Jump to content

Alfonso Cuarón: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
AnbyG (talk | contribs)
83 edits
m Added information in the template
Line 5: Line 5:
{{BLP sources|date=May 2018}}
{{BLP sources|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Alfonso Cuarón
| name = Alfonso Cuarón
| image = Alfonso Cuarón (2013) cropped.jpg
| image = Alfonso Cuarón (2013) cropped.jpg
| caption = Cuarón in July 2013
| caption = Cuarón in July 2013
| birth_name = Alfonso Cuarón Orozco
| birth_name = Alfonso Cuarón Orozco
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1961|11|28}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1961|11|28}}
| birth_place = [[Mexico City]], Mexico
| birth_place = [[Mexico City]], [[Mexico]]
| residence = [[London]], England
| residence = [[London]], [[England]], [[New York]]
| nationality = Mexican
⚫
| occupation = Director, screenwriter, producer, editor
| alma_mater = [[National Autonomous University of Mexico]]
⚫
| years_active = 1981–present
⚫
| occupation = Director, screenwriter, producer, editor
⚫
| spouse = {{marriage|Mariana Elizondo|1980|1993|end=div}}<br>{{marriage|Annalisa Bugliani|2001|2008|end=div}}
⚫
| years_active = 1981–present
⚫
| children = 3, including [[Jonás Cuarón]]
⚫
| spouse = {{marriage|Mariana Elizondo|1980|1993|end=div}}<br>{{marriage|Annalisa Bugliani|2001|2008|end=div}}
⚫
| relatives = [[Carlos Cuarón]] (brother)
⚫
| children = 3, including [[Jonás Cuarón]]
⚫
| relatives = [[Carlos Cuarón]] (brother)
| honours = [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]]
[[Directors Guild of America Award]]
}}
}}


Revision as of 13:29, 4 April 2019

"Cuarón" redirects here. For other people with the surname, see Cuarón (surname).

Template:Spanish name

Alfonso Cuarón
Cuarón in July 2013
Born
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco

(1961-11-28) 28 November 1961 (age 63)
Mexico City, Mexico
NationalityMexican
Alma materNational Autonomous University of Mexico
Occupation(s)Director, screenwriter, producer, editor
Years active1981–present
Spouse(s)
Mariana Elizondo
​
​
(m. 1980; div. 1993)​

Annalisa Bugliani
​
​
(m. 2001; div. 2008)​
Children3, including Jonás Cuarón
RelativesCarlos Cuarón (brother)
HonoursBritish Academy of Film and Television Arts Directors Guild of America Award

Alfonso Cuarón Orozco (US: /kwɑːˈroʊn/;[1] Template:IPA-es pronunciationⓘ; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, and editor. His work has received critical acclaim and many accolades. He has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won five, including two Best Director awards for Gravity (2013) and Roma (2018). He is the first Latin American director to receive the award for Best Director. He has also received Academy Awards for Best Film Editing for Gravity and Best Cinematography for Roma. Cuarón's other notable films include the family drama A Little Princess (1995), the drama Y Tu Mamá También (2001), the fantasy film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), and the dystopian thriller Children of Men (2006).

Early life

Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born in Mexico City on 28 November 1961, the son of Alfredo Cuarón, a doctor specializing in nuclear medicine, and Cristina Orozco, a pharmaceutical biochemist.[2] He has two brothers, Carlos, also a filmmaker, and Alfredo, a conservation biologist. Cuarón studied philosophy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and filmmaking at CUEC (Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos), a school within the same university. There, he met the director Carlos Marcovich and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, and they made what would be his first short film, Vengeance Is Mine.

Career

Early career

Cuarón began working on television in Mexico, 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, Gaby: A True Story and Romero, and in 1991, he landed his first big-screen directorial assignment.

Sólo con Tu Pareja

Sólo con Tu Pareja is 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. In addition to writing, producing and directing, Cuarón co-edited the film with Luis Patlán. It is somewhat unusual for directors to be credited co-editors, although the Coen Brothers and Robert Rodriguez have both directed and edited nearly all of their films. Cuarón continued this close involvement in editing on several of his later films.

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, Jonathan Kaplan, Peter Bogdanovich and Tom Hanks.

International success

In 1995, Cuarón released his first feature film produced in the United States, A Little Princess, an adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic novel. Cuarón's next feature was also a literary adaptation, a modernized version of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations starring Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert De Niro.

Cuarón's next project found him 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 them. 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. Cuarón shared an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay with co-writer and brother Carlos Cuarón.

In 2004, Cuarón directed the third film in the successful Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Cuarón faced criticism from some Harry Potter fans for his approach to the film. At the time of the movie's release, 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.[3] 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.[4]

Cuarón's feature Children of Men, an adaptation of the P. D. James novel starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore 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).

Cuaron in the 72nd Venice International Film Festival

He created the production and distribution company Esperanto Filmoj (Esperanto Films, named because of his support for the international language Esperanto[5]), which has credits in the films Duck Season, Pan's Labyrinth, and Gravity.

Cuarón also directed the controversial public service announcement "I Am Autism" for Autism Speaks that was criticized by disability rights groups for its negative portrayal of autism.[6]

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 was released in the fall of 2013[7] and opened the 70th Venice International Film Festival in August.[8] On 12 January 2014, Alfonso accepted the Golden Globe Award 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,[9] while he and Mark Sanger received the award for Best Film Editing.[10]

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 Productions and Warner Bros. Television. In 2014, TIME placed him in its list of "100 Most Influential People in the World" – Pioneers.[11]

In May 2015, Cuarón was announced as the President of the Jury for the 72nd Venice International Film Festival.[12]

Production began in fall 2016 for Cuarón's eighth film, Roma, a semi-autobiographical tale of a housekeeper for a middle class Mexican family in 1970s Mexico City. The project was produced by Cuarón, Gabriela Rodríguez and Nicolás Celis. The film debuted at 75th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion,[13] and was distributed to select theaters in Mexico and United States before its online release on Netflix. Roma was highly acclaimed upon release; among its accolades are two Golden Globes (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.

Personal life

Cuarón is a vegetarian[14][15] and has been living in London since 2000.[16]

Cuarón's first marriage was to Mariana Elizondo, with whom he has a son, Jonás Cuarón, born in 1981.[17] His second marriage, from 2001 to 2008, was to Italian actress and freelance journalist Annalisa Bugliani, with whom he has two children: Tess Bu Cuarón, born 2002, and Olmo Teodoro Cuarón, born 2005.[17]

He has publicly shown his fascination for the Esperanto language and his support for the Esperanto movement[18]. In fact, he called his production company Esperanto Filmoj.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Writer Producer Editor
1991 Sólo con Tu Pareja Yes Yes Yes Yes Directorial Debut
co-written with Carlos Cuarón
1995 A Little Princess Yes No No No
1998 Great Expectations Yes No No No
2001 Y Tu Mamá También Yes Yes Yes Yes Co-written with Carlos Cuarón
2004 Crónicas No No Yes No
2004 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Yes No No No
2004 The Assassination of Richard Nixon No No Yes No
2005 Black Sun[19] No No Yes No Documentary
2006 Children of Men Yes Yes No Yes Co-written with Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata,
Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby
2006 Pan's Labyrinth No No Yes No
2008 Rudo y Cursi No No Yes No
2013 Gravity Yes Yes Yes Yes Co-written with Jonás Cuarón
2015 Desierto No No Yes No
2015 This Changes Everything[20] No No Yes No Documentary
2018 Roma Yes Yes Yes Yes Also cinematographer

Short films

Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Writer Producer Editor
1983 Who's He Anyway Yes Yes No Yes Co-written with Mariana Elizondo
Vengeance Is Mine Yes Yes No Yes Co-written and co-directed with Carlos Marcovich
Cuarteto para el fin del tiempo Yes Yes No Yes Also cinematographer, alongside Emmanuel Lubezki
2006 Parc Monceau Yes Yes No No Segment of Paris, je t'aime
2007 The Possibility of Hope Yes Yes Yes No Short Documentary
The Shock Doctrine No Yes Yes No Short Documentary
2013 Aningaaq No No executive No Spin-off of Gravity, included as a bonus in the DVD[21]

Television

Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Writer Producer Editor
1988-1989 La Hora Marcada Yes Yes No Yes Writer and director (6 episodes),
Editor (1 episode),
Also cinematographer (5 episodes)
1993 Fallen Angels Yes No No No Episode: "Murder, Obliquely"
2014 Believe Yes Yes executive No Co-creator;
Co-writer and director, Episode: "Pilot"
TBA Ascension Yes Yes executive No TV movie, Announced

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Alfonso Cuarón
Awards and nominations received by Alfonso Cuarón
Year Work Academy Awards[10] BAFTA Awards[22] Golden Globe Awards[23]
Nominations Wins Nominations Wins Nominations Wins
2001 Y Tu Mamá También 1 2 1
2004 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 1
2006 Pan's Labyrinth 1 1
2006 Children of Men 2
2013 Gravity 3 2 5 2 2 1
2018 Roma 5 3 6 4 3 2
Total 11 5 15 7 6 3

See also

References

  1. ^ "Say How: C". National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  2. ^ Valdes, Marcela (13 December 2018). "After 'Gravity,' Alfonso Cuarón Had His Pick of Directing Blockbusters. Instead, He Went Home to Make 'Roma.'". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  3. ^ J.K. Rowling Archived 4 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 17 January 2007.
  4. ^ "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".
  5. ^ Interview by Sam Green with Cuarón.
  6. ^ Asansouthwestohio (23 September 2009). "Autistic Self Advocacy Network, SW Ohio: Autistic Community Condemns Autism Speaks".
  7. ^ "Movie News: Movie Reviews, Trailers, Photos - EW.com".
  8. ^ Venice Film Festival 2013: Sandra Bullock stuns in a scarlet dress with George Clooney | Mail Online. Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved on 2014-05-22.
  9. ^ "Who Is Roma Director Alfonso Cuarón? You've Definitely Seen His Incredible Movies". Harper's Bazaar. 23 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Academy Awards Search". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  11. ^ "The 100 Most Influential People – Pioneers: Alfonso Cuarón". TIME.com. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  12. ^ "Director Alfonso Cuarón President of the International Jury for the Venezia 72 Competition". Venice Biennale. 11 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  13. ^ Kroll, Justin (8 September 2016). "Alfonso Cuaron Sets Mexican Family Drama as Next Film". Variety.
  14. ^ Dan P. Lee (22 September 2013). "The Camera's Cusp: Alfonso Cuarón Takes Filmmaking to a New Extreme With Gravity". Vulture.com. Pietrasanta, Italy: New York. Retrieved 12 July 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Vogue Arts – Down to Earth". Loquet London. 12 December 2013. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Baftas 2014: Alfonso Cuarón wins best director for Gravity | Film. theguardian.com. Retrieved on 2014-05-22.
  17. ^ a b "Anuncia Cuarón separación matrimonial de su segunda esposa". La Crónica (in Spanish). NOTIMEX. 23 June 2008. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  18. ^ http://esperantodocumentary.com/blog/an-interview-with-director-alfonso-cuaron.html
  19. ^ "Black Sun". British Council. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  20. ^ "'This Changes Everything' Trailer: Climate Change Docu Based On Naomi Klein's Bestseller Set For Toronto Premiere". Deadline Hollywood. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  21. ^ JAGERNAUTH, KEVIN. "'Gravity' Companion Short Film 'Aningaaq' By Jonas Cuaron Will Be Released As A DVD Extra". indiewire.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2013.
  22. ^ "Awards Database". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  23. ^ "Search". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alfonso Cuarón.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Alfonso_Cuarón&oldid=890925177"