127 Hours Film Analysis - Essay Example

Film Review: 127 Hours Introduction Not every day one comes across nice and interesting films, which grab the attention till its last shot. 127 hours is one of such films that have been popular because of its direction, story, and cinematography. The British-American film was released in November 2010. Danny Boyle who also directed the famous Slumdog Millionaire, the winner of 8 Academy awards, directs the film. James Franco is the lead actor followed by Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn. The film revolves around the story of a mountaineer / canyoneer Aron Ralston (James Franco) who is trapped in the canyons of Utah because of a rock. The film is a drama for survival. The genre of the film is survival drama. The genre includes many films such as Cast away, Into the Wild, Buried etc. All of them portrays the hero fighting for survival. However, 127 hours is the only film which has done it beautifully in the case of canyons / mountains. The film does not have special audience as it was appreciated and well perceived by a majority of the viewers, it is of greater interest for those who look forward for survival drama films or are into mountain climbing. All the critics very well took the film, and James Franco was appreciated for his convincing performance. Thesis Statement: When you are stuck in the middle of nowhere, and you run short of ideas and techniques to help yourself and to fight for your survival, there is always a hope and a way out. This outstanding beam of hope tells us what we would have done if we were in that situation. This is the reason why I like the film and have watched it twice. Plot There are times when a person commits huge mistakes and has plenty of time to think over it. Same case happened with Aron (James Franco) the hero of 127 hours when he also made a mistake and met with a severe incident. It all starts when Aron goes for a canyoneering in canyons, south of Utah’s Canyon Lands National Park. He meets two hikers on his journey and guides them to an amazing underground pool. The film takes a thrilling turn, when Aron falls into one of the narrow canyon slots of the Blue John Canyons. He is trapped into that isolated canyon slot when lose boulder falls to the bottom of the canyon right after Aron which smashes his right hand against the canyon wall. He shouts for help, but since he was in an isolated location and nobody was near him therefore he realized that he is on his own. He tried every possible way out, which failed. Then he started to video tape his messages to his family on his video camera. With the help of his pocket multi-tool Aron cuts his forearm and was able to escape from the canyon after 5 days and 7 hours. Throughout the situation he also runs out of water and food and could have died because of huge loss of blood as he had to walk 8 miles to go to his car or nearby help, but fortunately found a tourist family who called for help (Franco). Evaluation of the film: 127 Hours is written by Danny Boyle himself and Simon Beaufoy, based on the documentary ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ by Aron Ralston. Throughout the film, Mr. Boyle never got off the track and portrayed the entire incident in a can-do spirit. When Aron faced a number of technical problems and found himself helpless, he found a dramatic solution of cutting his arm with a multipurpose tool, which he had with him. He successfully cut his hand. This whole scenario is absolutely possible, logical and ingenious after all. According to Claudia Puig of USA Today, ‘Only a truly visionary filmmaker could take a story largely set in a cramped canyon and give it a sense of openness and hope’ (Puig). According to Carrie Rickey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, ‘Its a coming-of-age story - blunt, mythic, gut-wrenching’ (Rickey). The film can also be assessed by reading Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle comment that states, ‘127 Hours, about an unimaginably unbearable experience, is pretty much an unbearable experience of its own. And yet, it must be said, its exceptionally well made’ (LaSalle). ‘Is the film watchable? Yes, compulsively’, says Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times (Ebert). All these opinions are very true as the film is worth watching. As the film has strong rating and is greatly admired and appreciated by the public and the critics, no prominent weakness has been noticed. The film has however many strengths such as from the story to acting and background score all fits well as according to Peter Travers of the Rolling Stone, ‘Like the A.R. Rahman score that drives the movie, the triumphant 127 Hours pays fitting tribute to Aron by being thrillingly alive’ (Travers). Acting James Franco is undoubtedly an exceptional hero who has shown his skills in a number of films and has received many awards. Franco overwhelmingly convinced the audience with his amazing acting skills. Throughout the film, Franco has acted according to the requirement of that shot. ‘In the end, 127 Hours is one mans incredible, unforgettable journey; it took the extraordinary alchemy of Boyle and Franco to also make it ours’ says the film critic of the Los Angeles Times, Betsy Sharkey (Sharkey). According to Joe Neumaier who works for the New York Daily, ‘Once Francos on his own, everything is played across this terrific actors deceptively goofy face’ which means that his facial expressions were so extra ordinary that the pain which he was going through could be easily understood (Neumaier). According to my opinion this is correct and the cast was perfectly fine. The actor has done many other films which include sad, action, and drama films (Franco). Direction and Editing 127 hours was directed and post produced with great interest. The direction throughout the film is exceptional as the direction had to be done around a guy who is trapped inside a narrow slot of the canyon and cannot move. The Direction of 127 Hours is done in Utah and Boyle decided to hire two cinematographers to work on this project. For the special effects in the film in which Aron cuts his hands, Boyle hired Alterian Inc., which is a Tony Gardener effects company. He greatly emphasized on the coloring and makeup as it gave life to Franco’s acting. Different camera angles are used throughout the film. Close ups, panoramas, changes in coloring, cut-away are notable ones. Because of this there was no dull moment in the film. As according to Stephen Farber of the Hollywood Reporter, ‘All of the key creative personnel contribute to the movies nail-biting tension and unexpectedly moving finale. Jon Harriss editing is matchless, and Rahmans score effectively heightens the emotion. Ultimately, however, it is the talents of Boyle and Franco that sock this movie home’ (Farber). In another comment by the New York Times critic A.O. Scott, ‘Mr. Boyle has a knack for tackling painful, violent or unpleasant subjects with unremitting verve and unstoppable joie de vivre’. Both the comments are true as the direction and editing have added to the overall glory of the film (Franco). Production Made in Utah, 127 Hours has all what it takes to be an amazing production. Since, Aron was a climber and an enthusiast, therefore, he is dressed in the similar manner wearing a t-shirt and cargo shorts along with a bag pack, which comes in handy when he is trapped. The costume showed his lively and casual personality while the film was shot completely in Utah at three different locations. Due to the fact that it was shot in canyons, Franco faced problems and pain during the production however he did not let his exhaustion overrule his acting. The lighting is natural as it showed daytime and nighttime (Franco). Conclusion In 2003, the skilled and professional mountain climber and sports enthusiast Aron Ralston went for hiking in the remote canyons in Utah. Since, he did not tell anyone where he was going therefore when he got trapped no one came searching after him. The story was brilliantly directed and acted by both Boyle and Franco respectively. The audience and the critics took the film well and appreciated the production and Franco’s acting, as it was breathtaking. The film does not have any weaknesses as it truly shows what happened to Aron and what he showed in the documentary Between a Rock and a Hard Place’. All elements of the film complemented and supported each other; starting from the costumes, locations, makeup, and cinematography to acting and direction, everything was right in place and could not have been any better. Anyone who has an interest in the survival drama films, then 127 hours is a must watch for him / her while the film can be watched by anyone and everyone as there is no certain reason to not to watch this outstanding production. Works Cited 127 Hours. Dir. Danny Boyle. Perf. James Franco. 2010. Ebert, Roger. "127 Hours." 10 November 2010. rogerebert.com. 4 February 2014 . Farber, Stephen. "127 Hours: Film Review." 14 October 2010. 4 February 2014 . LaSalle, Mick. "127 Hours review: Hes in pain - so is audience." 12 November 2010. www.sfgate.com. 4 February 2014 . Neumaier, Joe. "127 Hours review: James Franco hooks audience as Aron Ralston in Danny Boyles kinetic biopic." 5 November 2010. nydailynews.com. 4 February 2014 . Puig, Claudia. "James Franco, 127 Hours scale the heights of filmmaking." 11 June 2010. usatoday30.usatoday.com. 4 February 2014 . Rickey, Carrie. "Hikers ordeal makes a captivating saga of survival." 22 October 2010. articles.philly.com. 4 February 2014 . Sharkey, Betsy. "Movie review: 127 Hours." 10 November 2010. articles.latimes.com. 4 February 2014 . Travers, Peter. "127 Hours." 4 November 2010. rollingstone.com. 4 February 2014 . Read More