by Subhojit Sanyal
Before we begin on our quest to dissect (wrong choice of words) this movie, let us first get one thing very clear. I do have a soft spot when it comes to Danny Boyle; I do treat him almost as a fellow citizen because he recycled Bollywood for us to a great deal — but the point that I am literally trying to make here is that my article here is not biased. I am going to analyze the movie on its own merit. So hopefully that is understood.
And that said — WHAT A MOVIE!!
With 127 Hours Boyle has actually surpassed all movies made till date. I was reading somewhere that Boyle had always wanted to adapt Aaron Ralston’s autobiography, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, and yet he had to keep his desire on hold for it would turn into one of his costliest movies till date. I must say that I am thankful that this got made into a movie called Slumdog Millionaire, but that is another fact altogether.
By making 127, Danny Boyle has actually deprived audiences of a wonderful tale. First things first, the story, a true-life story, is simply amazing. And that said and done, there is actually quite nothing to the whole movie. In the sense, the story is trapped — quite literally between a rock and a hard place. The entire gamut of events offers no space for any movement. It is the story of a man stuck in a canyon with his hand under a boulder.
And that is the point I am coming to when I say that this is one of the finest movies ever made. Because Danny Boyle has actually filmed the unfilmable. To figure out a screenplay to adjust the tale of a man desperately trying to break free from what appears to be an impossibility, it is simply divine.
And when the characters are so less, make that just one single character for around 95% of the movie, how can one not wind back to him? James Franco. No. Let’s make that a bit grander, as much as we can here. J-A-M-E-S F-R-A-N-C-O. Better. Genius. This really should say a lot about his performance.
With an amazing, and again, without any bias, background score by AR Rahman, titling camerawork by Anthony Dod Mantle, and crisp editing by Jon Harris, this movie is a whole package. Boy, are the Brits at it again. The mind-blowing use of a Handycam and regular standard cameras is a treat by itself. And along with that, throw in JAMES FRANCO, you got a winner!
Many people have fainted on seeing the climax, and if you don’t want to be an unwilling next one, I strongly suggest keeping your eyes shut till the music reaches its crescendo. But if you can stand the sight and smell of blood and gore, I suggest watching and learning a single take climax with multiple cameras. And with doctors present on-site to give an accurate reel to the whole incident.
Learn about the human spirit. Learn about filmmaking. Watch 127 Hours, if in case you have not till now.