127 Hours

Starring James Franco

Directed by Danny Boyle

Rating: **** ½

Can we, hardened cynical movie-goers and de-sensitized humanbeings of Planet Murder Earth, even begin to imagine the thundering threshold of pain where the man trapped in sure-death actually says 'Thank You' to…whom? God maybe?...when he's able to saw off his trapped hand with a blunt knife?

It would be facile if not foolish to describe 127 Hours as a masterly movie experience. 

Danny Boyle who created slurpy melodrama out of Mumbai's slum culture in Slumdog Millionaire slums it out with actor James Franco in a crevice large enough to be one of the slum-dweller's sleeping place in Slumdog. Boyle takes the theme of human resilience to a new level, far beyond the cinematic. 

The sheer endurance-power of a man trapped in sure-death and the indomitable survival instinct that makes us resort to the unimaginable in a crisis situation …these themes are defined by an exceptional scrupulousness in recreating a real-life predicament.

While in the over-punctuated narration of Slumdog Millionaire Boyle on the boil, was constantly fornicating with flamboyance, in 127 Hours austerity and starkness yoked with an extraordinary undercurrent echoing a moral fable are the keystones to its seamless power and energy.

Within a playing-time of 90-odd minutes as we watch Aron's 5-day ordeal unravel in excruciating detail, the narrative opens up wounds that go beyond the boulder-trapped hand.In a remarkably well-written and performed monologue James Franco (giving what is definitely a career-defining performance) pretends to be a radio-jockey doing a live phone-in about his own predicament.The sequence synthesizes satire with the heart-stopping terror of a man who is sure to die. It rips a hole in your soul. It's the clip to shown for Franco's best-actor trophy.

The pain we feel as this man tries to humour himself into stealing snatches of breath from a cold heartless Nature, is of course nothing compared with what the man himself must have undergone. No amount of spiritual pontification on pain can explain the actual physical suffering of a man in an abyss with his hand trapped under a large boulder. 

By extension we can argue that no film can recreate that monstrous pain without seeming exploitative.127 Hours gets close, real close, to the real pain.It tears away at affectations and drama and pulls us into that cramped crevice under the mountains and traps us with Aron Talston. He can hardly move or breathe.

Danny Boyle pretty much places us right in there with him. The Trainspotting hallucinations when the pain increases by the day, come in lucid flashes where we get a perspective on Aron's life beyond the immediate predicament. 

We see. We listen. We suffer. We learn. Our own A R Rahman's music serves as an evocative pointer to the lessons learnt the hard way.

No matter how much you've heard about it, no matter how many films you've seen about the 'Triumph Of The Human Spirit' (jeez!), and no matter how stout-hearted you are about crisis management in movies and real life, nothing has prepared you for the experience of watching Danny Boyle's 127 Hours. 

Brace yourself for a journey that changes your entire perspective on cinematic entertainment.127 Hours is as entertaining as molar surgery. Yet you can't take your eyes off for split second.Not for the popcorn. Not to go the loo.

Playing real-life mountaineer Aron Talston (yeah yeah we all know this is a true story) young actor James Franco re-defines Method Acting.By doing away with the 'method' required to recreate those horrific hours trapped in a ravine he creates a world in that stifling space where every drop of water emerging from any body-part is an invitation to life.

I am not too sure of how much Boyle's and Simon Beaufoy's riveting screenplay is fictional.It really doesn't matter beyond a point. Because what we are looking at is a human drama that sucks away the chic masquerade of celluloid adventures and leaves us with only the agony of the crisis on-hand (pun intended). 

We know how it will end. We know Aron will live and that he will never be able to show his middle finger to life from one of his hands. Outcome known, those long hours away from civilization are still destined to change how we look at life as well as life in the movies.

127 Hours is one of the most important films in recent times. Its validity resonates far beyond the precincts of cinema. It tells us that being heroic is not about climbing mountains. It is about looking for those critical places in your heart to peg your aspirations when rapidly slipping off that steep slope of life.

The lessons I came away with from 127 Hours

Do not go mountain climbing or for any outdoor activity alone.

If alone then make sure your parents, girlfriend and best friend know where you go.

Never trust Chinese goods…a blunt knife when you need to cut more than your nails can be awfully inconvenient.

Urine can be a crisis-supplement for water, so develop a taste for it.

If your jilted girlfriend warns, 'You're going to be so lonely' she may be cursing you with more than just an emotional vacancy.You could end up in a place with only ants and lizards for company

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