Film review: 127 Hours (Director: Danny Boyle)

The task Danny Boyle set himself when he embarked on his latest film wasn't an easy one: He was to make a film about a man trapped in an Arizona canyon for five days when his arm was pinned against the canyon wall by a falling rock - and he was to make it interesting. Not only did he succeed, he even managed to turn a story of someone forced to stay in the same spot during most of the film into something resembling an action thriller.

The film is based on the true story of young adventurer Aron Ralston who  in 2003 had to endure 127 hours between life and death when his arm got trapped by a boulder. Ralston is played by James Franco who has the difficult task to carry almost the entire film, because except for two girls he meets at the start of the film and the family who rescues him at the end, he is the onlyx character in the film.

The scenes in which he meets the girls after leaving home having failed to answer aphone call from his mother, serve too purposes: The set up his characterization as a confident adventure-type looking for fun and the newest thrill but fairly content with himself. Full of life and love of it. Cocky, confident, but not a poser. A man ho indeed is happy to be who he is. "I don't think we figured in his day at all", one of the girls says after their ways have parted, and she's probably right.

The second purpose is to introduce the film's second protagonist, the bare, lonely and stunningly beautiful landscape of the canyons. The piercing blue of the sky and the dazzling yellowish brightness of the rocks will come to dominate the film. Their beauty is a dangerous one, unrelenting in its purity, perfect in its bareness. It is the beauty of a nature perfect in itself without need or care for the human element.

Again and again, for moments only, the camera zooms out, the desparate fight for survival and the man fighting it diminishing and finally disappearing, a tiny invisible dot in a perfect universe. In a philosophical sense, this is not beauty but the sublime, with all the awe and fear it carries.

This is the background against which one man struggles just to stay alive. A survivor, he calmly tries all tricks he can think of to free himself, uses the techniques he's taught himself, works with concentration. There is no panic, just purpose. Later, the water runs out as do his options, hallucinations come, concealed fears and regrets. While the happy facade crumbles, the character becomes richer.

But as his powers fade, his will of life grows stronger, reasserts itself, returning the sense of purpose to him and leading him to the redical decision which saves his life. Franco plays Ralston in an almost minimalist way, hinting at desparation rather than exhibiting it. The contentment, the confidence, the stubborn will to survive: unable to move much, Franco is left with his face to display the inner drama. The subtlety with which he does this makes his experience even more intense and touching to the viewer.

The inner drama, the attempts to save himself, combined with thehostile beauty of the surroundings and a brilliant sense of rhythm on Boyle's side combine to create a suspense may thrillers which they had. It makes 127 Hours a great small film about the human spirit, a film full of respect for nature. It is a thriller without a villain, a strange and fascinating thing.