Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón revealed his interest in making a horror film during a masterclass at the Locarno Film Festival.
The Mexican filmmaker, recipient of a lifetime achievement award at Locarno, is known for diverse works ranging from “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” to “Roma.”
“I love horror movies,” Cuarón said, distinguishing his tastes from those of his friend and collaborator Guillermo del Toro. While del Toro leans towards fantasy and metaphysical horror, Cuarón prefers more grounded fare. He’s “flirting” with the genre, he explained, citing Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Tenant” as influences.
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The director’s potential shift to horror comes after a career marked by both commercial successes and artistic triumphs. Cuarón discussed his collaboration with J.K. Rowling on “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” The director initially hesitated to take on the project but was won over after reading the book.
“I saw that it was great,” he said, noting that Rowling’s writing focused on the passage from childhood to teenage years and the social context of certain classes rather than just magic. “I love the universe that she [Rowling] created because its so grounded in humanity. It was a joy to do that film,” Cuaron said.
The “Harry Potter” experience proved valuable for Cuarón’s future projects. “I knew that to do ‘Children of Men,’ I would need visual effects,” he explained. “I said, okay, I don’t know anything of visual effects. This is going to be my kindergarten.” The skills he acquired on “Prisoner of Azkaban” later informed his work on the dystopian thriller “Children of Men” and the space drama “Gravity.”
Cuarón also reflected on the commercial failure of “Children of Men” upon its initial release, which led to a career downturn. This setback ultimately led to the creation of “Gravity,” which he conceived as a commercially appealing project to revive his career.
Throughout the masterclass, Cuarón emphasized the importance of reinvention and challenging oneself as a filmmaker. He described his approach to “Roma,” for which he won the Oscar for best director, as a complete departure from his previous methods. “I wrote the screenplay, but the rule was that I was going to write it and not look back, no corrections,” he said. He then shelved the script and shot the film in continuity, with actors learning their roles day by day.
This unconventional process, while creatively stimulating, took an emotional toll on the director. “I didn’t realize the toll that it was taking by reproducing the space of my childhood,” Cuarón said. “It was like going into some sanatorium and receiving electroshocks.”
Cuarón’s upcoming project is the series “Disclaimer” for Apple TV+, starring Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline. It will launch on Oct. 11.
