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By Stephen Farber – 30 mins ago
TELLURIDE, Colo. (Hollywood Reporter) – Two years ago, Danny Boyle held the
first public screening of "Slumdog Millionaire" at the Telluride Film
Festival. The rest, as they say, is history.
Boyle was determined to complete his new film, "127 Hours," in time for this
year's Labor Day holiday weekend event, and it premiered to loud ovations --
and a few squeals of terror.
Boyle knew he had a narrow window of opportunity to take advantage of the
worldwide success of "Slumdog," and he decided to tackle a risky piece of
material, inspired by Aron Ralston's ordeal when he was trapped in a narrow
canyon in 2003.
This Fox Searchlight film has disturbingly graphic images, and it presents
another challenge for audiences in that for most of the movie, we are
confined in the canyon with just one actor, the remarkable James Franco. But
Boyle is such a gifted director that he overcomes the obstacles and might
even match the commercial success of his earlier Oscar winner.
Boyle assembled many of the people who worked with him on "Slumdog"
including screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, producer Christian Colson, composer
A.R. Rahman and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (who shares credit with
Enrique Chediak). Maybe it's the comfort of the collaboration that helps
account for the apparent effortlessness of the filmmaking.
The film opens with a bang, with lots of split-screen effects and speeded-up
digital images, as Aron heads off for a trip through Canyonland National
Park in Utah. Boyle has demonstrated visual razzle dazzle and kinetic
editing since his early films, "Shallow Grave" and "Trainspotting." Here the
style is meant to mirror the energetic personality of the protagonist, an
adrenaline junkie who savors adventure and shares his infectious enthusiasm
with anyone he meets.
Aron encounters two girls while hiking in Utah and immediately goads them
into climbing across a steep ledge and diving into a crystal-blue lake. We
share the rush that the characters feel, but we also feel a sense of
impending danger. The clock stops when Aron leaves the girls and begins
climbing down a canyon. Suddenly he dislodges a boulder that pins his arm
and traps him.
>From here, the film moves into a more interior mode, though it maintains
energy by drifting in and out of Aron's memories and fantasies. Boyle takes
advantage of the beauty of the setting, familiar from many John Ford
Westerns, but he also captures the inner life of the character.
He is aided enormously by Franco, who pulls off a virtual one-man show. The
actor already has demonstrated tremendous versatility, and just this year
viewers have seen him as one of Julia Roberts' lovers in "Eat Pray Love" and
as Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in "Howl." Here he manages to create a radically
different character -- an extroverted adventurer who is forced to turn
reflective. Expect Oscar to come calling next year.
The different moods Aron experiences point to the deeper themes of the film.
"127 Hours" is a pointed, double-edged critique of masculinity. Aron was
reckless enough to embark on this climbing expedition without telling anyone
where he was going, and the film sees that his cocky, independent spirit
gives him unusual survival skills. But that lone-wolf mentality also puts
him in deadly peril, and the scream that he utters near the end of the film
-- "I need help!" -- gives voice to his belated awareness of the inadequacy
of the Wild West code of self-reliance that stunts so many men. Franco nails
this key moment with rare emotional intensity.
Although Ralston's ordeal gripped the world seven years ago, there was no
guarantee that a film would do justice to the chilling true story. All of
the key creative personnel contribute to the movie's nail-biting tension and
unexpectedly moving finale. Jon Harris's editing is matchless, and Rahman's
score effectively heightens the emotion. Ultimately, however, it is the
talents of Boyle and Franco that sock this movie home.
