Every time I’m faced with a task at work that seems insurmountable, I summon Shakespeare’s wisdom to help me calm my nerves. There’s this line from Macbeth I memorized in high school after listening to a Royal Shakespeare Company recording that my fave teacher Fr. Chris Kennedy brought from London: Come what come may, time and hour run through the roughest day. It’s a more sophisticated re-working of “This too shall pass”, for dramatic effect.
But after watching Danny Boyle’s 127 hours, I think that line wouldn’t do if I'd find myself in the same situation as trapped Aron Ralston was in. In a panic situation, “bring a genuine Swiss Army knife” would be more apt. However, I don’t think I have Ralston’s will to cut off any part of my body (yes, he amputated the right armed trapped under a boulder; this is one film you shouldn’t miss even if you knew how it’d end). I’d go with “tell mom when you’re going”.
That’s the most moralizing 127 Hours would give you. It’s an unsentimental dramatization of Ralston’s five-day struggle inside a crevice in the canyons of Utah. It doesn’t sound much of a film. But with Boyle’s inventive writing and camerawork that employ backstories, flashbacks, hallucinatory episodes, the digi-cam as a narrative device, funny touches including Scooby Doo, a game show and a forgotten Gatorade, 127 Hours is extremely watchable.
There two other great reasons to see the film: The eclectic and kinetic soundtrack of AR Rahman who gave us the infectious Jai Ho; and James Franco the magnificent. All these you should not let pass.
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