A completely cathartic life-or-death experience
Danny Boyle has always been an indie favourite, consistently producing
excellent films in many different genres. However, his films never
enjoyed the box-office reach they deserved. That is, until his 2008
surprise blockbuster Slumdog Millionaire broke all expectations. It was
a film that would then allow Danny Boyle to create whatever film
project he wanted, with presumably whatever budget he needed.
This is a dream situation for any director, but instead of taking the
opportunity to direct a massive budget film, he writes and directs, 127
Hours. The film, which tells the incredible true story of Aron Ralston,
could be handled in incredibly different ways. Luckily, Boyle's film
about a man having to cut off his own arm doesn't leave you feeling
depressed, but rather it is energetic and life-affirming. The film
doesn't tone down any of the difficult aspects, in fact it throws them
right in your face. However, what makes this film so fantastic, is that
Boyle's style matches Ralston's view on life and explanation for
surviving the awful ordeal.
The film begins at a furiously kinetic pace, one you would be hard
pressed to find in an action film. It is a jolt to the senses and it
sets the perfect mood for the film. It is not making light of a
terrible situation but rather putting you in the mind set that Aron
Ralston was in before the accident occurred. What makes this
directorial decision so important is the fact that without
understanding the kind of person he was, we couldn't understand how he
survived the awful ordeal he was in.
This is what makes Boyle perfect for the material, where another
director would most likely go very minimalist, Boyle goes all out in
terms of style, without ever losing the emotional connection. Boyle's
stylistic choices heighten emotional integrity where as other
directors' use of style is often just visual stimulation.
As important Boyle's direction was to making the film great, if it were
not for James Franco's performance as Aron, the film would have failed.
Franco gives one of the strongest performances of his career, if not
his best. His performance could very easily have become showy and
overly dramatic, yet Franco was smart enough to restrain himself until
the moment called for dramatics.
It would be a real shame to forget the unsung heroes of this film, the
two directors of photography; Enrique Chediak and Anthony Dod Mantle.
As the film features, for the most part, one man on screen for the
duration, Boyle decided to make the visuals into their own characters.
To do this, he employed two fantastic directors of photography to make
the visuals competing characters. As the film progressed, remembering
the incredibly impressive shots became harder and harder, to a point
where I lost count. The film features some of the most memorable shots
of Boyle's career, many of which leave you wondering how they possibly
accomplished them.
Danny Boyle has made a career of films about men who are pushed to
their absolute limits, yet the films always leave you feeling better
than when you arrived. He does not muddy his films with sentimentality
or out of place scenes to make the audience feel better, but his films
still leave you feeling an energy for life. It is his talent of finding
the strength within people and his natural ability to present it to us
that makes his films so powerful. 127 Hours is one of the rare films
that leaves an audience in their seats during the credits, and for
many, even after the credits are done their scroll.
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