ofThe New York Times declaring, "[the film] is a bright, beautiful and enchantingly childlike vision", one that "draw[s] its audience into the wittily heightened reality of a fairy tale" and "takes enough liberties to re-invent rather than embalm Miss Burnett's assiduously beloved story".[12] The film went on to receive twoAcademy Award nominations forBest Cinematography andBest Production Design.[13] Cuarón's next feature was also a literary adaptation, a modernized version ofCharles Dickens'sGreat Expectations starringEthan Hawke,Gwyneth Paltrow, andRobert De Niro. The film received mixed reviews to negative reviews.[14] Russell Smith ofThe Austin Chronicle did however praise the film writing, ". What's truly intriguing about this film, though, is the stylishness with which Cuaron (A Little Princess) reinvents Dickens' hoary, often-remade tale. ThisGreat Expectations has a seductive, enchanting feel that has nothing to do with sweet, gauzy sentiments or calculatedly “magical” Hollywood imagery".[15] Still,Great Expectations managed to earn $55 million at the global box office, surpassing its $25 million production budget.
Cuarón andClive Owen. They worked together onChildren of Men.
In 2001, Cuarón found himself returning to Mexico with a Spanish-speaking cast to filmY tu mamá también, starringGael García Bernal,Diego Luna andMaribel Verdú. It was a provocative and controversial road comedy about two sexually obsessed teenagers who take an extended road trip with an attractive married woman who is much older than they. The film's open portrayal of sexuality and frequent rude humor, as well as the politically and socially relevant asides, made the film an international hit and a major success with critics.[16][17] The film was distributed through IFC in America allowing the film to collect $13.8 million in the United States, unparalleled at the time for Latin American films.[18] CriticRoger Ebert ofThe Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "It is clear Cuaron is a gifted director, and here he does his best work to date."[19] Cuarón shared anAcademy Award nomination forBest Original Screenplay with co-writer and brotherCarlos Cuarón.
In 2004, Cuarón directed the third film in the successfulHarry Potter series,Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Cuarón faced criticism at the time from someHarry Potter fans for his approach to the film, notably its tendency to take more creative liberties with the source material than its predecessors.[20] However, authorJ. K. Rowling, who had seen and loved Cuarón's filmY tu mamá también, said that it was her personal favorite from the series so far.[21] Critically, the film was also better received than the first two installments, with some critics remarking its new tone and for being the firstHarry Potter film to truly capture the essence of the novels.[22] It has been subsequently rated by audience polls and critics as the best of the movie franchise series.[23] The film earned twoAcademy Award nominations forBest Visual Effects andBest Original Score forJohn Williams.[24]
He created the production and distribution companyEsperanto Filmoj ("Esperanto Films", named because of his support for the international languageEsperanto[25]), which has credits in the filmsDuck Season,Pan's Labyrinth, andGravity. He was also a co-founder of the production company, the "Tequila Gang" together with filmmakerGuillermo del Toro, screenwriterLaura Esquivel, producer Berta Navarro and sales agent Rosa Bosch.[26] Cuarón directed the controversial public service announcementI Am Autism (2009) forAutism Speaks that was criticized by disability rights groups for its negative portrayal of autism.[27]
In 2010, Cuarón began to develop the filmGravity, a drama set in space. He was joined by producerDavid Heyman, with whom Cuarón worked onHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. StarringSandra Bullock andGeorge Clooney, the film opened the70th Venice International Film Festival in August. The film was then released in America in October 2013.[28] The film became a financial success, earning 723.2 million at the box office against a budget of 130 million.[29] The film also received many awards nominations. For the film, he received theGolden Globe Award in the category ofBest Director. The film received ten Academy Award nominations, includingBest Picture andBest Director. Cuarón won for Best Directing, becoming the first Latin American to win the award,[30] while he andMark Sanger received the award for Best Film Editing.[31]
Cuarón in 2013
In 2013, Cuarón createdBelieve, a science fiction/fantasy/adventure series that was broadcast as part of the 2013–14 United States network television schedule onNBC as a mid-season entry. The series was created by Cuarón forBad Robot andWarner Bros. Television. In 2014,Time placed him in its list of "100 Most Influential People in the World" – Pioneers.[32]
Cuaron's style is a mix of several mainstream Hollywood conventions while breaking from that dominant influence by taking an unorthodox approach that uses voiceover narration and by unconventionally lengthy shots. These longer cuts, narration, and often, moving cameras are more typical ofdocumentary film.[40]
In his first feature film the average shot length is around six seconds, and ten years later forY tu mamá también the average increased to 19.6 seconds.The Prisoner of Azkaban had an average of5+1⁄2 seconds, while the subsequentChildren of Men had an extraordinary average of 16 seconds between cuts. A typical Hollywood movie cuts every two seconds.[41] Cuarón's career shows mainstream Hollywood influences, which has spilled over to less mainstream films made outside of Hollywood.Children of Men was influenced by disaster and science fiction movie conventions.The Prisoner of Azkaban was a continuation of Cuarón's take on the coming-of-age genre afterY, Tu Mama Tambien.[42] That film is in the form of an American road movie, along with teen movie elements.[43]
The voice-over narration inY tu mamá también contains political messages; Cuarón tackles Mexican identity and sovereignty. With the backdrop of the 1990s and the advent of NAFTA and neoliberalism in Mexico, Cuarón critiques Mexico for the path they are heading towards a globalized economy and world.[44] Cuarón also addresses aspects of Mexican history, such as colonialism and the long unfulfilled promises of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. InY tu mamá también, the narrator states that a new political party is in power, but hints that no real change will come about. This is also supported with one of the main characters, Julio, sharing a last name with the Mexican revolutionaryEmiliano Zapata, yet the name does not push Julio into action; he lacks the initiative and interest in the country.[45]
Cuarón's first marriage was to Mariana Elizondo with whom he has a son,Jonás Cuarón, born in 1981. Jonás is also a film director, known forYear of the Nail andDesierto.[46] Alfonso's second marriage, from 2001 to 2008, was to Italian actress and freelance journalist Annalisa Bugliani, with whom he has two children.[46]
He has publicly shown his fascination for the Esperanto language and his support for theEsperanto movement.[47] He called his production company Esperanto Filmoj. In October 2023, Cuarón signed an open letter from artists to US President Joe Biden calling for a ceasefire ofIsraeli bombardment in Gaza.[48]
Cuarón is a vegetarian[40][49] and has been living inLondon since 2000.[50]
^Alvaray, Luisela. 2008. "National, Regional, and Global: New Waves of Latin American Cinema." Cinema Journal 47 (3): 48-65.https://doi.org/10.1353/cj.0.0002.
^Boehm, Erich; Carver, Benedict (4 September 1998)."Tequila Gang to pour pix".Variety. Los Angeles, California: Penske Media Group.Archived from the original on 10 March 2018. Retrieved9 March 2018.
^Udden, James. 2009. "Child of the Long Take: Alfonso Cuaron's Film Aesthetics in the Shadow of Globalization." Style (University Park,PA) 43 (1): 26-44.
^Baer, Hester, and Ryan Long. "Transnational Cinema and the Mexican State in Alfonso Cuarón's 'Y Tu Mamá También." South Central Review 21, no. 3 (2004): 150-68.
^Tierney, Dolores, "From Hollywood and Back: Alfonso Cuarón Adventures in Genre," in New Transnationalisms in Contemporary Latin America Cinemas (Edinburgh University Press, 2018), 76.
^Saldaña-Portillo, Maria Josefina. "In the Shadow of NAFTA: Y Tu Mamá También Revisits the National Allegory of Mexican Sovereignty." American Quarterly 57, no. 3 (2005): 751-77.
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