The one movie that makes Alfonso Cuarón cry every time: “A surprisingly emotional experience”
Alfonso Cuarón is one of the most important filmmakers to come from the Spanish-speaking world in recent years. Alongside Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu, the Mexican-born director is part of a trio colloquially known as ‘The Three Amigos of Cinema’. Between them, these Latin filmmakers have contributed the likes of Pan’s Labyrinth, Children of Men, and The Revenant to popular culture. Cuarón has personally delivered movies like Gravity, Roma, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
The close bond shared by these fellow countrymen is plain to see. When they were coming up, Spanish-language movies had very little grip on the English-speaking mainstream, and it is in part thanks to their work that they enjoy any sort of popularity in that sphere today. Cuarón’s relationship with del Toro is particularly pronounced. He helped produce Pan’s Labyrinth and, according to an interview with Variety, one of del Toro’s other films holds a special place in his heart.
When speaking about The Shape of Water, the 2017 movie that netted ‘Best Picture’ at the Oscars, Cuarón revealed that it had a profound effect on him. “I rarely cry watching films, except if I’m on a plane at 30,000 feet, where I can cry in the comfort of my seat and no one pays attention,” he said. “But when I saw The Shape of Water, I found myself crying, and I still do every time I see it.” He called the film, which stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, and Doug Jones, “a surprisingly emotional experience that connects directly with our longing. I saw Guillermo’s heart sculpted in two hours of film.”
Iñárritu was also interviewed for the piece. “I knew and told him it was his best film,” he revealed. “And I love The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth, but this is just brilliant, beautiful and delicious.” The Shape of Water, a twisted fairytale love story between an ordinary woman and an amphibian creature being held captive by a sadistic military colonel, also netted Del Toro the prize for ‘Best Director’. This came in the middle of an incredible run for the Amigos; between 2013 and 2018, all but one of the ‘Best Director’ awards went to either Del Toro, Iñárritu, or Cuarón.
Long before Pan’s Labyrinth, Cuarón worked alongside del Toro in Mexican TV, where one of his earliest projects was an episode of a horror anthology series called La hora marcada. “He had seen my first directorial effort,” Cuarón said, in reference to the show. “He asked me why the story was so good, because the episode sucked so much. It was the way he said it that I couldn’t help but laugh and laugh, because he was right. It’s so hard to identify change in someone you grew up with. All I can say is that his wisdom has become more acute, his generosity greater and humour more precise.”
In conversation at the Academy Museum in 2023, the Three Amigos went into detail about what unites them, besides their shared heritage. “One thing we have in common is that we don’t have a difference between filmography and biography,” del Toro proclaimed. “We make movies that reflect our lives – where we were in the beginning – and I think it will be really beautiful to talk about where we were back 16 years ago.”
“I admire the fuck out of you, both of you,” del Toro told his friends. “You inspire me every year of my life. We’ve been together professionally since the beginning of our careers and you have always inspired me, and you’ve always been a companion, a teacher and a brother.”
