[127 Hours] : Braveheart
Tags: James Franco, Movie, Danny Boyle, Blue John Canyon, Movie Review

‘There is no God, there are only moments. Moments that break you, moments that make you, moments that transform the way you think. God is just a construct of feeble human intellect, a correction factor to balance the equation, a balancing weight to shift cases in your favor; to bail you out of tough situations.’

[img]http://i.imgur.com/ptrrahh.jpg[/img]

Yesterday got a chance to see what could be called truly a deserving masterpiece. When I had seen ‘Slumdog millionaire’, I had thought we have overhyped this ‘Danny’ guy way too much. But if this is what the motivation of an Oscar yield, then it was totally worth it. The way the movie takes off, from initial names on the screen; there is not a single moment where it goes out of the track, maintains its tempo. When you know you are filming something which is based on a true story, it limits your creativity to the borders of the factual premise. When a director is capable of creating such a lively art from it, then he is regarded as a genius. The movie is merely of 94 minutes. It’s not the length that matters though, but what he presents in that time does. The moment when the movie title is displayed (and the way It’s displayed), even the ignorant and oblivious souls understand what the whole film is about. Portraying a standstill life of 127 hours would never be easy, but the way he has handled it, I guess Mr. Boyle may have another Oscar coming his way, no uncertainties if I would have been on the selection committee.

This is what you get when everything in relation of a film gel seamlessly. Three factors play vital roles in this, the aforementioned supremacy of Mr. Boyle, the music by our very own Oscar-winning maestro A. R. Rehman, and acting skills of spiderman fame James Franco. To admit, that James might be called, ‘the guy from 127 hours’ is enough to start with. He is at the first frame of the movie and till the last frame of it. The mantle of taking the audience with him, through misery, despair, pain is on his shoulders, and he does a commendable job at it. He is humorous at times, shell-shocked at another. Casual and funny when he makes fun of himself in such situation, and eternally shaken when he thinks of his lost love and parents. His acting potential reaches a culmination at the final scene though, where he takes the audience through his mind, through his thoughts. The theater, the people fade, it’s you, him and the unforgiving reality. A. R. Rehman joins in intermittently with his powerful music. You live with him in that Blue John Canyon.

You relate to the situations when you imagine a real life incident in your life. The sheer magnitude of hazard is overwhelming. The situation drives you insane; panic is just the first step. There is a lot of agitation and hyperactivity then. Soon when the reality grows on you; when you understand its brutality the initial panic is all gone, what remains are the choices, the choice that define you; choices that create a completely different person out of you. Even you do not recognize yourself taking such decisions. It’s not you anymore, something more, something deeper is at work. Though your mind works all kinds of theories to rationalize the circumstances, at one point past ceases to affect you. The cause goes at the backstage, the effect, and the proceedings remain, awaiting further actions, gnawing on the time you have to take those disastrous decisions. At such fanatical point you make up your mind, give in to some decision, however terrible it may appear, seems logical in relation. The devastating context changes what you were what you ever will be.

I might be praising the movie a little way too much, but then that is how I saw it. That is how I felt it. I give full credit to those who could make this happen, those who chose between ‘a rock and a hard place’. Chances are, you have already seen this movie, and you’d know what I mean, but if not, then now would be the right time. See it as long as it’s in theaters; see it as long as the Blue John Canyon has the monstrous impact on your mind.