127 Hours

This is not really a film that you enjoy while watching it; there is very little enjoyment to get from such a terrible situation.  The film does, however, hook you into watching every single minute, like a slow motion car crash; this just goes to show the talent of Danny Boyle and the magnetism of James Franco that people will actually pay to watch it and then rave about how inspiring it was.

The plot follows the real life tale of how Aron Ralston, an engineer turned climbing enthusiast on weekends who got trapped by a boulder in Robbers Roost Canyon, Utah, and survived. He ends up literally being stuck between a rock and a hard place (ok, I couldn’t resist the pun) and unable to move for over five days. As the audience watch the movie unfold they witness Ralston showing an amazing amount of survival instinct and inventive flare that is impressive to behold. Since this is a true story the ending is quite obvious and many moviegoers go in knowing what will happen, but it is the journey across the 90 minutes that will awe and inspire them. The film certainly has a lot of similarities to ‘Buried’, the Ryan Reynolds film released last summer; they both have ordinary men stuck in one spot for days, they both manage to keep one actor entertaining the audience for the majority of the film, but where ‘127 Hours’ differs is that it is not a thriller like ‘Buried’, but is meant to captivate and shock people, but also give out the message that nothing is too difficult to overcome.

Similarly to ‘Buried’ we only have one individual on screen for the majority of the film who must maintain the audience’s interest throughout. This is certainly a difficult thing to ask any actor, especially when you add the heat of the canyon, plus all the physical and psychological strain that goes on during the filming, but James Franco pulls it all off superbly. Ralston was clearly a confident, cocky individual and Franco is able to portray this in a simple smile and a walk. But Franco can also play the several emotional stages that Ralston goes through as the gravity of his situation slowly dawns on him. Franco was also truly all-alone in many of the scenes and this led to one of the funniest scenes in which Ralston gives himself his own Jerry Springer style talking to during which he brings a lot of underlying issues about how he enjoys pushing people away and being alone. Although this scene is amusing to watch, it is also heart breaking as Ralston realizes a little too late that he should have lived his life differently. Franco takes on this challenge and truly delivers giving great heart and strength to the performance, which was likely significantly helped by having the real Aron Ralston to hand on set. Having the real Ralston on set meant that he came back to where it all began and took his first step onto Robbers Roost since the incident-a further testament to his courage and personal strength.

The film is beautifully shot, but that is what we have come to expect from a Danny Boyle film. His shots of Robbers Roost truly show how stunning the landscape is and this makes Ralston’s fascination with it all the more understandable. While in the canyon, in order to get the heightened feel of claustrophobia there are many tight close up shots where all we see is Franco’s face and the audience begin to understand the conditions he is in. On top of this Boyle also uses wide angled distance shots that reveal how vast Robbers Roost is and so how alone Ralston is. Boyle’s smartest move in the film is to break up the solo shots of Franco with dream sequences that appear due to Ralston’s dehydration. Within these sequences the audience is given glimpses of the life that led Ralston to the boulder; we see his family life, his friends and the girl he loved and lost. Unfortunately we never do get the full story, but simply little snap shots, but in some ways this is quite special as it allows the audience to create their own history for Aron Ralston, and it also means that the real Aron Ralston does not have his privacy invaded world wide.

Now of course all anyone is really interested in is ‘that scene’, so let’s not waste anytime skirting around it. It is more gruesome than you could possibly be prepared for, but like a slow motion car crash you can’t help but watch. It lasts for a good 10 minutes during which Boyle uses a combination of sound and visuals to make you feel as if you are cutting your own arm off. For example when Ralston is tugging at one of the nerves in his arm every touch causes the audiences ears to be bombarded by screeching sounds that reflect the pain he must be feeling. It is almost unbearable to watch, and then suddenly it is all over and you are hit with an overwhelming sense of relief and awe that someone would go through all that for survival. This feeling of awe and relief will stay with you even after you have left the cinema and get home; all you will think is ‘No problem in my life can be so bad that I have to cut my own arm off to survive it’.

Overall it is a good film that never falls into the trap of putting a few too many tension-heightening devices in. It is well shot, emotionally portrayed and enlightening. Ralston now does public speaking and charges thousands of dollars; this is a much cheaper way of getting his message. Just remember if you are a thrill seeker: always take a phone with you.

 

Degree- 2:1

Possibly not a film you will feel you ‘enjoyed’ while you

watch it, but certainly one that will leave its mark

and have you thinking about it for a long time after.

(If you are confused about the rating system please click on the ‘About This Blog Page’ which will explain it all)

North By Northwest

When it’s said that everyone should see this film once. there is a reason! It might not be seem hugely original or unique to have an ordinary guy stuck in extraordinary circumstances through fluky coincidences, recent releases ‘The Tourist’ or ‘Bourne Trilogy’ come to mind, but this is one of the first and best uses of that set-up.  Greatly helped by Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and Alfred Hitchcock this blows all other espionage thrillers out of the water.

The plot is light on complexity, with Roger Thornhill (Grant) being mistaken for George Kaplan, a man wanted dead by Phillip Vandamm (played by James Mason). The lead up to this mistaken identity happens in small steps, but done with great comical flare that reminds me of Shakespearean comedies such as ‘A Comedy of Errors’.  After a run in with Vandamm’s men, Thornhill tries to track down Kaplan and get some answers. Then on the train, in a scene everyone will recognise, Thornhill meets Eve Kendall (Saint), the blonde femme fatal that takes a little bit too much interest in him and puts a spanner in the works. The film is incredibly fast paced and every scene is about moving the plot forwards, which leaves little room for any characterisation. Back in 1959 that would not have been much of a problem, but modern audiences have a problem with films that are light on plot and depths. Films that mimic this formula, such as ‘The Tourist’ or the later Ocean’s films, are ripped apart because they lack anything beneath their shiny exterior. It seems that modern audiences like to know a bit more about the characters and so some might find this a little bit silly and empty to watch.

Saying all that Cary Grant plays his character fantastically well. Off screen his life might have been full of the sort of drama that keep editors of ‘Heat’ and ‘US Weekly’ happy, but on screen he portrays the ‘every man’ perfectly. A modern equivalent would be the bumbling Hugh Grant, as he has both the charm and the good looks; the same cannot be said for Johnny Depp’s  ‘every man’ (again in ‘The Tourist’-the parallels are so similar it is almost breaching copyright) who lacks both the conventional looks and the charm to pull it off. A problem with Cary Grant’s performance is the pace he delivers his lines. The dialogue flies thick and fast so that modern audiences might have difficulty keeping up and so will miss out on some of the clever lines. However, once you get used to the pace you can appreciate the witty and clever banter that occurs between the characters; it is the kind of script that likely inspired Aaron Sorkin, the writer of ‘The West Wing’ and ‘The Social Network’.

The other actor to comment on is Eva Marie Saint who plays the cold and mysterious Eve Kendall. Kendall is a great female part, one that is in control, dominant and opinionated. The flirting between Thornhill and Kendall is certainly led by her, a dynamic that is great to watch on screen. It is also a relationship that was not seen in similar films such as James Bond which still had the females act as damsels in distress.

The greatest thing about this film, and the reason that everyone must go and see it, is because of its importance to modern pop culture. Different scenes from the film have been recycled over and over again. The opening credits (Buried and The Tourist); the chemistry on the train (Casino Royale); the line ‘Beats flying, doesn’t it?’ (Virgin Trains advert); the plane flying across a corn field (The Simpson episode ‘Fear of Flying’); and the conflict on Mount Rushmore (Family Guy episode ‘North by North Quahog’). All these scenes stem from the iconic ones found in ‘North by Northwest’. In fact the last two examples are especially fantastic scenes if you remember that they were shot with no CGI. A real plane was used and a life-size model of Mount Rushmore was constructed all for the sake of realism.

‘North by Northwest’ is undeniably a classic and one of the most successful films of its type. Some modern audiences might not like the dated style of filming, but everyone should definitely see it to find the sources of many pop culture references.

Degree- 2:1

A fun, clever film that delivers what few films have

been able to since. A classic in every sense of the word

and one that has greatly influenced modern pop culture

(If you are confused about the rating system please click on the ‘About This Blog Page’ which will explain it all)

Buried

Buried has a simple concept; a man, Paul Conroy, is trapped in a box underground and being held to ransom for $ 5 million. Not much else to it, right? Well it is a credit to both leading and only on screen actor Ryan Reynolds and director Rodrigo Cortes that they manage to make something so simple one of the tensest films I have seen in months.

The film starts off with an incredibly ‘Hitchcockian’ feel: the use of music, the every day man trapped in a situation that he didn’t cause; surrounded, in this case using a phone, by people and none of them can help you. Cortes borrows a lot from the master of tension and it makes the first half of the film un-missable. Add to it the close camera angles, face shots and occasional submersion into darkness and each member of the audience is taken into that claustrophobic box. Then, just as quickly, the cameras will pan out and surrounding the coffin is blackness and a sense of complete hopelessness. Cortes plays with the audiences’ emotions very effectively.

Being the only one on screen Reynolds has a tough job of carrying the whole 95 minutes, but he does it superbly and is excellent to watch, for the most part. Conroy goes through a whole spectrum of emotion from anger, to despair, to acceptance, to hope and everything in between with Reynolds demonstrating them all superbly. However, he is not alone for the entire film as there are plenty of voices on the other end of the telephone. Some of the voice acting was excellent, such as Robert Paterson as Agent Dan Brenner, while others felt a little cliché such as Jose Luis Garcia Perez as the Iraqi kidnapper.  Reynolds admitted himself that this was likely the toughest shoot he has ever done. He left the set after 17 days of being buried with splinters all over his body, singed fingers and heavy asthma; it all seems a very long way from Van Wilder.

The film, however, was not perfect and suffered from not believing enough in itself. After about half way through someone, I don’t know who, seems to have felt the audience might have got a bit bored and decided to crank up the tension factor, using some very obvious cinematic ploys. Some of these ploys worked and kept me on edge, but some didn’t, like a snake appearing, and these ones looked silly and ended up breaking up the tension. Sadly the film never really recovers and it is a real shame that no one felt the situation would be tense enough without having to make it seem even more so.

All in all it is a very good film that has a great concept, which unfortunately couldn’t be maintained throughout the entire film. I think if the film had been made 20 minutes shorter then all the ‘cheap’ thrills could have cut out, leaving the audience with as much tension and the film would have been better for it.

2:1 A unique film full of ambition and promise which it delivers…mostly.

Buried

I am very excited to see how this one turns out. ‘Buried’ is about one man (Ryan Reynolds) being trapped in a coffin for 95 minutes. Director Rodrigo Cortes says you won’t be bored for a second, I wonder if he is right.