Over the course of the past 30+ years, Alfonso Cuarón has established himself as one of the world's preeminent auteurs. Cuarón is a seminal figure of the Nuevo Cine Mexicano film movement, alongside fellow countrymen Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Cuarón has maintained an intricate balance of directing the art house and the mainstream, working in both Mexico and Hollywood.
Despite working in a myriad of genres, Cuarón's films feature a consistent visual style that utilizes a combination of long takes with complex tracking shots, giving the audience a highly immersive cinematic experience. So far, Cuarón has directed several shorts and eight feature films. The first Mexican filmmaker to win Best Director, Cuarón has won four Academy Awards: two for directing, one for cinematography, and one for editing. It's easy to see his best-received work by looking at the IMDb ratings.
9 Sólo Con Tu Pareja (6.8) Starts Cuarón's Career
A social satire about a womanizer who is falsely diagnosed with AIDS by a jealous lover, Sólo con tu pareja was initially refused distribution by the Mexican government, making the film very difficult to see for years. However, the film did receive praise at the 1992 Ariel Awards where it won the award for Best Original Story. Nevertheless, Sólo con tu pareja only received a 6.8 rating on IMDb.
Sólo con tu pareja marked the first feature film collaboration between Cuarón and world-renowned cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. Cuarón and Lubezki have gone on to collaborate on six of Cuarón's eight feature films.
8 Great Expectations (6.8) Is Cuarón's Least-Acclaimed Film
Considered a disappointment by Cuarón himself, critics were mostly dismissive of this modern-day adaptation of the classic 1861 novel by Charles Dickens. Changing the setting from early nineteenth century London to 1990s New York City, Great Expectations features an all-star cast that includes Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Cooper, Anne Bancroft, and Robert De Niro.
Great Expectations also contains a pop soundtrack featuring artists such as the Grateful Dead, Chris Cornell, Iggy Pop, and Scott Weiland. Although the talented cast and great soundtrack were not enough to impress the critics, Great Expectations ended up being a modest box office success. However, the low IMDb rating of 6.8 indicates that those who did see the film were not overly enthralled.
7 Cuarón Directs The Parc Monceau Segment Of Paris, Je T'aime (7.2)
Released in 2006, Paris, je t'aime is an anthology film consisting of eighteen short films, each one centered on a different neighborhood of Paris. Many prominent directors worked on the project, including Wes Craven, Cuarón, the Coen brothers, Gus Van Sant, Alexander Payne, and Olivier Assayas.
Cuarón's segment of Paris, je t'aime focuses on the Parisian neighborhood of Parc Monceau and features Nick Nolte and Ludivine Sagnier. In trademark Cuarón style, the Parc Monceau segment of Paris, je t'aime was shot in a single, continuous take. While many anthology films are typically met with indifference, Paris, je t'aime seems to have connected with audiences, earning a 7.2 IMDb rating.
6 A Little Princess (7.6) Is One Of The Greatest Remakes Of All Time
Inspired by the 1905 novel A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Cuarón's adaptation was the second cinematic version of the novel after the 1939 film titled The Little Princess. Shirley Temple starred in The Little Princess, which was also her first film shot entirely in Technicolor. Former child actor Liesel Matthews gives a phenomenal performance in Cuarón's A Little Princess, her feature film debut.
Cuarón does a brilliant job directing this film, capturing the magical realism of childhood. A Little Princess is a must-watch for its Oscar-nominated cinematography and art direction. Audiences seem to favor Cuarón's version, which has a 7.6 IMDb rating in comparison to the original Shirley Temple film, which has a 7.1 IMDb rating.
5 Y Tu Mamá También (7.7) Provides Cuarón With His International Breakthrough
Y tu mamá también brought Cuarón to the forefront of the world's greatest filmmakers. The film is a coming-of-age story about two teenage friends who embark on a road trip with a woman. Throughout the film, Cuarón juxtaposes the boys' sexual awakening with the political and economic changes in Mexico during the end of the twentieth century.
Y tu mamá también faced significant backlash for its frank depiction of sex, nudity, and drug use, which resulted in the film being censored in several countries. The commercial and critical success of the movie helped Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna become internationally recognized movie stars. Despite its graphic content, audiences appear receptive to the film, as indicated by its 7.7 IMDb rating.
4 Roma (7.7) Rewrites The Record Books
Arguably Cuarón's magnum opus, Roma is a semi-autobiographical tale about growing up in early 1970s Mexico. The film features world-class black and white cinematography by Cuarón and an unforgettable lead performance by non-professional actor Yalitza Aparicio.
Foreign films have occasionally been nominated for Oscars outside the foreign language category over the years, but Roma broke ground when it earned 10 total Oscar nominations. This ignited a new trend at the Oscars, with foreign films receiving more accolades at the Academy Awards, as seen with Parasite and Drive My Car. More artsy-type films typically have lower IMDb scores, but the 7.7 IMDb rating for Roma reflects the audiences' satisfaction with Cuarón's story.
3 Gravity (7.7) Transports Cuarón's Camerawork To The Final Frontier
A mega-hit in terms of both monetary success and critical acclaim, Gravity epitomizes Cuarón's mastery of art house sensibilities mixed with blockbuster appeal. Gravity tells the story of two astronauts, played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, who get trapped in space following a collision with debris. Cuarón does a fantastic job blending action spectacle with an intimate character study about human perseverance.
Much of Gravity was constructed through special effects and CGI, which caused the film to have a lengthy production of several years. Gravity's opening thirteen-minute-long continuous tracking shot is one of the greatest achievements in a blockbuster film of the 2010s. The movie earned over $700 billion at the worldwide box office and its 7.7 IMDb score suggests audiences enjoyed their experience.
2 Children Of Men (7.9) Depicts Society On The Verge Of Collapse
Cuarón's Children of Men is a dystopian sci-fi action thriller set in 2027, twenty years after humans became unable to procreate. Children of Men contains multiple action scenes filmed through extended takes and elaborate tracking shots, with some using masterful editing to seem like the scenes were all taking place within one shot.
As with most Cuarón films, Children of Men not only offers top-of-the-line thrills, but it also treats audiences to a thought-provoking meditation on various philosophical, religious, and social issues related to the future of mankind. The 7.9 IMDb rating for Children of Men indicates that audiences enjoyed this futuristic tale.
1 Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban (7.9) Gets The Cuarón Treatment
The point can certainly be argued that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is by far the best film in the Harry Potter franchise. Although, fans seem partial to the final Harry Potter film, which has an 8.1 IMDb rating, slightly beating out Azkaban's rating of 7.9. The first two Harry Potter films were enormously successful movies directed by Chris Columbus, a director known for family-friendly films.
However, with the third film of the franchise, Cuarón completely shifts the tone of the series to a much darker mood aimed at a more mature audience. Cuarón matches the adult-oriented themes with an expressionistic aesthetic that was absent from the first two films of the Harry Potter series.