|
 127
Hours is a direct reference to the amount of time Aron Ralston, a young
mountain climber was pinned under a boulder during an accident in 2003.
Leave it to Danny Boyle, director of Trainspotting {1996} and
Slumdog Millionaire {2008} to turn a film about a guy being stuck
in one place into something visually exciting and electric.
After
a highly charged opening of blaring music and time lapse images flying
by at the speed of today’s life, we meet Ralston, a freewheeling sort
whose love of the mountains and caverns of Utah dates back to his
childhood. His ability to trot up and down the faces of very large
rocks practically defies gravity and his knowledge of the geography
almost encyclopedic. Aron is in tune enough with his surroundings to
point out to a pair of comely hikers, “Things are moving all the time”
in the canyons. When the mountain decides to move as he’s crossing it,
no one could prepare for the bizarre result: After a deep fall into a
ravine, Aron discovers he’s got a new companion; a very heavy boulder,
which in the twist of his fall has landed on his right arm, pinning it
against the cave wall. As part of the point of his sojourn into nature
was to get away from it all, there’s no one nearby that can hear Aron’s
desperate screams once he realises that no amount of pushing, kicking,
praying or chipping away with a cheap penknife is going to move the rock
from his arm. We watch as the plucky, resourceful young man does his
best to cope with his strange situation, rationing out his supplies with
one hand and documenting his time with a digicam. We watch him cope
with dehydration as his water runs out, as well as his unsavoury liquid
substitute (Between Trainspotting,
Slumdog Millionaire and now 127
Hours, I’m starting to think Boyle’s got a fixation.). Aron
also has to guard against the freezing cold of being stuck in the depths
of a mountain ravine over multiple nights. Eventually, even Aron’s good
nature fails in the face of the inevitable as days go by and there’s no
sign of passers-by and no hope of rescue. Aron has a lot of time to
reflect upon his life and the opportunities he let slip by. Family,
friends, loves lost and life as he wished it all take up his thoughts as
he finds the resolve to survive by any means necessary. Here’s where
that cheap penknife comes in really handy.
Based
on an all-too true story, besides the basic quandary of how to energise
an audience about a film where the main character is unable to move,
there is 127 Hours’ big question of how to present the inevitable climax
without having that audience run for barf bags? Here’s where Danny
Boyle’s faster than light sense of kinetics and audacious ingenuity come
into play. He takes the subject matter head on; using sound effects
from the old Operation board game to further freak us out, and even
though the scene is indeed gory and had me at one with the back of my
seat, we never have to gaze too long at one thing. Instead, quick
flashes of imagery simultaneously make the point and soften the blow.
Boyle does succeed in bringing the terror of that moment home and while
no one could ever truly know what Ralston experienced in those long,
torturous moments, it’s far clearer after this film how very courageous
he had to be in order to escape slow, sure death. James Franco’s tour
de force portrayal of Ralston as a laid back nature lover is so thorough
that once his agreeable demeanour falters and the reality of his
predicament seeps in, it’s truly chilling. In filming such a harrowing
tale, writer Simon Beaufoy and director Boyle somehow find the right
balance between the surefire horror of this real-life nightmare while
making it truly uplifting and even entertaining. Aron’s conversations
with himself and his digicam are often hilarious and his
dehydration-induced visions are haunting and beautiful. Having the Utah
Mountains as a backdrop must’ve been easy pickings for cinematographer
Anthony Dod Mantle, who shows us rich, endless landscapes before
plummeting the audience into Ralston’s claustrophobic hell. All these
cinematic elements come together perfectly around its unlikely subject
matter to create one of the most thrilling and exciting films of the
year. I expect to hear 127 Hours mentioned frequently next February.
~ The
Lady Miz Diva
November 1st, 2010
Click here to read our
review of Slumdog Millionaire.
Click
here to read our 2008 interview with director Danny Boyle & Slumdog
Millionaire star Dev Patel.
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