I well remember when the news was reporting on Aron Ralston’s remarkable story of survival in 2003. The story was an incredible tale of willpower over the body and an example of how far a person could go to survive a seemingly unsurvivable situation. This was in the early days of internet access, and the news reports were not as prevalent and pervasive as they are currently, so all I knew was the bare bones of what had happened to him in those canyons in Utah. It was the type of story that was fascinating for a bit, and then I moved on with my life, not really thinking about it anymore until it became an Academy Award nominated film.
In 2010, 127 Hours hit theaters. This film, based on Ralston’s memoir Between a Rock and a Hard Place, dramatizes the events leading up to his rescue from Bluejohn Canyon in southeastern Utah in the spring of 2003. Filmmaker Danny Boyle, who had just finished his Academy Award-winning Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire, was looking for a more intimate feature as a follow-up, became obsessed with this story, and wanted to make it into an action film in which the protagonist was unable to move.
He wanted to make a film that followed a single person for the entire course of the story, and this was one that, by the very nature of the events, would force that narration. He also knew that it would make for dull viewing if all there was was Ralston for ninety minutes struggling to free himself. There needed to be a bit more to humanize him and to give us a reason to stay with him throughout this ordeal. This instinct is what makes Danny Boyle the kind of writer and director that makes films that people want to see and critics laud. 127 Hours is not a long film, barely hitting ninety minutes with credits included, but there is a lot packed into that time.
The story is a simple one. Aron Ralston (James Franco) packs a bag and heads out on a hiking trip at Utah’s Canyonlands National Park without telling anyone. He runs into two female hikers who are a bit lost and gives them directions, showing them an underground pool and spending time with them before setting off on his own again, continuing through a slot canyon in Bluejohn Canyon. While climbing, an 800-pound boulder he is hanging off of comes loose and causes both to fall, trapping his right arm against the wall.
For several days, he tries everything he can to remove himself, including chipping away at the boulder and attaching the few ropes and straps he has in a vain attempt to pull it loose, but nothing works. His hand is turning grey, and he is running out of food and water. Since he told no one where he was going, he knows that by the time anyone misses him, he will most likely be dead. As he contemplates his situation, he becomes introspective, thinking about how selfish he has been at times with maintaining communication with his parents, specifically his mother, and just how isolated he has become and how that could easily contribute to the end of his life. Eventually, the only solution that could possibly save his life becomes more and more obvious.
In Ralston’s memoir, he writes about how toward the end of his ordeal, he started to hallucinate, seeing himself missing part of his arm but having a child, something that was not in his life at that time. It was these visions that convinced him to take the actions that he finally did that ultimately saved his life. The film dramatizes these things as well as imagery of his life outside of this canyon. We get a good idea of the kind of person he is, one that is happy alone and shuts people out of his life. All of that comes crashing down on him with that boulder and the realization that this kind of isolation brings with it some very serious consequences.
We get the sense of just how isolated this area of the country is for those of us who have never been there. The film opens with Aron packing a few supplies into a backpack—including a close-up of him trying to grasp a Swiss Army Knife that he ultimately misses and leaves behind, an omen of things to come—then sets out, leaving behind the hustling city and driving into the desert where civilization vanishes into the horizon. This is a place where you could look for miles in any direction and see no signs of anything but vast country. It’s the kind of place that Aron feels most at home.
Yet he’s not a complete isolationist. He approaches two girls who appear lost in the canyons and spends a few hours with them, showing them the way and joking around with them a bit, even accepting an invitation to a party later on, though we never really know how serious he might be taking that invitation at the time. He seems to enjoy their company for a brief spell, but is just as fine with leaving on his own again. This is the kind of person who feels they can handle anything out here on their own, until the world shows them otherwise.
But he also manages to get out of his immediate predicament on his own, too. He realizes fairly early on that he is going to lose his arm. He’s had no circulation for many hours and the thumb, the biggest part of that arm that he can see, is turning black. But the only knife he has with him is a dull one that was gifted to him as a stocking stuffer from his mother. Simply cutting through his arm is impossible with such a tool. No rescue is coming; he’s far too isolated to expect anyone to stumble across him.
James Franco is one of those actors that is mostly associated with stoner comedies, often paired up with the likes of Seth Rogan or Danny McBride. He has an extensive body of work outside of that, but that is the work he was mostly recognized for early on. Once he started breaking out of that mold, we saw an actor that had some talent and could hold the screen all on his own. It takes a talented and charismatic performer to carry a film like this, and he manages to do so well.
Unfortunately, in the years since, he has been mired in controversies that have sidelined his career enough that, while he keeps acting, few high-profile pictures have come his way. His friendships with actors like Rogan have stalled, and he has disappeared from the spotlight a bit. It’s unfortunate that this has happened, but he has admitted to some bad behavior that is the root cause of these problems. He is too good of an actor to just disappear like this, though, and I foresee him rising out of this at some point in the future. 127 Hours is one of those films that showcases that talent that he has and gives us hope that he will move on from his controversial past and make a proper comeback.
Danny Boyle rightfully chose to make this film short. There just isn’t enough story here to justify a two-hour-plus feature. As is, it required adding in flashbacks and other sequences to take us away from the central problem for a few moments at a time, breaking up the drama and giving us important character elements to fill out the story. This wouldn’t work without them, but it also highlights just how little story the central conflict actually is. This is not a weakness of the film.
How well this film works for you will depend on how you react to Aron as a whole. He’s arrogant and a loner, and some people cannot get over that hurdle. But he’s also charming and can be sociable if he wants to. Franco brings out both sides of this character while also selling the desperation of the situation he has gotten himself into. He’s trapped inside a canyon crevice, far from civilization, and in a trap of his own making. His choices got him there, and his decision to tell no one where he was going could mean he will never get out of there alive. Danny Boyle’s script, co-written with Simon Beaufoy, puts us right down there with him and keeps us there, sharing his feelings of despair and claustrophobia, necessary to go on this journey with him to the end. It’s a brilliant film in its own way and a journey well worth taking.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Christian Colson, Danny Boyle, and John Smithson
Best Actor: James Franco
Best Adapted Screenplay: Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy
Best Film Editing: Jon Harris
Best Original Score: A.R. Rahman
Best Original Song: “If I Rise” by A.R. Rahman and Rollo Armstrong
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Release Date: November 5, 2010
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Rated R
Starring: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, and Kate Mara
Directed by: Danny Boyle
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