Confessions of a Curious Mind

Sunday, February 6, 2011

127 hours

I just saw this movie 127 hours. It was directed quite well, brilliant screenplay & terrific back ground score. The story does not allow the main actor to talk as he is stuck in a canyon with his right hand stuck ina rock So Danny Boyle follows two routes. The first one is that the main protagonist talks to himself on the video camera but that happens only in moments. The second is when James thinks of his moments in life, the ones that matter to him, the mistakes he made, the moments he cherishes, the ones he doesnt, the people that matter to him. His life goes zig zag between flash backs of his past & his present condition of being stuck in a place with no hope of rescue.

The movie builds up a lot till the moment James cuts off his hand in a bid to rescue. When I went for the movie I was expecting this to be one gritty movie which would show the truimph of human spirit over odds. My expectation was that this would focus upon the physical & mental agony & how he wins over it. The director however had a different thing in mind & that makes him a genius. The way the flashback is handled is eccentric & different. It doesnt come in a predictable way. It moves without a pre-defined pattern like the same way it would happen in real life. You have moments, the ones your cherish & the ones which remind you of pain & loss. But the memory of these moments stay with you for the rest of your lives.

The movie got me wondering that if each of us were to be stuck in situation like this, what would we remember? More specifically, what would I remember in life! Which are those moments that would flash past me ? Who are those people who would be a part of my thoughts when I am stuck in the inevitability of death ! It would be an interesting exercise to try & write down those things on a piece of paper. I mean, you do not have the inevitability staring right at you but then one can always think of noting down those moments which have made us happy, the mistakes that we made & we regret, the things we always wanted to do in life which we never got around to.

Thats been my learning from the movie, to try & write down those moments from past, the mistakes of life, the regrets, the dreams to achieve. It gives a new meaning to the word, live like its your last day in life & 127 hours gives a new perspective to this quote