127 Hours
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Starring: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara
Rated R for Language and Some Disturbing Violent Content/Bloody Images
WARNING!!! Spoiler Alert... If you have not seen this film, I suggest you watch the movie before reading this blog. Otherwise, Enjoy!
127 Hours is a true story about a young man named Aron Ralston (Franco) who while hiking along a crevasse in the middle of nowhere get's his arm jammed between a large boulder and the crevasse wall. Trapped, Aron must try to find a way to escape the sinister rock. However he remains stuck for 127 Hours before he decides to make the ultimate sacrifice.
When I was thinking through the many movies to write about for my blog, this was an obvious choice. Along with it's outstanding acting by James Franco, and the intriguing writing there is a tremendous message of vanity and faith.
In the beginning of the film we see our protagonist, Aron is getting ready to go on the hike in which he will become trapped underneath a rock. Aron is packing up his hiking supplies and food when his mother calls. He ignores the phone call and we hear his mother leave him a message on the voicemail. We also see later on in the movie, when Aron's coworker asks him where he is hiking, Aron lies and says he hadn't decided yet (when he had already made up his mind on where he was going). This becomes the first window into Aron's life that the viewers glance through. We see how his pride has shut him away from the contact of the people who love him. To me, Aron is a very relatable character. How often, when my parents try to talk to me, do I mask my emotions and retreat to my bedroom to be alone. I feel that this movie was made for teenagers and young adults for this very reason; We are prideful. We are completely consumed with ourselves and we don't care about anyone else. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that we don't love the people around us. I love my friends and family to death. But do my actions show it? Because we are so consumed with ourselves, we forget that every other person in the world is facing a challenge just like we are. As Aron is packing up his supplies, he fails to pack up his Swiss Army Knife (Which would come in handy later in the movie) and is forced to bring a dull pocket knife that came free with a cheap flashlight. I feel like there is some spectacular imagery here as well. As I have said before, (and you can read about it in my poem,
"Sword and Shield") our faith in God can be measured by the size and quality of our armory. I feel that it was put the best way by my youth pastor, J. P. Charfauros when he said, "When we are lacking in faith, we must battle off the lion (the Devil) with a plastic knife and paper plate. When our faith is strong we battle him off with a Longsword and a Steel Shield." The dull knife in the movie symbolizes Aron's dull faith.
Now, while Aron is hiking he comes across two young women, lost on their hike. With James Franco's dashing good looks and charming personality he is easily able to persuade the two young women to allow him to guide them to their destination. However, to do this, he had to lie and say that he was a tour guide (which he indeed was not). I feel as if this is a very common thing (at least in my life) among people. Especially leaders. We crave leadership so much and we want to lead people in the right direction so badly that we will lie in order to get followers. I will be the first to admit that I have mislead people countless times in my life. So, even though Aron lead the two young women to their destination, he must now face the fact that he lied to them. And why? Because he was insecure. He dreams of being a guide, but he has not accomplished those goals, so he is ashamed. So, he leaves the women and continues his trek on his own.
Now, we have reached the boulder. When he sees the boulder for the first time, Aron kicks it to see if it is stable. Now I am guessing, since the boulder ends up falling) that Aron must have felt that it was a little unstable. But as we have already noted, Aron is very prideful, so he probably assumes that he can handle everything on his own. In fact, not "probably" but "definitely". Later in the movie Aron will say to himself, "I'm somewhat of a big f***ing hard hero. and I can do everything by myself." as he realizes how prideful he has been. So, the expression "Pride comes before the fall" could not have fit more beautifully into this story seeing as how it was his pride that actually caused him to fall and become trapped under the rock.
At first after Aron becomes jammed between the rock and the wall, he tries with all of his might to move the rock. But however strong he might be, he cannot find the strength to move the rock on his own. He then tries to yell for help. However, he has isolated himself, so no one can hear him. Aron knows that eventually he will have to make a sacrifice. And to make this sacrifice he will have to use his knife (God). But it takes some time before he turns to his blade. In the meantime he continues to try and push the rock. And as he is trapped he recollects memories from his past. He realizes that he is now in the same situation that he has been in for years. He realizes how prideful he has been and he realizes how important the people in his life are to him. There are several moments in the film that brought tears to my eyes. The first is when he is talking to his sister in his mind and he apologizes to her. He apologizes for the fact that he will not make it to her wedding. It made me think of my sister and how I have distanced myself from her and how our relationship had almost diminished into nothingness. The second moment was when He tells his mother that it is not her fault that he is trapped under the rock. If there is anything in a movie that can be more relatable to me in any way, I have not seen it. This is my life. Countless times I find myself "trapped under a rock" whether it be with deceiving those around me, lusting to the point that I am looking at pornography every single day, or slacking off and not doing my school work. Or what about things like drug or alcohol abuse. (These are not things I have ever partaken in) These things destroy not only our lives, but the lives of the people around us. So, Mom, I know I have said it before, but I am saying it again, this is not your fault. I made this mess for myself, and I am the only one who can be held responsible for my actions. You can try to help me push away the rock, Mom, but it won't budge. I have to make a sacrifice. I have to turn to the Knife.
As Aron first turns to the knife, he uses it wrong. He tries to make a sacrifice, but he is not sacrificing anything that is important to him. He starts to jab away at the rock hoping that he can break enough of the stone away so that he may slide his arm out. This fails. How often do we, as Christians, sacrifice things that mean nothing to us? If there is one thing that you can walk away with after reading this blog, it is this; To escape the rock, you have to sacrifice what is most precious to you.
Now we have reached the most crucial point in the story. Aron now knows what is to be done. He must break his vanity and cut off his pride. So, Aron breaks his arm and the audience quivers when they hear the loud crack of his bone. And he takes his dull knife and begins to cut away at his arm. After a long and gruesome scene of Aron cutting through his flesh, he finally escapes the rock. Aron falls backwards and stares at his arm. He wraps up his "Stump" in his backpack, which he slings over his shoulder, gathers his things and begins to walk away when he turns around and looks at the rock one last time. He utters the words, "Thank you." Aron escapes the crevasse and slowly stumbles away trying to find his way back. I feel that the moment in the film when we see a complete change in Aron's life is when he is walking, he sees three hikers up ahead. He then falls to his knees and shouts, "Help!" He has finally dropped his pride. So, Aron has escaped the rock and he returns to his life as a changed man. He meets the love of his life, and has a son. He is now a humble, responsible man. And all I can think of after watching this film is this; God will do anything to get our attention. And there is nothing on this Earth that we can do without Him.
"This rock has been waiting for me my entire life... I have been moving towards it my whole life."
Return Tomorrow to read "A = American History X"
