When I saw that writing about a production we had seen in the cinema was one of the criteria for our 'Arts within Society' assignment, I immediately knew exactly what film I would be writing about. I was extremely excited to go and see Danny Boyle's new film '127 Hours' on it's first showing at Cineworld, Fountain Park in Edinburgh with my boyfriend. This was mainly because I already had high expectations since I loved English filmmaker and producer Danny Boyle's work, with his film 'Trainspotting' being my all time favourite movie.
The film is based on a true story, to which Danny Boyle out of respect only adds a few minor enhancements as he wanted to keep the movie as true to the original account of events as possible. The film, is based on the story of climber Aron Ralston who, in 2003, decided to go hiking in the beautiful and remote area of Blue John canyon in Utah. Ralston however, had not told anyone where he was going and he also had no mobile phone with him as there would be no signal anyway where he was.
The character of Aron is played by actor James Franco, who does a brilliant job of portraying Aron Ralston as a funny, charismatic, outgoing and self confident guy. Infact at the beginning of the film it is actually quite humorous and it leaves the audience wondering how the change of events are going to occur, (as just about everyone who went to see this movie had likely already been informed of the gruesome main event!) However, when Aron decides to take a very dangerous canyon climb and gets his arm completely jammed underneath an enormous boulder he finds himself trapped. With only a knife, a camcorder and a sparse amount of food and water with him he is left with a tough choice on how much pain he is willing to endure to survive. From that point on I can guarantee the film will leave you gobsmacked and your eyes glued to the screen.
(Actor James Franco playing the character of Aron)
James Franco then puts on an unbelievably fantastic and realistic performance of Aron's mental and physical struggle to escape. To keep himself sane, Aron records himself on his camcorder and you find yourself empathising greatly with his struggle to stay alive as well as appreciating his extremely likeable personality,willpower and intelligence. Aron documents on his camera stories from his past reminiscing on experiences and how if he gets out alive he vows that he will learn from past mistakes and become a better person. He also realises how lonely he really is and that he has for too long shut out the people who loved him the most. In addition, he learns he is not invincible and that 'no man is an island', accepting that sometimes it is necessary to reach out to others for help.
(A still of Franco displying his emotional turmoil)
As I previously mentioned I already had high expectations of director Danny Boyle's work but '127 Hours' greatly exceeded my expectations. It really was one of the most touching,captivating and thought provoking movies I had seen in a long time. Despite the film being approximately 2 hours the time seemed to fly in as I was utterly engrossed in the story. Evidence of this is that since the trailers both myself and my boyfriend had not touched a sip of juice or eaten a piece of popcorn - and I know that only a brilliant movie would make us forget about our popcorn!
(James Franco and Danny Boyle discussing the making of the film '127 Hours')
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