Massive awards buzz has been surrounding Danny Boyle's latest since late September when it was at the Toronto International Film Festival to standing ovations. With 4 months to wait for its January 7th UK release date, I seized the chance to see it on previews two days early. I've gotta tell you it was the best decision I could have made. Here's my review for 127 Hours.
127 Hours is based on the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's quest to save himself after he becomes trapped in a isolated canyon in Utah, having his lower right arm clamped against the rock face by a boulder. He spent 5 days trapped before, delirious and dehydrated, amputating his arm below the elbow with nothing more than a blunt knife.
Tricky subject matter even for cinema. Step in Danny Boyle, Oscar winning director of Slumdog Millionaire and modern classics such as Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. The technical issues surrounding the filming means that tight spaces and hand-held camera work is utilised at a great effort and expense. It also makes for a more realistic portrayal of Ralston's ordeal; especially the personal recordings he makes during the event to his friends and family explaining the situation, even going so far as to record a makeshift will, adamant he will die. The other major difficultly is creating a film that features only one character for a large portion of the film. How do you market or attract an audience for such a title? 127 Hours is very much along the same lines of last year's Buried, which features only one on-screen character in the form of Ryan Reynolds, trapped six feet under. That film worked very well and was on of my top ten films of 2010 as it showed not only could the one man show work but that Ryan Reynolds can act.
Well, 127 Hours hits the jackpot in the form of James Franco. Fleshing out his acting chops in recent years, he's become very much in demand from high profile directors and made appearances in Oscar winning films such as Milk with Sean Penn. He's more than the kid from Spiderman; he's a big talent. Franco plays Ralston with the right amount of distress but at the same time light-heartedness. Its hard to believe but the film intentionally plays to the humourous side of the situation or how Ralston sees it since its his story. In his delirious state, he utters ramblings that often made me chuckle and this aspect is retained in the film. The soundtrack adds the cause as much of the score features pop songs of an upbeat nature, juxtaposing the situation at hand. This is testament to Boyle's brilliant filmmaking style which leads me onto my next point.
Ever heard of surrealism? I'm sure you have and if you're a fan of Boyle, you will know he regularly includes sequences that are often out of the ordinary with the rest of the film (the toliet sequence in Trainspotting and the dance sequence at the conclusion of Slumdog Millionaire come to mind). Here, he takes advantage of Ralston's delirious state to bring the surrealist element to the foreground with Ralston hallucinating many characters as he remembers the best times in his life. The surrealism also enhances the on-screen humour such as a sequence with a Scooby Doo inflatable (Go watch to see what I mean).
Now many of you will want to know about the amputation scene since its generated a lot of discussion. It is indeed gory. Very gory. I was surprised myself and Boyle makes extensive use of sound to create viscerally damning images (he uses static sounds when Ralston hits nerves to conform the feeling of pain). But don't think its not neccesary. 127 Hours would be nothing without this scene. Its what eventually sets him free. So, whilst there are many graphic images shown during this sequence, stick with it because in the end it is life-affirming stuff!
Overall, as a huge fan of Danny Boyle's filmmaking and a fan in the making of James Franco, this is a marvellous achievement of both a technical and acting nature. It takes alot to make a film like this and the subject matter has been handled with care and conceived into an Oscar contender for 2011. A strong 4 out of 5 for me. The first great film of 2011 has arrived!
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