Between A Rock And A Hard Place
127 HOURS (CINEMA)
Release date: January 5th 2011
Certificate (UK): 15
Running time: 94 minutes
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn
127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston whose arm was caught between a boulder and the wall of the canyon he fell into while out on a trek in Utah. Over the following days, and with no way to get help, Ralston undergoes a fight for survival in the most primal sense.
Directed by Danny Boyle and starring James Franco as Ralston, 127 Hours is a test of endurance not only for Ralston, but also for audiences. While we might have become used to watching people tear off their limbs and pounds of flesh in movies like Saw, this is something quite different. It’s a true story, something which really happened.
Similar to Buried (2010) in its seclusion, Ralston undergoes a terrifying experience with time running out, but unlike Paul Conroy we get to see moments from his past and future flash before him. Ralston remembers his childhood, he thinks of his parents, he envisions his future, meeting his wife and having a child. He sums up his life and realises not only how selfishly he has lived but comes to accept that this boulder trapping his arm has been waiting for him his entire life.
Using a video camera, Ralston attempts to document his entire experience but after the first two days he is unable to look at himself; seeing the effects of dehydration and bad hygiene settling in, he becomes more like a wounded animal caught in a trap. Swinging back and forth between moments of playfulness (Ralston imagines he’s on a talk show, think Tom Hanks and the ball in Cast Away) and sheer panic.
There’s a great moment when it finally starts to rain. With Ralston desperate to fill up his water bottle with the raindrops, it quickly becomes a case of ‘when it rains, it pours’ as the crevice in the canyon begins to fill up with water, threatening to drown him. Another great moment comes when we hear ‘If I Rise’, the beautiful song written and performed by A. R. Rahman and Dido.
Its sheer cinematic brilliance and Bolye doing what he does best; using film, story, music and scenery to affect and move an audience.
