I’ll be meeting Alfonso Cuarón on Monday, and I’ve got all kinds of questions for him.
But I’m open to suggestions. Do you have a question for the director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men, The Little Princess, and Y Tu Mama Tambien?
Why is Y Tu Mama Tambian a required part of any GLBT’s list of movies?
You’re opening the floodgates, y’know! Ok. Ask him why he left the Marauders’ backstory out of the movie. I don’t know how well you know HP, but there’s a scene where Harry’s patronus (a stag) comes back to him. There’s a face to face moment (or eye to eye) and Harry realizes that this is like, his father’s spirit embodied in the stag. It would have been a beautiful shot, a touching moment. There were a lot of questions left unanswered in his movie which could have been answered if he had made the movie a bit longer. To the nonreader, how did Lupin know how to use the map? How/why did Snape know to chase after them and end up in the Shrieking Shack? Does he regret the cutting? What would he change about the movie, were he to have that timeturner? Did/does he ever read the comments on the HP boards or IMDb, etc? There is a scene right after Buckbeak shows up to protect Harry and Hermione from a werewolf-the two are seen in shadow, pretty much the only time anyone is. Did he sneak in a shot of Dan and Emma kissing??? He just put in shadow so it wasn’t clear? Or is that my imagination? (Note: in an earlier interview, he did say he snuck in a sex scene or something lol) Was WB disappointed in the money it pulled in, as it was less than the others? In the extended version to come (there’s gotta be a different one) are there more scenes, not known to the public, that can be put in to extend the story? It was a pretty movie, but the storyline was cut far too much and there was room for it (the other movies were longer). Also his name is I think Alphonso (with a “s”. Sorry for the mishmash of questions.
Thanks for catching my misspelling of his name!! Yikes!
An overall question: WHERE does he get the inspiration for the art concept/”look and feel” of his films? I have always enjoyed A Little Princess and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and I am very much looking forward to Children of Men. Is it the subject matter that determines the concept (by default), or is it his choice of subject matter – his being choosy/selective – that forces a wonder-filled/mythical “feel” to his films? (And always the use of darkness/light…)
I’m curious as to why he followed the Shirley Temple script so strictly in the making of A Little Princess. It almost seemed as if they consulted only the ST movie and not the book.
For instance why did he choose to let Sarah’s father live, and why did they choose to have Sarah cross a wet board into another house to escape Miss Minchin.
The story is so powerful on its own that I’ve always wondered if he was pressured to make it more “Freaky Friday-ish” ie a happy kids movie.
It was a beautiful production, but I’ve alway wondered.
Thanks for the opportunity to suggest questions!