Alfonso Cuarón Orozco ( ; ; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker.
His accolades include four
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...
, three
Golden Globe Awards
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...
and seven
BAFTA Awards.
Cuarón made his feature film debut with the romantic comedy ''
Sólo con tu pareja'' (1991), and directed the film adaptations ''
A Little Princess'' (1995), and ''
Great Expectations'' (1998). His breakthrough came with the coming-of-age film ''
Y tu mamá también'' (2001) which earned him a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He gained greater prominence for directing the fantasy film ''
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' (2004), the dystopian drama ''
Children of Men'' (2006), the science fiction drama
''Gravity'' (2013), and the semi-autobiographical drama
''Roma'' (2018). The latter two won him
Academy Awards for Best Director. He also won
Best Film Editing for ''Gravity'' and
Best Cinematography for ''Roma''.
Early life and education
Cuarón was born in
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
, the son of Alfredo Cuarón, a doctor specializing in nuclear medicine, and Cristina Orozco, a pharmaceutical biochemist. He has a sister Christina, and two brothers;
Carlos, also a filmmaker, and Alfredo, a conservation biologist. Cuarón studied philosophy at the
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...
and filmmaking at the
Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos,
a school within the same university. There he met the director
Carlos Marcovich and
cinematographer
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...
Emmanuel Lubezki,
and they made what would be his first short film, ''Vengeance Is Mine''.
Career
1990–1999: Rise to prominence
Cuarón began working on television in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, first as a technician and then as a director. His television work led to assignments as an assistant director for several film productions including ''
La Gran Fiesta'' (1985), ''
Gaby: A True Story'' (1987) and ''
Romero
The name Romero is a nickname type of surname for an Ancient Roman or a modern day Italian. The name was originally derived from the Latin word Romaeus and the Greek word Romaios, which mean Rome, Roman.
#A person on a religious journey or pilgrim ...
'' (1989). In 1991 he landed his first big-screen directorial assignment, ''
Sólo con tu pareja'', a sex comedy about a womanizing businessman (played by
Daniel Giménez Cacho) who, after having sex with an attractive nurse, is fooled into believing he's contracted
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
. In addition to writing, producing and directing, Cuarón co-edited the film with Luis Patlán. The film, which also starred cabaret singer
Astrid Hadad and model/actress
Claudia Ramírez (with whom Cuarón was linked between 1989 and 1993) was a big hit in Mexico. After this success, director
Sydney Pollack hired Cuarón to direct an episode of ''
Fallen Angels'', a series of
neo-noir stories produced for the
Showtime premium cable network in 1993; other directors who worked on the series included
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh ( ; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. A pioneer of modern Independent film, independent cinema, Soderbergh later drew acclaim for formally inventiv ...
,
Jonathan Kaplan
Jonathan Kaplan (born November 25, 1947) is an American film producer and film director, director. His film ''The Accused (1988 film), The Accused'' (1988) earned actress Jodie Foster the Academy Awards, Oscar for Academy Award for Best Actress ...
,
Peter Bogdanovich, and
Tom Hanks. The episode was entitled, "Murder, Obliquely" (1993) starring
Laura Dern,
Alan Rickman, and
Diane Lane.
In 1995, Cuarón released his first feature film produced in the United States, ''
A Little Princess'', an adaptation of
Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic
1905 novel of the same name. The film received critical acclaim with
Janet Maslin of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' declaring, "
he filmis a bright, beautiful and enchantingly childlike vision", one that "draw
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". The film went on to receive two
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nominations for
Best Cinematography and
Best Production Design. Cuarón's next feature was also a literary adaptation, a modernized version of
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
's ''
Great Expectations'' starring
Ethan Hawke,
Gwyneth Paltrow, and
Robert De Niro. The film received mixed reviews to negative reviews. Russell Smith of ''
The Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...
'' 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. This ''Great Expectations'' has a seductive, enchanting feel that has nothing to do with sweet, gauzy sentiments or calculatedly “magical” Hollywood imagery".
2000–2009: Career breakthrough and success
In 2001, Cuarón found himself returning to Mexico with a Spanish-speaking cast to film ''
Y tu mamá también'', starring
Gael García Bernal,
Diego Luna and
Maribel 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. 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. Critic
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
of ''
The Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily Non-profit journalism, nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation am ...
'' wrote, "It is clear Cuaron is a gifted director, and here he does his best work to date." Cuarón shared an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nomination for
Best Original Screenplay with co-writer and brother
Carlos Cuarón.
In 2004, Cuarón directed the third film in the successful ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' series, ''
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban''. Cuarón faced criticism at the time from some ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' fans for his approach to the film, notably its tendency to take more creative liberties with the source material than its predecessors. However, author
J. K. Rowling, who had seen and loved Cuarón's film ''Y tu mamá también'', said that it was her personal favorite from the series so far. Critically, the film was also better received than the first two installments, with some critics remarking its new tone and for being the first ''Harry Potter'' film to truly capture the essence of the novels. It has been subsequently rated by audience polls and critics as the best of the movie franchise series. The film earned two
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nominations for
Best Visual Effects and
Best Original Score for
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
.
In 2006, Cuarón's feature ''
Children of Men'', an adaptation of the
P. D. James novel
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
starring
Clive Owen
Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...
,
Julianne Moore
Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress and children's author. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent ...
, and
Michael Caine, received wide critical acclaim including three Academy Award nominations. Cuarón himself received two nominations for his work on the film, in
Best Film Editing (with
Alex Rodríguez) and
Best Adapted Screenplay (with several collaborators).
He created the production and distribution company
Esperanto Filmoj ("Esperanto Films", named because of his support for the international language
Esperanto
Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...
), which has credits in the films ''
Duck Season'', ''
Pan's Labyrinth'', and ''
Gravity
In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
''. He was also a co-founder of the production company, the "Tequila Gang" together with filmmaker
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...
, screenwriter
Laura Esquivel, producer Berta Navarro and sales agent Rosa Bosch.
Cuarón directed the controversial public service announcement ''I Am Autism'' (2009) for
Autism Speaks that was criticized by disability rights groups for its negative portrayal of autism.
2010–present: Awards recognition
In 2010, Cuarón began to develop the film ''Gravity'', a drama set in space. He was joined by producer
David Heyman, with whom Cuarón worked on ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban''. Starring
Sandra Bullock and
George Clooney, the film opened the
70th Venice International Film Festival in August. The film was then released in America in October 2013. The film became a financial success, earning 723.2 million at the box office against a budget of 130 million. The film also received many awards nominations. For the film, he received the
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...
in the category of
Best Director. The film received ten Academy Award nominations, including
Best Picture and
Best Director. Cuarón won for Best Directing, becoming the first Latin American to win the award, while he and
Mark Sanger received the award for Best Film Editing.
In 2013, Cuarón created ''
Believe'', a science fiction/fantasy/adventure series that was broadcast as part of the 2013–14 United States network television schedule on
NBC as a mid-season entry. The series was created by Cuarón for
Bad Robot and
Warner Bros. Television. In 2014, ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' placed him in its list of "
100 Most Influential People in the World" – Pioneers.
In May 2015, Cuarón was announced as the president of the jury for the
72nd Venice International Film Festival.
Production began in fall 2016 for Cuarón's eighth film, ''
Roma'', a tale of a housekeeper for a middle class Mexican family in 1970s Mexico City, based on the life of his family's longtime maid, Liboria Rodríguez. The project was produced by Cuarón,
Gabriela Rodríguez and
Nicolás Celis and starred
Yalitza Aparicio and
Marina de Tavira both of whom received
Oscar nominations. The film debuted at the
75th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the
Golden Lion, and was distributed to select Mexican and American theaters before its online release on
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
. ''Roma'' was highly acclaimed upon release; among its accolades are two Golden Globes (
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Director for Cuarón) and three Academy Awards (Best Director,
Best Foreign Language Film, and
Best Cinematography for Cuarón) out of a leading ten nominations.
In 2019, Cuaron signed an overall TV deal at
Apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
. His first series for Apple was the psychological thriller ''
Disclaimer'', starring
Cate Blanchett,
Kevin Kline,
Louis Partridge and
Sasha Baron Cohen; it is based on the eponymous novel by Renée Knight, with Cuaron writing and directing every episode.
Style and themes
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 of
documentary film
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
.
In his first feature film the average shot length is around six seconds, and ten years later for ''Y Tu Mama Tambien'' the average increased to 19.6 seconds. ''The Prisoner of Azkaban'' had an average of seconds, while the subsequent ''Children of Men'' had an extraordinary average of 16 seconds between cuts. A typical Hollywood movie cuts every two seconds. 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 after ''Y, Tu Mama Tambien''. That film is in the form of an American road movie, along with teen movie elements. Voice-over narration adds a documentary feel. The narration, interjected by a non-diagetic voice not belonging to any character, highlights the socioeconomic state of not only the main characters, but also minor characters who otherwise seem irrelevant to the overall narrative.
As mentioned above, the voice-over narration in ''Y Tu Mama Tambien'' contains political messages. In the aforementioned film 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. Cuarón also addresses Mexican history such as colonialism and the long unfulfilled promises of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Using the same film as an example 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 Revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, yet the name does not push Julio into action or in other words he lacks the initiative and interest in the country. These same themes of identity and history, particularly of Mexico, were first addressed in his first feature film ''Solo con tu pareja''. In both films Cuarón uses allegory that ties into a national identity and/or history. On top of these themes he also tackles class, but that can be considered a subcategory of economics or politics in which he already grapples with.
Personal life
Cuarón's first marriage was to Mariana Elizondo with whom he has a son,
Jonás Cuarón
Jonás Cuarón Elizondo (born 1981) is a Mexican film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer, Film editor, editor and cinematographer. He is the son of the Academy Award-winner Alfonso Cuarón and his first wife, Mariana Elizondo.
Cua ...
, born in 1981. Jonás is also a film director, known for ''
Year of the Nail'' and ''
Desierto''.
Alfonso's second marriage, from 2001 to 2008, was to Italian actress and freelance journalist Annalisa Bugliani, with whom he has two children.
He has publicly shown his fascination for the Esperanto language and his support for the
Esperanto movement. 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 of
Israeli bombardment in Gaza.
Cuarón is a vegetarian
and has been living in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
since 2000.
Baftas 2014: Alfonso Cuarón wins best director for Gravity , Film
. theguardian.com. Retrieved on 2014-05-22.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
See also
* Esperanto Filmoj
* Cha Cha Cha Films
* Cinema of Mexico
* List of Mexican Academy Award winners and nominees
* List of Academy Award records
References
External links
*
Alfonso Cuarón: A Life in Pictures
BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
webcast, 27 July 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuaron, Alfonso
1961 births
Living people
Best Cinematographer Academy Award winners
Best Cinematography BAFTA Award winners
Best Directing Academy Award winners
Best Director AACTA International Award winners
Best Director BAFTA Award winners
Best Director Golden Globe winners
Best Film Editing Academy Award winners
Directors Guild of America Award winners
Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners
Directors of Golden Lion winners
English-language film directors
Fantasy film directors
Filmmakers who won the Best Film BAFTA Award
Filmmakers who won the Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award
Film directors from Mexico City
Hugo Award–winning writers
Mexican cinematographers
Mexican Esperantists
Mexican expatriates in the United Kingdom
Mexican film producers
Mexican film directors
Mexican people of Spanish descent
Mexican screenwriters
Mexican television directors
Mexican television producers
Mexican television writers
National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni
Nebula Award winners
Science fiction film directors
Spanish-language film directors
Writers from Mexico City