127 Hours

I vaguely remembered the story of Aron Ralston from around 2003; he was the hiker who fell into a crevice and was trapped by a boulder that clamped his arm in place. After 5 days or so, Ralston finally freed himself by severing his own arm. It was a story of courage, but it also make me wonder why Ralston was on his own without having let anyone know where he was going.Director Danny Boyle's wonderful new film 127 HOURS explores both sides of the story, resulting in a deeply felt character study that is riveting, exciting and paced like an action-thriller. While much of the movie is, by necessity, confined to a single location...it never feels claustrophobic or static. In fact, the film soars.Boyle introduces Ralston as a happy-go-lucky young adult, apparently economically comfortable who is charming, helpful and utterly winning. He's also self-centered in the way only young adults with few economic or family cares can be. He does what it occurs to him to do. He's smart & funny. He's enamored of the great outdoors and of pushing himself physically.And when his accident befalls him, those qualities help him survive and help him to self-reflect. He's trapped in a deep hole with just a few supplies. He in a deeply uncomfortable position and he's pretty clear-headed about just how much trouble he's in. His intelligence allows him to access his dire circumstances. His humor allows him to be bemused by himself and to leave some scathing videos of self-assessment behind. Boyle shows us the physical situation Ralston is in...but where the film truly succeeds is by showing us the psychological journey he takes. The two work hand in hand. As Ralston grows weary, tired, hungry and very thirsty, his mind begins to play tricks on him. In many ways, the film takes the old cliché of "his life passed before his eyes" and shows how Ralston's several days of dire, boring confinement allow him to see his life and to reflect on his successes and failures. He never weeps with despair over his fate...he is more bemused by his own hubris.All of this is presented with tremendous visual flair. First, Boyle shows us the country...gorgeous and empty. You can see why a young man would want to bike and hike and climb all over this natural playground. He also edits with a feverish pace (not MTV-style editing, where you are asked to notice it, but in an organic way). The use of color is impressive as well... Boyle has always had a knack of using filmstock and processing to help him tell his stories. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE showed this on a grand scale...127 HOURS on a modest but equally impressive level.But I've save the best for last. Boyle has the impressive skills of the immensely likeable and instinctive James Franco in the role of Aron. He has a disarming ease in his performance. When we see the less impressive sides of Ralston, we never cease to care about this young man, because Franco has infused him with believable life and enthusiasm. It seems like a simple performance...but it's actually loaded with complexity. But Franco never labors over his acting...it seems to flow.Everyone knows that Ralston amputated his arm, and those brief scenes are as brutal and hard to watch as anything I've seen on film. But they are NOT exploitative in any way. By the time this comes around, we're actually ROOTING for Ralston to succeed in his grim task. And the film is more about the journey leading us to this moment than the moment itself.127 HOURS is a delightful surprise. Boyle is an outstanding filmmaker and Franco is a very capable actor...but they have taken the elements of what would sound like a rather lurid "TV movie-of-the-week" subject and turned it into a life-affirming, even uplifting drama. It's a must-see.

Apparently, I'm one of the few people who had never heard Aron Ralston's story; obviously, he survived - but I had no idea how things would work out. Thus, for me there was no "inevitable" component to the ending - and I certainly won't be describing that ending here because not knowing makes this powerful film even more intense. 127 Hours is not an easy film to watch, even for those of us who can't get enough of these "extreme survival" movies. It's one thing to watch an awful situation that "could" happen - it's another thing entirely to watch it knowing that it really happened to someone. It is also not without its gory moments, so anyone who faints at the sight of blood should know this going in. Close your eyes if you have to, but see this movie.The story's pretty simple, really. Adrenaline-seeking extreme outdoorsman and free spirit Aron Ralston (James Franco) heads out to Utah's Canyonlands National Park to do some biking, hiking, and rappelling. Suddenly, he falls into a crevasse, with his right hand trapped between a gigantic rock and the canyon wall. He knows immediately that he is in extreme trouble because he didn't tell anyone where he was going and the chances of someone else coming along to such a desolate place are few and far between. Even if someone did come, he is trapped near the bottom of what is literally a deep but relatively narrow crack in the earth. He had met a couple of young female hikers earlier that day, showing them the adventure of a lifetime by taking them places and doing things that were most certainly not in the guidebook, but there is little chance his absence at a party they were throwing the next night could ever translate into a rescue effort.The meaning of the title should be obvious. 127 hours translates to 5 days and 7 hours. Franco truly gives an arresting performance as his character's attempts to free himself give way to a fight just to stay alive in the face of a small and dwindling supply of food and water. Ralston's determined effort not to "lose it" is his only hope of getting out of this situation, enabling him to start rationing supplies from the start. He doesn't waste his energy cursing God or the cruel hands of fate, nor does he ever stop trying to find a way out of the situation. As time goes on, of course, his mental faculties begin to break down, leading to dreams and fantasies intermixing with all sorts of memories from his past. Franco does an amazing job of reflecting all of the emotions of the entire experience, including the bits of madness that inevitably arise. Director Danny Boyle's trademark bits of visual and musical cacophony are a little annoying at first, but they really add great depth to the movie by the end, reflecting both the chaos of modern life and the individual's solitary struggle to survive.127 Hours is a fantastic and ultimately moving film. The viewer forms a very real and surprisingly tight bond with Ralston, making it impossible to simply walk away from this film and forget about it. Boyle's directorial flourishes combined with Franco's stellar performance lifts this story to the universal level of survival - survival of the spirit as much if not more so than the body itself. Must-see films are rare these days, but 127 Hours is definitely one of them.

Never underestimate what you will do to live another day.

Very intense. Gripping and horrific at the same time.

Leider hat der Händler nicht angegeben, in welchen Sprachen die DVD verfügbar ist. Deswegen ging sie zurück. Der Zustand war wie beschrieben.

I am unable to play the dvd

An excellent movie for those whom appreciate deep soul searching. Inspiration is the result.