Danny Boyle’s latest outing after his runaway success that was Slumdog Millionaire follows the story of Aron Ralston, a mountain climber who (SPOILER) has to cut off his own arm after a hiking accident. Now it’s debatable how much of this is a spoiler as even with just a small passing knowledge of the film the horrific event is already spoiled.
Now do NOT let this deter you from seeing this film. Danny Boyle does a fantastic job at directing a film that at its core is about one man trapped under a rock for the majority of the films 94 minute running time. This is done through the excellent technique of using flash backs and hallucinations to portray what is going through the mind of the trapped hiker.
Ralston is played by James Franco, known mainly as his role as Harry Osbourn in the Spiderman films and the loveable stoner Saul Silver in Pineapple Express. Here he takes on the role of the somewhat doomed mountain climber, and he holds the film together with a really great performance. Talking to the audience through the medium of his portable camera which acts as a way for him to record, what he sometimes believes is his goodbye message.
This technique is a very good way at getting the audience to connect and empathise with the character, allowing us to see every subtle facial movement as he realises more and more what he may have to do to escape, or indeed that he may not make it out at all. The entire film is not filmed like this though; it sports some great shots of the mountainous area including some great sequences as the small crack in which Aron is trapped is lit by the sunrise.
If you were being very picky you could say the supporting cast is clearly overshadowed by its main performer. However that is a very big stretch, as this film is driven by its brilliant central character, and you find yourself willing him to escape, almost as desperate as he is to see him get out of that canyon.
Now back to the issue of the amputation, if you dislike disturbing scenes you better steel yourself before you go to see this film, as said though do NOT be put off by that. The scene in itself is brilliantly done, convincingly acted by Franco and excellently shot by Danny Boyle, it is an extreme assault on the senses, the imagery and the sound almost make you uncomfortable much in the same way that the last scene of Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for the Dream is. It demands your attention and as horrifying as it is, you can’t help but stare at it.
This is a very well polished film, and should be recommended to anyone who hasn’t seen it. It combines all of the elements needed to make a great film, acting, direction, musical score and effects to create a heart-warming, moving, tense and sometimes weirdly enough, funny story of one man’s desperate fight to survive.
An all round 5 star film.
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