127 Hours
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: James Franco, Amber Tamlyn, Kate Mara
Running time: 93 minutes
Classification: 13VL
Rating: ****
It would’ve been easy to imagine this film as a pseudo-documentary kind of re-enactment featuring only diegetic sound and no dialogue. But it’s Danny Boyle at the helm, he of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire fame, so what we get is a surprisingly pacey, flashy and entertaining thriller.
127 Hours is based on Aron Ralston’s book Between a Rock and a Hard Place and tells the story of his extraordinary ordeal.
Ralston (Franco) is a capable athlete and mountain climber who sets off on a hike through the canyons of Utah. While traversing a crevice, he slips and falls. A boulder falls along with him, coming to rest against the wall of the canyon, with his arm stuck in between.
As his attempts to free his arm prove fruitless, he realises the danger of his predicament. He hadn’t told anyone where he was going, has no cellphone and has very limited water, food and tools.
Most of the film takes place in the tight confines of the canyon. Boyle uses Ralston’s hallucinations as a means of broadening the world of the film, showing us scenes from his past and introducing his friends and family.
These scenes bear the hallmarks of Boyle’s kinetic style and feature flashy editing and good music. Ralston also has a little video-camera with him which enables a kind of dialogue with the outside world and with himself.
The film is touched with true beauty at times, taking in Ralston’s surroundings and his past expe-riences, and only occasionally verges on sentimental.
The close confines shove the viewer right up against Ralston, making for a very intimate cinematic experience. The close-ups of his cracked lips drive the situation’s severity home.
The step that he takes to free himself is rendered in unflinching detail and includes one of the most chilling sounds heard in a cinema.
Franco continues to impress as an actor. He plays Ralston as an exuberant, slightly goofy guy whose self-confidence is partly to blame for his accident. He brings humour and humanity to the role. Any Oscar buzz is warranted.
127 Hours has not been setting international box-offices alight, which is a pity as it’s an accessible, entertaining and surprisingly uplifting film. People who might be put off by the film’s premise should remember that while Boyle’s style is a bit of an acquired taste, it’s never boring.
By the time the grisly climax rolls around, you’ll be seeing it as a triumph of the human spirit which, I suppose, it is. And I defy anyone to not get goosepimples during the excellent use of Sigur Ros’s Festival.
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