127 Hours review: Filming the impossible!

A high altitude hello, frEek fellows!!

British wonder-director was ushered into the collective psyche of Indian cinegoers through "Slumdog Millionaire", Slumdog's global success resulted in Boyle taking on a film which he had been planning for over four years; based on the book "Between a rock and a hard place" by mountaineer Aaron Ralston. The resulting movie was of course, 127 hours.

What it is: 127 Hours recounts the life of adrenaline junkie and free-spirit Aaron Ralston (played by James Franco), who while traversing the canyons in Robber's Roost - Utah, falls into a deep crevice, resulting in his hand getting lodged underneath a boulder. What follows, is a gut wrenching tale of courage, as Ralston desperately tries to dislodge his hand from the boulder; resulting in him spending the titular 127 hours in a mountain crevice! With dwindling food supplies and very little water, Ralston is forced to take the horrendous decision to amputate his lodged arm; things take a turn for the worse when he realises that the pocket knife tool he has carried with with him, is not sharp enough to cut through his arm!

What Works: Danny Boyle described his screenplay as an "action film that goes nowhere". Truly,the plot faces several disadvantages in that it focuses for the most part on one character, and that too stuck in one location; even so, Boyle lets his creative genius shine in this impossible film. At the very onset, we are made to understand Ralston's free-spirit and his willingness to be with nature, as the story progresses on to where Ralston is trapped; Boyle uses innovative cuts to give the viewers a glimpse of Ralston's imagination. This movie, marks the global heralding of actor James Franco who dials in a brilliant performance as the free-spirited Ralston; In a performance where the camera solely focuses on his face, for a major part of the film; Franco brings an easygoing charm, that never lets go of the viewer's attention. Truly, an Oscar worthy performance!

What Doesn't: 127 Hours, is a film that lacks Slumdog's larger-than-life canvas; even though it far vividly portrays the triumph of the human spirit. There have been known cases of audience fainting during the "arm-amputation" sequence - hence if you are the queasy type, be advised!!

Verdict: Film Critic extraordinaire Roger Ebert called 127 hours, "an exercise in impossibility" and I cannot think of a better term to describe this movie, that despite it's constraints, manages to herald the triumph of the human spirit, and in so doing, never once lets go of its vice grip on the viewer's emotions!

A Full Five FreEkies - A modern masterpiece!



Chutney on the side: A.R. Rahman provides a melodious score, but his duet with Dido; tries hard to do an "Enya" from Lord of the Rings but fails!!

Let Sleeping Slumdogs Lie!!!

Hello fellow freekies,

is been a while that I have been visiting these pages...is a new year, a time for new beginning, and from the media buzz screaming at you from every rooftop, it is the year of the dog or rather the SLUMDOG!!

That's right fellow Freeks, Slumdog Millionaire, seems to ready to topple "Gandhi" as the most widely watched movie, that ever featured us Desis!! (umm, there was that little number called Monsoon wedding).

Given its fast frenetic and unapologetic pace, Slumdog has come in for equal amounts of pace and criticism including some from that aby-baby sr. himself! (perhaps he is miffed upon being caricatured in the film?...surely Mr. Bachhan, u are aware that imitation is the best form of flattery! )

Adapted from the Vikas Swarup novel "Q&A" (which ironically had its share of sales increased in no small amount by who else, but slum kids peddling it across traffic signals; the movie features the twists, turns and trysts (yes, i alliterate quite well , thank u!) of Mumbai slum-kid Jamal Malik (voiced in a Brit accent by the otherwise earnest Dev Patel) who has to come to terms with his winning the jackpot in India's version of "Who wants to be a millionaire!" , all the while trying to win back his ladylove Latika (played by the lithe Freida Pinto!!) from the clutches of the stereotyped Mumbai king-pin (played by Mahesh Manjrekar) the movie also features crackling cameos by Hollywood's favourite Indian Irrfan Khan, and yes, Anil "jhakaas" Kapoor!

The movie, in an uncanny way bears semblance to Boyle's other masterpiece "trainspotting" in its frenetic pacing, wicked dialogue, and yes that scene involving a toilet (or well at least the indian slum equivalent of it!) .

To give the devil (or in this case, the slumdog) its due the movie, has its share of flaws, the very very least of what could be the stark portrayal of the Mumbai street-life; and the alleged "stereotyping" of Mumbai's poverty by a "firang" or "gora" aka white director, but then is it such a raw deal? for mountains of trash, and shit that dot the mumbai slums in which the protagonists thrive, can only be portrayed as well...mountains of trash and shit, and isn't our own bollywood guilty of stereotyping the "gora" as either the foreign business-man or drug lord out to rob Indian treasures, or ravage the modesty of the buxom bollywood beauty - only to be thwarted in his plans by the son-of-the-soil hero! ask our very own Bob-Christo (yes click on the link!) or Tom Alter who have paid their bills for years in playing such stereotyped roles. And in resting my case, isn't the aforesaid Mr. Bachhan guilty of at the very least, of all such stereotypes in just of his movie masterpieces called "MARD!"

So , fellow Freekies flush away your frets , for beneath all its sheen, and wisecracks, Slumdog is at its heart, a coming-of-age movie, and nowhere is this more evident than in the scene where the street kid of today (Dev Patel) sits across the host of "Who wants..." played by Anil Kapoor.

yes that very Anil Kapoor who has played the street-element in several movies of yore (Tezaab, Mashaal, Loafer and even Parinda, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the latter portion of this movie), this fellow freeks is a passing of torch moment from the old street "tapori" to the new "slumdog" the new breed of Mumbai's street-smarts who are not just content with running the local gambling-den, or flirting with the grocer's daughter, but are gunning for the big-time, the prize-money, the girl, and yes the celebratory dance at the end of it all!!

"JAI HO!"