Alfonso Cuarón cited Robert Bresson's A Man Escaped as the primary structural influence for Gravity — the methodical, almost silent focus on survival as process rather than drama. Bresson showed him how to make watching someone work be more compelling than action. The isolation and the visual tone of space came from Tarkovsky's Solaris. Cuarón documented this in multiple interviews around 2013-2014. Both films are on Criterion Channel.
2001 and Tarkovsky's Solaris are the two films that come to mind. They are films that I admire greatly and were an influence.
— Alfonso Cuarón · Collider - Alfonso Cuarón Talks Gravity, How He Made the Film, the 3D, and More
Films That Influenced Gravity
