Acting as his own director

____________________ as his own director of ____________________ ( he also edits ) , Cuarón conjures widescreen ____________________ images that combine eerie beauty with startling ____________________ . Long takes allow ____________________ and ____________________ to play out in real time , the ____________________ panning sedately back and forth through the ____________________ ____________________ action . More than once , the image glides slowly through a full 360 ____________________ , as if to show us the entirety of the world Cuarón and ____________________ designer ____________________ Caballero have created . ____________________ ____________________ or frenetic events may become ( riots and ____________________ feature ) , these images retain an almost ____________________ serenity . In an echo of ____________________ Lubezki's spiralling work on ____________________ , Cuarón's camera seems to have a ____________________ quality , drifting inexorably through turbulent ____________________ . ( A cinema - trip sequence of floating ____________________ from John Sturges's 1969 sci - fi film ____________________ offers a hint of ____________________ inspiration . ) At times there's a ____________________ quality to the drama , with marching bands and circus ____________________ being shot out of cannons ____________________ the ghost of Federico Fellini , whose 1972 classic Roma was similarly self - ____________________ . But for all its eye - ____________________ visuals , it's the audio design that really sells Cuarón's story . With its ____________________ intricate tapestry of distant street ____________________ , ambient noise and close - up ____________________ , this really is a film that you can watch with your ears . Indeed , ____________________ many viewers will catch this on Netflix ( where it's available from 14 December ) , the ____________________ provides the strongest ____________________ for seeking out a ____________________ with the best ____________________ sound system and letting the ____________________ engulf you like a roaring wave .