Alright, well, I just watched "127 Hours". If you're not familiar, it's the true story of Aron Ralston, a mountaineer and extreme hiker, who spent 5 days trapped in a remote desert canyon in Utah after a boulder crushed and trapped his hand. On the fifth day, after two failed attempts at amputating his arm, he finally succeeded, escaped, repelled down a sheer cliff, and was later recovered by a helicopter.
Now I can see why two men fainted while viewing it last November in San Francisco's Embarcadero Cinemas. Some say "it's the horror" that makes people feel faint, but in my opinion, it's the reality of it. You truly couldn't find a better film interpretation of a book. Danny Boyle and James Franco did the survival story of Aron Ralston justice; vivid, graphic, tear-jerking, gut-wrenching justice.
There were many moments in which I really felt the emotions with Franco. When he's screaming for help, I was waiting with bated breath for someone to hear his pleas, even though I knew they wouldn't. In the moments where he's taking stock, making plans, building make-shift pulley systems to try and hoist the boulder, I got that rush of "yes, he can do this. He's going to do this!" I was holding out for hope the same at him, and then I embraced the hopelessness and defeat whenever he did. I could feel it. I was as disappointed as he was. And when Ralston thinks about his family, it made me think about mine. What would I want to say to them or leave behind for them if you I in this man's position? What would I do to free myself and get back to them? It's all very easy to relate to, and that's why it's so intense. I was able to put myself there with him, because the film invites you in.
But let's face it, we all go into this movie knowing that Ralston will inevitably amputate his forearm. That's where the fainting begins. It's the most stomach-churning, uncomfortable, torturous scene I've ever had to endure. And I do mean endure. If you want to experience the relief of victory and rescue with him, you need to suffer through the carnage with him first. I keep telling myself, "if it was that hard to watch it without closing my eyes, it must have been a million times worse to be the one spending an hour cutting his own arm off with a tiny, dull blade." I think, in parts, I was able to pull back and say "it's not real. It's a reenactment." But at other moments, I was grimacing. I almost saw black when he cut the nerve. Now, think about it. When you pinch a nerve for a tiny moment in your wrist or your elbow, it HURTS. Now imagine completely and viciously severing it with a dull knife. Do you feel it? If you just shuddered, you get it. Yeah, that's the sign of good film making and good acting.
But I have to say, the end, after he freed himself and repelled down a cliff and wandered exhausted through the desert, when he finally caught a glimpse of hope in the form of three people and screamed out for help, from that point on I cried like a baby. I kept saying to myself, "He made it." Something about seeing complete strangers come running to a person in need, coming to help them, makes me really appreciate humanity. I think that's why survival stories touch us all somewhere very deep inside, because it always involves other people, whether it's just the thought of others that keeps us going or others physically coming to our aid. It's that ray of hope in the world.
I have no bad things to say about this movie. Ralston's story is an incredible testament to the Human will to live and how having people we love in our lives is a driving force behind that will. Ralston said in an interview recently that it was his mother, his sister, the people he loves, the prospect of a wife and a child, that got him out of that situation, that gave him that will to live. It's impressive.
Bottom line. Don't just go see this movie; experience it.
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