New Cult Classic
127 Hours (2010)
Director: Danny Boyle
By Alex Watson
Danny Boyle has never been one to make us look away from moments which are ever so slightly gruesome, if you sat through the needle scene in Trainspotting then you will probably know where I am coming. But the one scene that will set the benchmark for squeamishness will be the arm cutting scene from his 2010 movie 127 Hours. But that moment aside, we were also given an uplifting story of survival based on the real life exploits of Aaron Ralston- a man who literally found himself caught between a rock and a hard place!
On impulse, adrenaline junkie Aaron Ralston (James Franco) goes hiking in the Utah mountains aiming to cut 45 minutes off the estimate trek time mentioned by a guide book. But whilst travelling, he falls into a crevice and there his arm becomes trapped by a boulder and quickly he realizes that because he did leave a note to say where he was going- help is not coming! Faced with death rapidly approaching, Ralston is forced to make a tough decision all the while reflecting on what exactly brought him to this cave?
127 Hours is one of Danny Boyle’s finest pieces of work and his story of Ralston’s plight is one that triggers many different emotions and what could have been horrific viewing is in fact a piece of work that is immensely funny and incredibly uplifting. People will long debate about Ralston’s hero status in life- but Boyle new once sets out to make him one and that is one of this movie’s principle strengths and we see a man faced with a life altering situation where there is no chance of an ending that will play to his advantage!
From the very beginning there is a vivacious tone as Ralston cheerfully drives into the great unknown and doing his wild and reckless exploring there he meets female hikers Kristi (Kate Mara) and Megan (Amber Tamblyn) where he shows them a hidden underground cave. Boyle here succeeds in luring us into a false sense of security and when Ralston takes the inevitable falls- the tone takes a complete 360 degree shift and very soon we become very concerned! From there Ralston is all alone and as he cries out for help the camera pans up to show the vast space around him! In this moment his cries are really falling on deaf ears!
After this dramatic change, the scenes set in the cave are a real mixture, his gleeful smile is ever presents as if trying to mask his fear and there is a humorous moment where he pretends to be on a talk show hosted by himself which he mocks the silly way that he has gotten to this situation. But also it forces him to assess his relationship with his family, his painful break up with his ex girlfriend (Clemence Poesy) and how his near neglect and borderline selfishness basically alienated them! These scenes are some of the most poignant of 127 Hours and as the hard truth hits home that he is really to blame for his wayward life- we hope for him to escape and achieve redemption!
The moments leading up to the arm cutting scene growing more unpleasant by the moment as we witness Aaron forced to drink his own urine to stay alive. When the moment occurs, it is a hard moment to watch and squirms are guaranteed but at the same point it’s equally fascinating and stirring because it leads to a finale that is the definition of feel-good and sound tracked to Festival by Sigur Ros it brings us another great Danny Boyle moment which is very gratifying!
Alone for most of the movie, James Franco does a sterling job of holding the movie together as Aaron Ralston and thanks to his goofy charm he succeeds in giving us an everyday guy who is being forced into a difficult place, but will always try to keep us entertained! For his efforts Franco was rewarded with an Oscar nomination!
127 Hours is a movie that will probably prove to be one of the most heartening that Danny Boyle will make in his career and combined with the efforts of Franco he brought us another career high as his star continues to rise after his Oscar win for Slumdog Millionaire, it will not be the most comfortable viewing you will ever observe but if you stick with it, the reward is one that is worth waiting for! Though it will teach you to leave a note whenever you decide to go on a random road trip- you never what might happen!
Closer to the Edge 