Naked Fear

Rating: 10/10 (29 August 2014)

Air. Breath. Oxygen. How much of it do we take for granted? Cold. Dark. Alone. How many of us have really experienced it? Space. Void. Black. Fear. How many of us can really comprehend it? To be in space is at once beautiful, thrilling and terrifying. Like a sailor adrift in an ocean on a dark night, Earth shines like a beacon - near and yet so far. Always just out of reach. Out there, everything is put into perspective and you realize your insignificance in front of it all. Alfonso Cuaron gives you an experience that few can match. It gives you an astronaut's view and shows you the enormity of nothingness. Sounds antithetical, doesn't it? But, that's exactly how it is. From here, from the security of land, of Earth, we gaze up at the stars and wonder about aliens and exotic planets. And sometimes, the black nothingness that lies in between encroaches our vision and thoughts.
This film does not preach, and like Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Tarkovsky's Solaris, this film shows, in a very unique way, the meaning of life and of survival. Out there, there is everything and there is nothing. There is just you. Facing it is the ultimate test.
Watching this film made me realize how much of our planet we take for granted. We seldom think that gravity is the anchor that keeps us home. The subtle meaning and choice of words are integral themes in the film - that of a mother who has lost her daughter, who has lost her hope, her anchoring, or to put it bluntly, her gravity. She is drifting, literally and mentally. But she finds that courage to cling on and return.
In this film, you come face to face with the sheer horror of space, of the impenetrable, intangible, all-encompassing, never-ending darkness. How you intend to face it alone is up to you.