Do the Dew: Danny Boyle's 127 Hours

Dude, where's my arm?

"You gonna see 127 Hours?"

"Is that the movie where the guy has to cut off his arm?"

"Yeah."

There've been a lot of those sorts of conversations lately in the office, as coworkers around me try to decide whether or not to see a movie that seems pre-made to ward away the squeamish.  For my part, I was mainly attracted by Boyle's involvement; if he's not one of my favorite filmmakers (the only film of his, till now, that I can say I like unreservedly is Trainspotting), he's usually interesting to watch, not least because he employs a lot of cinematic tricks and techniques, a few of which may have an outside chance of permanently modifying the grammar of filmmaking.

Boyle's name has become synonymous with a hyper-kinetic, "extreme" style of filmmaking, not only in his choice of music or camera angle or editing pace, but in his choice of situation.  The famous "toilet bowl" sequence in Trainspotting established his fondness for making his characters do things that people in the audience would most likely not do.  He seems attracted to stories in which the characters are driven by circumstance or addiction or personality to perform the unthinkable.  Self-amputation, the subject of 127 Hours, certainly falls into that category.  None of us particularly wants to be stuck down a canyon with our arm pinned to a rock and forced to chop off our own hand in order to survive.  But when the situation is presented to us, we can't help wondering, "would I be able to do that?"  In my case, I have no idea whether I would or wouldn't, though I incline to "no."  Supposedly, adrenaline and fear and other survival mechanisms might make us able to do things we would have thought impossible.  The task Boyle sets for himself in this film is to recreate, using all his powers and all his skills, the state of mind that drove Aaron Ralston (the guy on whose real-life story 127 Hours is based) to hack through nerve and sinew with a cheap dull knife.

The film is, among other things, a parable -- a tale of moral correction, in which Ralston (played with tremendous likability by James Franco), initially seen as a hubristic loner who can take or leave the rest of the human race and finds his greatest joy carousing in the wilderness a hundred miles from civilization, learns the value of human connection, that no man is an island, and so on.  There's an almost Dickensian quality to the film's second half, as an increasingly exhausted and thirst-benumbed Ralston hallucinates various characters out of his past, his future, and historical legend.  He's learning his lesson, and these ghosts will guide him to the truth.  That's all well and good, but not the most interesting part of the film.

Where Boyle achieves his greatest cinematic successes here is in the way he draws from a cornucopia of pop-culture references and modes of expression to evoke Ralston's state of mind.  This is a guy for whom canyon-delving is less about grim Survival than about the joy of extreme-sports intensity.  After all, unlike the prospector protagonist of Jack London's seminal survival-fiction story To Build A Fire, Ralston isn't there for any reason except, well, to be there.  He seems to have grown up watching a lot of Mountain Dew commercials, and, once trapped, he often visualizes the elusive paradises of the civilized world in these terms.  As he sits stuck in his canyon, the precious hours ticking by and the irreplaceable water in his bottle dwindling, he imagines a cascade of soda-pop and beer advertisements, all intercut into a seamless montage of cool, refreshing deliciousness.  He defines the joys of civilization as a sexy, youthful party that seems to be a Coors ad come to life.  He's haunted by visions of a giant inflatable Scooby Doo; the justification for which is a bit too complex to get into here.  In a sequence which may or may not be occurring in his head, Ralston videotapes himself describing his predicament schizophrenically, in the personality of a smarmy TV talk-show host who's interviewing the "real" Ralston and cackling with amusement at the foolishness of going hiking alone without leaving a note for anybody.  Watching this sequence, I was reminded of the Rodney Dangerfield sitcom sequence in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers.  As in that film, unthinkable horrors are filtered in the protagonist's mind through the ostensibly-sanitizing format of a mass-audience TV show, resulting in a crazed funhouse distortion.  127 Hours is, however, nowhere near as dark a film as Natural Born Killers -- at heart it's a tale of Survival Uplift in the tradition of Alive -- and though Ralston comes close to cracking now and again, he keeps his head and Does What Has To Be Done.

As for the self-amputation scene, it shows a lot, and the squeamish may want to avert their eyes; but it's not quite as harrowing as we fear it will be.  Boyle's restless style undercuts the tension -- mercifully, perhaps.  The camera cuts around so rapidly from Gory Arm to Franco's Face and back again, viewing the action from so many different angles, that the result feels more like a bad drug trip than a desperate surgical procedure.  Part of me wanted Boyle to turn the volume down here, settle the camera into a few simple angles, and try to evoke in documentary terms what it would really be like.  I guess the idea is, we're looking at what it was really like inside Ralston's head.  But I was never able to make the mental leap along with him -- I walked out of the theater with no more insight into whether I would be able to do such a thing myself.  Franco grimaces gamely, but as he digs around and severs tendons, he doesn't seem to be undergoing that much more pain than you might do if you were removing a piece of glass in your foot.  I guess one can only scream so loud, grit one's teeth so hard, grimace so intensely.  The rest belongs to a subjective experience that, try as he might, Boyle cannot authentically reproduce.  Which is probably a good thing, all in all.

127 Hours is a more focused and more entertaining film than Boyle's Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, and it owes a great deal to Franco, who mostly gets the job done and holds the screen admirably well for 100 minutes.  His most moving bit of acting is one of the least flashy, when -- fearing imminent death -- he records a brief "goodbye-I-love-you" message to his parents on his video camera.  His sentiments are sincere, but he recites them in a curiously flat, childlike, dutiful way.  Franco catches the signature sound of certain irony-steeped Generation Y folks who are uncomfortable with direct expression of emotion and who never quite seem able to take the quotes off.

Comments

[data recovery]

127 Hours is a 2010 biographical adventure film produced, co-written and directed by Danny Boyle. The film stars James Franco as real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston, who became trapped by a boulder in Robbers Roost, Utah, for more than five days in 2003. The film, based on Ralston's autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place, was written by Boyle and Simon Beaufoy and produced by Christian Colson, who previously teamed up for Slumdog Millionaire, and John Smithson. Premiered on September 4, the film saw limited release in New York and Los Angeles on November 5, 2010. The film was expanded to 22 theaters on November 12, 108 on November 19, and 279 on November 24.

[elena]

Hello! Would you mind if I share your blog with my myspace group? There's a lot of people that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Many thanks

[Monika]

I am very happy to read this. This is the kind of manual that needs to be given and not the accidental misinformation that is at the other blogs. Appreciate your sharing this greatest doc.

[lidia]

You are my intake , I own few blogs and occasionally run out from to post .

[pożyczka od ręki]

You are my breathing in, I own few blogs and infrequently run out from to post .

[jankanar]

Somebody necessarily assist to make seriously posts I would state. This is the very first time I frequented your website page and thus far? I surprised with the research you made to make this actual submit incredible. Wonderful task!

[Laredoute]

If you happen to would most likely you want to keep key by means of an opponent, notify it again to not companion. [url=http://ruezee.com/]Laredoute[/url] Laredoute

[tn pas cher]

Joy is really aromatize you simply can't flood to do with some others lacking remember , getting a few is catagorized to do with one self. tn pas cher http://www.5fr.fr/ tn pas cher

[acne treatment]

I just added your internet page to my bookmarks. I truly like reading your posts. Thanks!

[acne cyst]

It is truly a nice and helpful piece of information. I'm glad that you shared this useful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.

[acne]

I feel glad I ran across another weblog getting a common wine beverage theme!

[acne cyst]

exactly where my parents have been common income earners who struggled economically all their lives to

[acne cyst]

Oh my goodness! a tremendous article dude. Thanks Nonetheless I am experiencing subject with ur rss . Don't know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting similar rss downside? Anybody who is aware of kindly respond. Thnkx

[Dyhomypreorne]

As such fitflops sale Spend Less Looking good does not mean you have to spend a fortune nonredavage fitflops Stylish 2013 new fashion fitflops australia sale online with big discount nonredavage fitflop

[買い物]

My coder is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he's tryiong none the less. I've been using WordPress on a variety of websites for about a year and am anxious about switching to another platform. I have heard very good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!
買い物

[ICE WATCH 防水 腕時計]

Right now it appears like BlogEngine is the preferred blogging platform available right now. (from what I've read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
ICE WATCH 防水 腕時計

[バイク サイドバッグ]

Greetings from Colorado! I'm bored to death at work so I decided to check out your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I love the information you present here and can't wait to take a look when I get home. I'm surprised at how fast your blog loaded on my mobile .. I'm not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, great site!
バイク サイドバッグ

[http://laney5s.snack.ws/]

http://code.google.com/p/peytonmanningjerseyforsale/ hrodngjtajx http://code.google.com/p/peytonmanningjerseyforsale/ yjrsnoex [url=http://code.google.com/p/peytonmanningjerseyforsale/]http://code.google.com/p/peytonmanningjerseyforsale/[/url]
http://laney5s.snack.ws/

[タイトリスト フォージド]

Hey there! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us useful information to work on. You have done a outstanding job!
タイトリスト フォージド

[rvkfdpvftk]

rvkfdpvftk http://www.ghse5br7130vrihgu37v31338g7b19c1s.org/
[url=http://www.ghse5br7130vrihgu37v31338g7b19c1s.org/]urvkfdpvftk[/url]
arvkfdpvftk

[ビデオカメラ 激安]

With havin so much content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation? My website has a lot of completely unique content I've either created myself or outsourced but it appears a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my permission. Do you know any solutions to help reduce content from being stolen? I'd certainly appreciate it.
ビデオカメラ 激安

[ダンロップ ゴルフ カタログ]

Please let me know if you're looking for a writer for your site. You have some really great posts and I think I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I'd absolutely love to write some content for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please shoot me an e-mail if interested. Many thanks!
ダンロップ ゴルフ カタログ

[ペンタックス]

Hey this is kinda of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I'm starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!
ペンタックス

[Embobollape]

Replica watches:This is a finely-crafted piece, and I was afraid immediately after reading some of your critiques right here that the heart would not fit properly within the casing, however it does. The heart is also wider than I anticipated. Nonetheless, somehow it can be less gorgeous that the image suggests. It's a tiny flatter than I thought it would be, and I was expecting light red glass, but it is so dark it appears dull brown. Because of this, it doesn't look as impressive even using the support with the silver case, and though it really is certainly not terrible, it is below my expectations. I will not be returning it, though, because the silver chain is absolutely beautiful. It really sparkles inside the light, and I am pleased with it. Was it worth $50, just for that? No, but I'll live. It just would've been a lot prettier if the heart had been closer for the lighter color inside the image.

Right after reading the reviews I felt swiss replica watches confident in acquiring this Replica watches. I am sending my beloved watch in to be fixed so it will likely be off my wrist for any month or so and I needed a replacement to wear. My biggest fear was that the face will be as well big for my dainty wrist and arms. Yes, I was concerned about to searching low-priced but when I got it I was pleasntly shocked.From a distance the watch looks properly produced, it isn't also significant and for the cash I paid it was improved than expected. It appears to me which you could be able to possess hyperlinks removed even though it would have to be professionally done. The watch has a nice weight to it and wears effectively throughout the day. The chronograph dials/buttons dont seem to function, Im not certain if they may be supposed to, but that is definitely fine with me. It keeps time properly, no challenges so far. I have not noticed any in the gold chipping off or any in the stones coming loose and Im a really active mother of a really active toddler so we are usually around the move.No, this is not a luxury item at a dirt low-cost price. But, it can be a great low-priced solution that I know Im going to delight in!! I'm considering finding it in other "metals".

Replica watches:The necklace is merely gorgeous. I expect it will be my favourite for years to come. It hangs right exactly where I want it to. The heart it really is lovely, but he colour it's not close for the 1 showed within the picture, it can be a great deal darker, it can be like a red wine colour, but very dark! I like this, I got for my mom and it really is definitely gorgeous. It is actually massive and it its glamorous and lovely. Glad I bought this. I've this necklace inside the Garnet, Black, and Clear and I totally appreciate them. I'd agree with most critiques that the Garnet is extremely dark in color- virtually comes off as a deep muddy red-brown. The black Onyx is wonderful although and I love the clear since the metal perform truly comes by way of. This necklace is nice in that it truly is versatile- could be dressed up or down. It comes having a Singapore chain which is always beautiful- they normally appear substantially extra high priced than they in fact are and they genuinely sparkle in the light. I uncover they have a tendency to show tarnish a lot more simply though- so they need far more frequent cleaning than other sorts of chains. Always good to store with an anti-tarnish square in the jewelry box or anti-tarnish baggie. They are a number of my favored necklaces.

Replica watches:just bought this as a gift and it is the nicest factor I bought this year. I'm pretty seriously thinking of obtaining a single for myself. size in pictures is extremely accurate to size. also colour and appear is also very correct. assume it would make a beautiful present for anyone and is usually a good deal for the price. The Eternal Enjoy Teardrop necklace is quite attractive and shiny - even extra so in particular person than around the computer screen. I've received quite a few compliments. I would put on it each day if it matched all of my outfits.Good shipping, fantastic marked down cost, and good pictures from the necklace - particularly the 1 where an actual particular person is modeling the necklace. The photos genuinely helped convince me to get the necklace. I ordered this for my neice for christmas and I must say it truly is absolutely gorgeous! If she doesnt like It, i will be sure to help keep it for myself!

related articles:
http://versatolelive.com/LIVE/index.php?do=/blog/176669/excellent-replica-watches/
http://www.horjun.net/index.php?do=/blog/47994/rolex-replica-watches/
http://www.hittmeup.com/member/blog_post_view.php?postId=133169
http://www.elevatemg.com/wishmatch/member/blog_post_view.php?postId=40814
http://www.facecool.com/profiles/blogs/rolex-wall-clock-14
http://potriviti.ro/member/blog_post_view.php?postId=33352
http://www.endoflifeinsights.com/professionaldevelopment/?q=blog/ramossvm/16-oct-2013/79593
http://elleluimoi.com/member/blog_post_view.php?postId=40000
http://www.justpoke.com/event/1793/best-replica-watch/
http://www.cottonto.com/member/blog_post_view.php?postId=84489

[ブルガリ時計レディース]

Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You clearly know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your site when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?
ブルガリ時計レディース