Slumdog Millionaire was one of the most talked about films of 2009, I was always a little surprised of just how well it actually did at the Oscars but there is no doubt it’s a great film and showed Danny Boyle most certainly knows what he is doing and put him in a small list of current directors who I look forward to seeing their next project.
When I heard what Danny Boyle’s next film was though I wasn’t convinced it would work as a piece of cinema. 127 hours is a true story about Aron Roulston, a man who gets his arm trapped under a boulder and stuck in a canyon, this leaves him with a pretty difficult decision, to die or amputate his own arm?
The film starts in a fairly light mood, following Aron (James Franco) on a fairly normal weekend as the adventurer he obviously is. He heads off to Utah for a bit of Canyoning. It’s not long though till the mood of the film completely changes, in a freak accident a boulder falls and traps his arm against the wall at the bottom of a canyon. Having not told anyone where he is going, which he himself admits is a pretty stupid thing to do, he quickly realises he’s in trouble.
From the moment he gets stuck in the canyon James Franco has to carry this film, if he doesn’t then whatever Danny Boyle creates isn’t going anywhere. Luckily James Franco puts in a stunning performance and the film is in safe hands. Apart from some flashback and hallucinations we spend most of the duration of the film trapped in the bottom of the canyon with Aron (James Franco) as he tries to work out how he is going to get out of the situation he is in.
I read one interview where Danny Boyle says he wants the viewer to feel trapped. You totally do. Boyle even states it’s the kind of film that works best in the cinema. I totally agree, forget your 3D, over the top CGI, etc this is how you should get people to go to the cinema, it’s about the experience, being completely immersed in the story, no distractions. Trying to put you into the situation the people on screen are in, what would you do?
It’s an absolutely brilliant piece of cinema, I was totally wrong that it wouldn’t make good cinema because it just works, the emotions and experience that we see & felt, the sense of release and joy in the intense situation he’s in is unbelievable. I was totally involved. A total triumph and one that is definitely worth catching.
Two things I wanted to cover before I finish. Firstly, ‘That scene’. There had been much talk about one pretty gruesome scene which apparently had made people faint or feel ill. I have to say, surely you know the content of the story, it’s not been hidden because it doesn’t matter, you know the end before the start. It’s like knowing the Titanic sunk, it doesn’t matter. So surely you know it’s not going to be a walk in the park, it’s going to be a fairly gruesome scene but it needs to be. It’s not done to be disgusting but in the context of the situation he is in, you need to understand what he went through. Please don’t let this put you off, it’s a pretty quick scene, it’s not that bad and the film is so much more than that.
The second thing I thought I’d mention is that I’ve read reviews/heard people saying that it is making a hero out of someone who was just stupid. Why did he go alone? Why didn’t he tell anyone where he was going? Did he take too many risks? These are valid points but if you’re debating them you have completely missed the purpose, the very heart of the story. However he got trapped at the bottom of the canyon it doesn’t matter. You can think what you will about the man but 127 hours is the story of one man’s desire for life, his will power, his struggle to set himself free!
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