The film "127 hours": reviews, plot, actors and roles

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

What kind of films can not leave indifferent any viewer, despite all the variety of feelings that overwhelm him?

"Hachiko", "Impossible", "1+1", "Earthquake" - all these popular movies are based on real events. The film “127 Hours” stood on a par with them, reviews of which are mostly the most positive. When hearing about it for the first time, many will certainly ask questions: why 127? Is this the time it takes to escape, or maybe to save the girl you love? Or maybe so many hours left to live for the main character? Let's look into this.

The origins of film history

The story in the film "127 Hours", the plot of which was based on the real events of the life of Aaron Ralston, will not leave anyone indifferent. To be more precise, the basis for starting work on the film was Aron Ralston's book of memoirs Between the Hammer and the Hard Place. In it, the author tells about the events that happened to him in April 2003 in the US state of Utah.

Aron, being an extreme traveler and climber, dreamed of conquering all 55 peaks of America, each with a height of at least 4 thousand meters.

April 26, 2003 Aaron Ralston set out on his next adventure. Blue Jack CanyonUtah National Park - a place of unprecedented beauty. Walking through a deserted and almost deserted area, contemplating the natural strength and power, Aaron did not even suspect how this journey would end.

At some point of his campaign, Aaron noticed three huge boulders, they closed a small narrow passage away from the main route. He was interested in this gorge, and, trying to climb the boulders, Aaron shook one of them. A huge block began to move and tightly squeezed the traveler's right hand between itself and the rock.

Overcoming yourself

Aron tried to loosen, at least slightly move the boulder from its place, but in vain. A stone weighing almost 400 kg did not succumb to the persistent actions of one person.

So Aron Ralston was left alone with a huge boulder in the middle of the desert. As his father Larry Ralston said later, Aron determined for himself 5 possible ways to get out of this situation: after all, loosen the boulder with the equipment at his disposal, break the canyon wall until it is possible to pull out his arm, patiently wait for rescuers, or independently amputate the hand stuck between a boulder and a rock. There was another way out - suicide, but the incredibly strong spirit Aaron immediately rejected this option.

Despite all attempts to defeat a boulder or rock, Aron has been in a deadly canyon for several days. It was pointless to wait for rescuers, because none of his relatives and friends knew Aron's new route in advance. He ran out of meager food supplies andfood, and he made a terrible decision: to cut off his hand. At his disposal was only a dull Chinese knife - a cheap fake, and several bicycle knitting needles, from which Aron builds himself an improvised bone breaker. He breaks the radius and ulna on his own, and then takes a knife in his left hand…

Saving Aron

Overcoming hellish pain, he gets out of the gorge. Rescue Aron Ralston waited only after a few painful hours, walking through the desert, hungry and dehydrated, more than 12 km. Aaron stumbled upon tourists from the Netherlands, and they called a rescue helicopter.

After being discharged from the hospital, Aron continued to conquer the rest of the four-thousander peaks, and also did not give up extreme sports. In 2009, Aron got married, a few months later his first child was born. Aron is now a real example of incredible courage and will to live.

127 Hours: Beginning

A year and a half after the rescue, Aron Ralston released an autobiographical book in which he described in detail the events of those terrible 5 days that happened to him.

And a few years later, after reading this book, the famous director Danny Boyle decides to reassemble a team of first-class specialists in their field and make a quality film. With producer Christian Colson and screenwriter Simon Beaufoya, Boyle worked on Slumdog Millionaire.

Boyle's desire to make this film initially frightened many: they were afraid that the viewer would not like to see the face of the same actor throughout the film. But,having read Aron's book and learned about his story, everyone came to the same conclusion: worth it!

Boyle's main idea was to immerse the viewer in that terrible gorge and, together with Aron Ralston, make him endure pain and overwhelming fear, noticing how the hero's emotions change from panic to the desire to get out and survive at any cost.

Ralson and Boyle: first meeting

The first thing the director had to do to make the viewer believe him when watching the film was to contact the real Aron Ralston and invite him to the shooting.

Aron met Boyle in Utah in July 2009. The canyon did not frighten him, and, according to Ralston himself, he thanked this place for the life it opened to him.

Before being imprisoned in that narrow gorge, Aron was a secretive man, an individualist by nature, he did not think about how his mother and father were worried about him when he went on his campaigns full of danger. But during those hardest lonely five days, when during the day there was nowhere to hide from the scorching sun, and at night - to escape from the ever-increasing cold, Aaron had time to rethink all his actions. It can rightly be said that Blue John was reborn.

Ideological component of the film

As Ralston himself says, by the end of the sixth day he was too exhausted, exhausted by thirst, sun and cold - and all this cleared his thoughts, “until they were left with only emotional attachments”, which did not allow them to give up and give up even in such a dire situation.

Danny Boyle brought this idea to the film: he showed not only the ability to survivein a hopeless situation, but also the desire to overcome the barrier in itself in relation to society and the closest people.

However, despite the idea contained in the film "127 hours", reviews about it are very contradictory. After viewing, some considered this film an excellent motivating story, while others called Aron Ralston a crazy egoist who realized the value of a family only after the most tragic story of his life.

Boyle's main task

Having decided on the idea, the film team wondered who would play Aron Ralston, who was left alone with his misfortune, in the film. It had to be, firstly, a very talented actor, and, secondly, his physical form should match the physique of Aaron, a professional athlete and mountaineer.

The man playing Aron Ralston had to be ready to work in the most difficult physical conditions, where he would be filmed 99% of the time. At the same time, he needed to show the entire possible palette of emotions, conveying the feelings, thoughts and actions of his character as authentically as possible.

The actor of the first plan (and, in fact, the only character in the picture) of the film "127 hours" was James Franco. Aron Ralston himself agreed with this choice: “I was very pleased to learn that this role will be played by a person with such a set of dramatic roles. I knew from James' other work that he really loves to live the life of the character he plays.”

In the footsteps of Ralston

Throughout almost the entire film after the main character hitin the gorge, the viewer watches Aron through a small tourist camera. For Franco, this experience was unique, he had to not interact with other actors for long hours on the set. He was very interested in this project because of the novelty of filming. Their basis was a film dialogue with the audience. Franco said he was excited to work with Danny Boyle on this project, despite the difficult physical conditions that required him to stay in the same position in the mock room for many hours. Often the actor left the set with bruises and scratches.

Franco had to convey with his game all the personal experiences of his hero. In this he was greatly helped by the real recordings of Aron Ralston. In a moment of complete despair, Aaron wrote down an appeal to his family and friends, a kind of testament in which he said goodbye to them.

Also, Ralston showed James Franco the possible positions in which he was during his long imprisonment, and even explained exactly how he held the knife during the amputation.

After getting acquainted, Ralston and Franco went together for a long time to the mountains. It was important for the actor to see the prototype of his character in a real environment, in his native element.

"127 hours": actors and roles

The cast of the picture is not rich, because in 90% of the entire tape the events unfold in a narrow gorge around James Franco.

Franco is not only involved in acting, he also works on films as a director and screenwriter, co-founded a production company.

For the roleJames Franco was nominated for a Golden Globe and even an Oscar in 127 Hours.

Speaking of the film "127 Hours", the actors playing the roles of a secondary plan cannot be ignored, because thanks to their work, the viewer observes how Aron's desire to return to society increases over time. Lisi Kaplan, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara, Clemence Poesy did a great job.

Poesy plays in the film "127 Hours" Aron's beloved girl - Rana. The actress received international recognition thanks to the role of Fleur Delacour in the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Clemence Poesy is not only a talented actress, she is also engaged in the modeling business. In 2007, Poesy became one of the faces of the Chloe brand.

Another close girlfriend of Aron Ralston in the film is his sister Sonya, played by Lizzy Caplan. According to the plot of the film, Aron did not answer his sister's call before leaving for the canyon, which he later regretted many times, being chained to the rock of the gorge. Viewers can also see Lizzy Caplan in the film "Allies".

Many rave reviews "127 hours" deserved it because of the game of its cast.

Last meeting

Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara in 127 Hours play Aron's new friends Megan McBride and Christy Moore, whom he met in the canyon shortly before the tragedy.

The girls and Aron spent several hours together, walking through the desert rocky terrain and diving into the mountain lake.

Their meeting would not have beenso remarkable if Megan and Christy had not been the last Aron saw before the tragedy, and the only ones who knew where he could be.

Kate Mara also played in films such as Brokeback Mountain, The Martian, House of Cards, and you can see Amber Tamblyn in such films as House M. D., The Call, Django Unchained "".

Thanks to the strong cast of 127 Hours, reviews of it are mostly positive, because the viewer likes to look at a quality job.

Interesting facts of the movie "127 Hours"

• Aron Ralston did not want to show his diaries to anyone except those close to him, but he also allowed Danny Boyle and James Franco to see them.
• The film was partly filmed in the same gorge where Aron Ralston spent almost 6 days.
• The filmmakers recreated Aron Ralston's full set of tools.
• Danny Boyle has been planning to film Ralston's autobiography for four years.
• Ryan Gosling, Cillian Murphy, Sebastian Stan could also star in the film.

Music for the film

The soundtracks to the film "127 Hours" deserved separate reviews. The main author of the musical accompaniment of the tape was Alla Rakha Rahman, an Indian composer and performer with whom Danny Boyle, as well as Colson, worked on Slumdog Millionaire.

A. R. Rahman received the second Oscar in his life for the original soundtracks for the film 127 Hours.

"TheCanyon", "Liberation", "Touch Of The Sun", "Acid Darbari" - these and many other soundtracks created and performed by Rahman have forever entered the list of the best music of our time.