Tuesday, 15 March 2011
127 Hours

From the beginning, you knew the end.


With 127 Hours, the marketing pulled off quite a daring move. You know he is trapped by a rock in the canyons, with limited food, water, and 127 hours before he even gets rescued. How does he survive it, how could a movie with only mainly 1 guy acting most of the time work, and how do engage the audience enough before you reach the ultimatum: Cutting off the arm?

Thankfully the director is able to pull it off despite the great pressure he might have.

Unfortunately I missed the part before he fell into the canyon (Which seems inconsequential, after reading some quick summary). From there, our character Aron begins to set out his items and prepares to survive through the night (and eventually days) before he gets rescued, while keeping a daily video log of himself. Meanwhile, he attempts to extract himself from the rock, first by chipping it away with his blunt swiss army knife, and eventually choosing to remove his arm. Throughout his ordeal he continuously attempts to maintain his sanity till he can get himself out.

What might appear as a physical constitution becomes a battle of one’s mind as Aron battles his own emotions and fear induced hallucinations, going through several stages of the 5 Stages of Grief. From keeping himself entertained by acting as a radio DJ interviewing himself, his fears of dying in the canyon with regrets, to a brief acceptance of what he believed was his “destiny” to die down there. Music and sound effects played a great role during such moments, (I had no idea it was A.R Rahman) helping to pace the flashbacks and the characters mood, to setting up tensions for scenes like where he cuts off his arm, creating High Octane Nightmare Fuel for some viewers (Of course Your Mileage May Vary).



Still, the flashbacks can be confusing to some viewers, where the boundaries between reality and fantasy are blurred more than once. Still, on hindsight, I suppose that’s the whole purpose of it, where what’s real and imaginary meld to form a reality of its own when one’s on the verge of insanity and death?

Definitely a movie to watch, and for those who always never believed those motivational talks on how people live to achieve a better life after such terrible ordeals, this one might help offer a glimpse into the energy that powers them during those critical moments between life and death, and is as close as you can get to the actual hardship they have to go through.




Hi from China! Blogging about a movie that I've just watched beats doing my China reflections anyday. (Day 1 to Day 7 still not done oh hohohoho)

Have fun kids alright? It is the holidays after all, I don't care if you are from a Polytechnic like me or in a Junior College, loosen up, feel a little. ;)