Wednesday 1 February 2012

127 Hours..

I'm going to talk about the hit film 127 hours starring James Franco. Its based on a true story about a horrific canyoneering accident in which Aron Ralston (Franco) is forced to amputate his arm. The film was not only inspirational and moving but the shots and camera work used is truly a sight to behold.
     The film was directed by Danny Boyle and is one of his greatest works, Boyle shows us into the life of Ralston as he pursues his passion for rock climbing and canyoneering. One of my favourite shots in the film comes just before the disaster. The camera follows his hands running and skimming over the eroded rocks and you can feel, as you sit there, how smooth they are. The shot really tells you of his passion for climbing and it makes you want to go out and explore the world on foot like him.
      The plot of the film summed up is essentially ''guy gets stuck and cuts his arm off'' Now this doesnt seem like a really riveting story but the way Boyle showed his anguish and his suffering makes for an really emotional and exciting film. As the plot suggests it is mostly about him being stuck in Blue John Canyon but his descent into madness as well as the simplest of tasks becoming suddenly herculean make you really connect with the character and even knowing how the story ends you always hope that maybe someone hears him and rescues him.


As well as the shots and quality of the acting being incredible the music is also pretty outstanding. The video below is the soundtrack for the scene where he is riding his bike across to Blue John Canyon. The upbeat pace and tempo of the music really fits well with the action on screen.


I think the film encapsulates that you don't need special effects and costumes to make a truly outstanding motion picture. This film is very simple and the budget of $18 million is used by way of stunning camera angles and the truly life like severing of his own arm. The arm scene actually caused nausea to a lot of the customers in the cinema which is credit to the make up team on 127 hours 


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