127 Hours review

 Number 619 on the top 1000 films of all time is Danny Boyle's 2010 biographical drama '127 Hours.'

127 Hours tells the true-life story of Aron Ralston (James Franco) - an American canyoneer and adventurer who becomes trapped in Bluejohn Canyon, Utah. If he can't escape, he will die.

This was a film I initially watched over ten years ago before I started writing film reviews. In those dark days rather than writing levelled and fair criticism, I used a silly and arbitrary system of adjectives. Instead of five stars, I described a film as either superlative, awesome, good, meh and shit. 127 Hours was one of the first films I saw that I labelled as superlative. Over ten years later, I think it holds up well to this high praise.

Much of this is down to Danny Boyle's excellent direction. Don't forget that 127 Hours was released in 2010 - just two years after Boyle won the Best Director Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire. 127 Hours contained the same slick and stylistic direction with some great cinematography. Perhaps this was due to the unusual decision of Boyle employing two separate cinematographers, Antony Dod Mantle and Enrique Chediak, who both outdid themselves. Sure, we get the stunning scenery of the Utah landscape, but you would expect to see these in any film. What you wouldn't expect were the excellent extreme close-ups. Once Aron is trapped in the canyon, the camerawork becomes more claustrophobic and intimate. The audience is trapped alongside with him.

Limited by their surroundings, Mantle and Chediak employ a whole host of clever shots from seeing water travel through the inside of Ralston's camelpak tube to a close-up of Ralston spinning the setting wheel on his digital camera. Considering much of the film is spent with Ralston trapped under the boulder, there was every chance the audience could have become bored. But this was far from the case. Despite the limited settings, the action and cinematography remained gripping and creative.

It helped that you had James Franco playing the main character. Primarily known for his comedy work, he turned his hand well to the more dramatic role of Aron Ralston. He did so well that he earned an Oscar nod. Considering that he is the only character on-screen for most of the film, Franco gave an entertaining and nuanced portrayal of Ralston, conveying simultaneously the bravado and arrogance that led to his predicament, as well as his inner fears and vulnerability when he realises the lethal nature of his situation.

Boyle also paced the film well. It is only a short ninety minutes, but it felt so much longer. I'm sure there could have been the temptation to have really drawn out the dramatic tension and Ralston's suffering, thus also drawing out the screentime, but Boyle did well by cutting it short. Anything longer could have been exhausting or gratuitous. If I were to be really nit-picky, I might say we could have used slightly more time expanding on Ralston's life before his incident. We get clips of his family life and his failed relationships like with past girlfriend Rana (Clemence Poesy) but these are nothing more than vignettes. Maybe that was all that was needed though.

I have now seen 127 Hours twice. Yes, it a thrilling, superlative watch, but it was also harrowing and intense. I shall not be watching it again. I'm not strong enough to watch the amputation scene (you know what I mean, this isn't a spoiler) for a third time. All credit to makeup designer Tony Gardner and the Alterian Inc company. They knocked it out of the park here.

But a word of warning for all you budding canyoneers and adventurers out there. One: always tell somebody where you're going and when you expect to be back. Two: do not cheap out on your survival equipment. Aron Ralston paid heavily for those mistakes.