By: Sultana F. Ali
I knew what I was getting into when I settled into my theater seat. I knew about Aron Ralston, though I confess I have yet to read his book Between a Rock and a Hard Place. As a person who enjoys traveling to places that give my mother some serious heartburn, I too have found myself like Aron, wandering in the desert alone. Where the road parts here, is that I bothered to tell the ranger station where I was going, and leave my plans with family and friends back home before I went jetting off into the mesas and buttes of the lone desert. I also remembered to bring my good and trusty knife and lots of extra water, just in case (I also don't tempt climbing at the level Aron does). Therein, is the plot of this "true story" movie.
127 HOURS teams Danny Boyle and soundtrack-savvy A.R. Rahman together again to tell Aron Ralston's brilliant, sometimes cringe-worthy story of survival. Aron, at the age of 28, was an expert climber and often ventured into desolate locations, this time to enjoy the solitude of the Utah Canyonlands. This is not a place you go without a map and a stern sense of reality. As I watched Aron, played by the enigmatic James Franco, jaunt through the sienna colored stones of the Canyonlands first on a mountain bike, then foot; I couldn't help but to be reminded of my own solo journey through a land without cairns (trail markers) in a southwest corner of Utah.
After his brief encounter with two female hikers along the trail and their adventures diving into a pool below the Canyonlands, Aron sets off on his own to conquer the Blue John Canyon, described as a "technical slot canyon hike." In otherwords, don't attempt without the proper gear and training. What goes wrong from here is relatively simple and quick. Aron stands on what he thinks is a sturdy boulder, which then unlatches itself and follows him down into the slot canyon, pinning his right arm against the canyon wall. The boulder is immovable and he has become its unlikely prisoner.
Aron is first confused and in denial, then angry, then sad and finally accepts the situation - the process that perhaps anyone would follow in this scenario. Where Aron and his story prove different is that while he may grasp his fate, he refuses to give up. Others in his situation might have simply accepted it was the end, fallen asleep and never woken up. As you watch him report to his camera about his having only 150 mL of water left after several days and letting his parents know that he loves them, you gather the severity of the situation (Shane Burrows has written a true-to-event account at Climb Utah).
The rest of the movie requires patience, a strong stomach and an open mind. Towards the climactic scene where Aron does the unthinkable, severing limb from body to save himself, I saw several people get up and walk out of the theater, to which I noted "weaklings!" in my mind. Again, I knew what I was getting into. I had often played similar "what would I do if" scenes in my own mind during some desolate trips, which made me all the more cautious in my decisions along the hikes. I also got the point. While Aron's story falls nothing short of courageous and unbelievable, the story drills down to the elemental question of human frailty and choice. When the boulder comes down on you, what will you do? Aron is there to inspire us that we have everything we need in these challenging situations; if we are willing to dig deep enough, we will find it and get through.
Don't be a weakling, go see 127 HOURS.
"Whatever you're faced with you already have the tools to transform that adversity into something that's positive. That's what I proved to myself.”
- Aron Ralston