Alfonso Cuarón

Name:
Alfonso Cuarón
Real name:
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco
Birth date:
(63 y.o.)
Place of birth:
Mexico City, Mexico
Height:
5'12 ft ()
Relationship:
single
Birth Sign:
(characteristic)
Chinese zodiac:
Links:

Alfonso Cuarón's biography

Director Alfonso Cuarón brought the world acclaimed films like Great Expectations and Gravity. Cuarón is beloved by film academics, his movies rack up nominations and awards, and landing a role in his films is considered an honor among movie stars.
In the photo: Alfonso Cuarón
In the photo: Alfonso Cuarón

Childhood

The future director was born on November 28, 1961, in Mexico City. Alfonso is the eldest of three sons born to a physicist. One brother became a biologist, while the other, Carlos, also became a director (Rudo y Cursi).

Alfonso's family was considered prosperous. Cuarón's Oscar-nominated Roma is largely autobiographical, telling the story of a middle-class family against the backdrop of 1970s Mexico.
Director Alfonso Cuarón was born in Mexico City
Director Alfonso Cuarón was born in Mexico City
As a child, he never dreamed of filmmaking until he was given a movie camera. Before that, the boy wanted to become an astronaut or scientist like his father, but once he saw the world through the lens, everything changed. After school, Alfonso would go to the cinema and watch every film showing, then try to make his own movies.

First works

After graduating from school, the young man entered the university, where he began to study philosophy and also attended classes for filmmakers. In class, he met cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, who helped him make his first short film, Vengeance Is Mine—beginning a collaboration that would span many years.
Alfonso Cuarón and Emmanuel Lubezki
Alfonso Cuarón and Emmanuel Lubezki
The young director's first work backfired and became the reason he left university. The scandal erupted over copyright: university management insisted the film belonged to them since it was educational and couldn't be sold—something Cuarón refused to accept.

After the young man left the university, he began working as a technician on Mexican television and then received the position of assistant director.

The young director's feature film debut was the 1991 melodrama Sólo con Tu Pareja, where he boldly tackled the topic of AIDS with dark humor. What made the experiment so bold was Cuarón's approach: he dared to find humor in something that terrified people in the early '90s. The film screened in competition at the Toronto Film Festival.
A shot from the A Little Princess
A shot from the A Little Princess
His second film, 1995's A Little Princess, received two Oscar nominations. This fairy tale about a girl whose imagination helps her survive hardship won audiences' hearts and introduced the director to the world. The film starred Liesel Matthews and Liam Cunningham.

Best films

Great Expectations (1998), the drama starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow as aristocratic beauty Estella, melted the hearts of even the most skeptical film critics, according to Zoomboola.com.

This bright, modern take on Charles Dickens' novel, wrapped in stylish scenery, makes it clear that nothing in the world has changed for two hundred years – love, loyalty to dreams, and keeping one's word will always be the main values. The picture is considered one of the best screenings of the famous novel.
Like many of the artist's films, Great Expectations is shot in green tones. Green, according to the master, carries a double meaning – decay and hope at the same time, which perfectly reflects the duality of the characters' nature.
The title of the 2001 film Y Tu Mamá También, along with its comedy-drama genre, could scare off audiences – but not when it's directed by Cuarón. The success of his previous works drew audiences who were genuinely shocked by what they saw.
On the set of Y Tu Mamá También
On the set of Y Tu Mamá También
The romantic opening – two teenagers embarking on a journey with an older woman who teaches them about carnal love – isn't overshadowed by the story's tragic ending. The duality that runs through all the pictures of the Mexican director meant life and death in this case.

Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal starred in the film, which confirmed the emergence of an extraordinary director and won more than thirty awards. The film is included in the 20 best non-English-speaking films of all time.
Gael Garcia Bernal, Alfonso Cuarón and Diego Luna
Gael Garcia Bernal, Alfonso Cuarón and Diego Luna
In 2004, Cuarón took on the third installment of the Potter saga. The Prisoner of Azkaban stands out among the saga's films: the heroes are no longer children and face adult experiences, emphasized by the film's luxuriously gloomy atmosphere and matching production design. Inviting Gary Oldman for the role of Sirius Black was also Cuarón's idea.
Alfonso Cuaron and Daniel Radcliffe
Alfonso Cuaron and Daniel Radcliffe
In 2006, the director again surprised audiences with Children of Men, a fantastic drama-thriller starring Clive Owen. Interestingly, despite completely failing at the box office, the film received exclusively glowing reviews. In this terrible yet beautiful dystopia, the director predicts civilization's end but, unlike others, doesn't strip people of their humanity, leaving room for hope.
On the set of the Children of Men
On the set of the Children of Men
After a six-year break, the director presented Gravity, which won seven Academy Awards. Beyond the Academy Awards, Gravity also won the Golden Globe, Saturn, and six BAFTA awards. Only two actors appear in 2013's best film: George Clooney and Sandra Bullock.
Gravity - Trailer
Duality appears everywhere in the film: the serene beauty of the universe confronts the danger pursuing the astronauts, male prudence clashes with feminine intuition. Even experienced film scholars struggle to describe this movie – it represents an unimaginable level of skill and stands as a testament to true beauty and freedom.

In 2018, Cuarón released "Roma" – a stylized, deeply personal black-and-white film that stands apart from all his previous works. Cuarón served as producer, director, and cinematographer for this intimate portrait of a wealthy Mexican family set against the backdrop of 1970s political upheaval in Mexico.
Yalitza Aparicio, Marco Graf, Marina De Tavira played in the film. In February 2019, Roma earned ten Oscar nominations and won three, including Best Director.
Alfonso Cuaron's directing style in the Roma

Alfonso Cuarón's personal life

Cuarón's first wife was Mariana Elizondo, whom he met during his university years. Mariana became the mother of Jonás Cuarón, who followed in his father's footsteps and co-wrote the script for Gravity.
Alfonso Cuarón and Annalisa Bugliani
Alfonso Cuarón and Annalisa Bugliani
The marriage to Mariana lasted until 1993 and ended due to Alfonso's affair with actress Claudia Ramirez, who starred in his debut film. However, the director didn't marry Claudia. Instead, Annalisa Bugliani, a renowned film critic whom he met while presenting Y Tu Mamá También in Venice, became his second wife in 2001. From this marriage, the director has a daughter, Tess, and a son, Olmo, who has severe autism.
Alfonso Cuarón with his son Olmo and daughter Tess
Alfonso Cuarón with his son Olmo and daughter Tess
In 2008 Alfonso divorced again. Since 2011, he has been in a relationship with Sheherazade Goldsmith, who is ten years his junior. Sheherazade is half Colombian – an entrepreneur, jeweler, and environmental activist with three children from her first marriage to British MP Zac Goldsmith.

Alfonso Cuarón Now

In 2020, Alfonso produced Robert Zemeckis's "The Witches." The plot of the film tells the story of a boy who meets a witch who dreams of turning all children into mice. The lead role is performed by Anne Hathaway. He's also continuing work on the upcoming horror series "Ascension."

Alfonso Cuarón: latest news and articles

  • I was very impressed after the film «Roma». It is a pity that such works are few.
    2021-05-09 23:31:29
  • One of my favorite films is «Gravity» by Cuarón. I would like to see how exactly it was filmed.
    2021-05-03 21:33:18
  • A brave director. Now I read about his first work on AIDS. It`s powerful, of course.
    2021-04-24 13:29:08
  • That is, the third part about Harry Potter was actually shot by Alfonso Cuaron !? Wow... I thought it was always the same director.
    2021-04-21 09:00:15
  • Hmm, haven`t watched Cuaron`s films. To be honest, I didn`t even know about this. But I was interested :)
    2021-04-19 10:25:25
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