127 Hours ☆☆☆½

Once again this is a film I have been steeling myself to watch, this time not because of the disturbing factor, but because I am a massive wuss when it comes to blood and guts and gore. If it is gory (and not by Tarantino) I am more than likely to never watch it. So knowing full well the true story behind this film it has taken many months, a mute button, and the ability to fast forward for me to watch Danny Boyle's latest masterpiece.

I am a huge Danny Boyle fan (with the exception of The Beach), ever since I saw Trainspotting many years before I was actually legal to. Boyle does not shy away from tough stories, and uses his fair share of graphic violence, but I have never found it to be gratuitous, and yes I realise Tarantino is often gratuitous with his violence and gore but it is done with a huge smile. I think Boyle has an incredible ability to bring a new dimension to the genre of film he decides to make, his take on Science Fiction with Sunshine is so trippy you almost forget it is in space, and his version of a zombie film in 28 Days Later is scary but also thought provoking.
But I digress.

My real purpose here is of course to review 127 Hours, a film focused on a particularly traumatic and life affirming set of days of adventurer and generally reckless human being Aron Ralston. It is the true story of how his trip to Utah 'canyoneering' resulted in becoming trapped by a rock and having to cut his arm off in order to escape. I have seen him in interviews, know he is okay, and yet because this is real and actually happened I was a little unnerved right from the start.

I cannot fully comment on the actually cutting-the-arm-off soon as like I have previously stated, the mute and fast forward button were definitely my friends tonight. What I saw was so freaking realistic I did the whole girly squeal and jump around the room thing some people do when they see a spider. The rest of the film was kinda brilliant, not as good as Into The Wild (brilliant film starring Emile Hirsch), but perhaps that was because it did not have the amazing Alaskan landscape, though Utah is pretty stunning in the canyons.

The film stars James Franco (Spiderman, Pineapple Express) as Aron, and he does the detached selfish guy who is slightly nuts very well. From what I have heard Franco is quite an intense guy so you imagine he must have swallowed the script and studied the real Aron Ralston in minute detail. His performance was Oscar nod worthy but probably not winner material quite yet (last year was Colin Firth's turn, though it should have been for A Single Man not the Kings Speech). The intensity of the scenes trapped in the canyon make you yourself feel trapped, and I didn't for a second think "well its okay cos James Franco isn't really trapped by that rock" I mostly thought "hold on Aron!" Knowing his efforts to chip away at the rock, to raise it with a pulley system, or to shift it with his body weight are ultimately futile makes the film that much more intense.

The beginning of the film and Aron's meeting with two girls taking a walk through the canyon (Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara) is filled with so much life and laughter and beauty that you almost forget where this is going, and it is literally minutes after that the falling rock traps him. I was under the impression that there was going to be a lot of flash backs to Aron's life but actually there was less, but this worked to the films advantage. Had it been mostly of scenes prior to the event then you would almost forget about the situation he is actually in and concentrate on exactly how selfish he was before. The key to the film is Aron told nobody where he was going, which is why he spent over five days trapped in the canyons with only a small chance he would even be reported missing. Something that Amber Tamblyn's character says after they part ways with Aron is very important to his character prior to the event "I bet we didn't even factor into his day". And yet the memories and footage he has of the three of them keeps Aron's spirits up through the ordeal.

It is undoubtedly a very good film with a horrific few minutes of graphic arm cutting off. The performance of James Franco is to be applauded, and even the minor roles are played out well. But I think what truly makes this film is the visionary direction of Danny Boyle. The intense performance by Franco could only be so because it was filmed with several cameras from all directions in the small gap of the canyon. Then the flashes of memory mixed in with his reality show you a glimpse of Arons character and behaviour, unthinking and unable to grasp what you want from life is someone to share it with, be they friends, family or lovers.

It is a very cleverly made film; brilliant direction, fantastic performances, and a true story to boot. If you are squeamish I recommend seeing this the way I did and utilize the remote control, if not then be prepared for the most realistic limb removal of your life on screen. And never go anywhere without telling someone first.