Even though British auteur director Danny Boyle goes from drama to drama, you always know you're going to get a hell of a lot more for your money than just that. Take his Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire. What would have been a straightforward tale of a young man winning Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, we got a rollercoaster of plots, characters, imagery, along with every dramatic variation under the sun. It was so good, and since Boyle had taken 12 years to direct another solid gold nugget, I really didn't think his follow up 127 Hours would be anywhere near as good.
Thankfully Boyle's on a roll because 127 Hours is phenomenal. It's a very simple tale, based on a true story, of a lone hiker/climber, Aaron Ralston, who got his arm trapped underneath a boulder while climbing in a Utah desert canyon. What makes this survival tale so important is that Ralston had to hack off his own arm in order to escape to civilization. Nice. The genius of Danny Boyle is that he's able to take what is virtually a one man drama (Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn keep Ralson company for 10 minutes at the movies beginning before buggering off) and a depressing subject matter and bring it to life with boundless imagination and vibrant energy.
There's never a dull moment. Rather than simply document Ralson's predicament, Boyle seeks to get inside his mind. That frees the director to explore more arty, more abstract forms of storytelling from split-screen, documentary-style camera POVs, surreal dream sequences, flashbacks and every other film technique he can think of. As with Slumdog it's exhilarating as you never quite know what's coming next, whether it's being funny, post-modern, silly, moving, haunting, rock and roll, inspirational or harrowing. Most surprisingly of all it's uplifting and powerful in it's simplicity. It's a film that celebrates life and people and dreams and courage, and that's a hell of an intoxicating shot in the arm.
James Franco is strong in the lead role, carrying most of the movie himself (although unlike the recent Buried he gets to interact in dreams and flashbacks). The eclectic soundtrack does a lot of work in driving the story's emotional momentum; as expected with Boyle movies each track perfectly slots into exceptionally edited sequences heightening Ralson's perception of his situation, both good and bad.
But this is Boyles movie through and through. Like other auteur directors this year (Nolan, The Coens, Aronofsky, etc) no one on the planet makes films like Mr Boyle, and his level of consistency holds it shouldn't be too long before we get yet another masterpiece from him.
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