- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" closes the London Film Festival
- Date: 29th October 2010
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 28, 2010) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) (NIGHT SHOTS) RED CARPET AT "127 HOURS" PREMIERE "127 HOURS" POSTER PAN FROM CROWD TO CINEMA ENTRANCE DANNY BOYLE SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS (2 SHOTS) CROWD AT BARRIER DANNY BOYLE TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS WITH FANS / MOUNTAIN CLIMBER ARON RALSTON TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) DANNY BOYLE, DIRECTOR, SAYING: "You can't make a factual film, I don't think that's possible. Even a documentary is going to leave things out so omission is editorial already you know, you start the editorial process so we wanted the freedom to use that editorial process imaginatively at times, but we also promised Aron (Ralston) that we would give him back the story at the end of the film, after we had told our version of it, and that it would be emotionally truthful to what he'd been through. And it is very, very accurate as it turned out." BOYLE TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) DANNY BOYLE, DIRECTOR, SAYING: "For James (Franco, actor) it was as real an experience as you could get and yet we could still record everywhere with him. Obviously Aron also had a digital camera with him in the canyon upon which he left a series of messages which he was kind enough to show us before we started filming and they inform the film greatly and a lot of what you see in the film is verbatim message anyway - repeated by James obviously. So, yeah, it really is a digital film, very much so." ACTOR JAMES FRANCO ON THE RED CARPET RED CARPET FRANCO SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS (2 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR JAMES FRANCO, SAYING: "What that did is gave some of those scenes a real feeling of authenticity, short of cutting my own arm off, but I really felt that I could get into a scene and actually do the activities without pretending to do them, but really do them and I think it really lent itself to the feeling of the film." FRANCO TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR JAMES FRANCO, SAYING: "Danny and I and Simon (Beaufoy, writer) met extensively with Aron. He walked us through everything and then he showed us the real tapes that he made in the canyon so he helped a ton in preparation." FRANCO TALKING TO MEDIA (2 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR JAMES FRANCO, SAYING: "I'm very proud of it. I have come to believe or understand that movies are a director's medium. So what that means is when I work with the best directors I have the best experience. Sounds pretty simple but I didn't quite understand that before so I just worked with Danny Boyle, he's one of the best, so it was great." FRANCO TALKING TO ARON RALSTON'S FAMILY (2 SHOTS) ARON RALSTON, WHO FILM IS BASED ON, TALKING TO MEDIA (2 SHOTS) RALSTON'S PROSTHETIC HOOK (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARON RALSTON, WHO FILM IS BASED ON, SAYING: "I mean my sister was watching and she said, the first 15 minutes in she wasn't watching James Franco, she was watching me going through that so she was sobbing, I mean we were holding hands the whole time. My wife, the same thing. She said how it actually helped her understand really how far I'd come in order to be with my family today. My wife and my little boy. You see in the film this little boy wearing a red shirt and that's a vision that I had. Seven years ago now when I was trapped the last night I saw myself with a handless right arm interacting with this little child and he saved my life in so many ways and now he's here with us. It's very touching that they captured all of that." RALSTON TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARON RALSTON, WHO FILM IS BASED ON, SAYING: "I'm crying when the rest of the audience is watching what this character is going through but I'm in tears because it's evoking memories of my family and my past. Other times I'm sitting there and he's cutting his arm off and I'm sitting there eating popcorn and like: 'Wow, that's so well done' and as I'm watching everybody else is sort of gripping their arm rests, on the verge of fainting which has happened but I think it's a testimony to how people empathise with this. They're really experiencing the depth of that journey in the canyon." SANDRA HEBRON, BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, TALKING TO MEDIA (2 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SANDRA HEBRON, LONDON FILM FESTIVAL ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, SAYING: "We need to make sure tonight goes well but I think it's been good. You know we've had strong films really great interesting film-makers the audience seem to have been enthusiastic so, yeah, so far, so good." WIDE OF RED CARPET
- Embargoed: 13th November 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Reuters ID: LVAC7G538748TUP4NJVQZD4N17UY
- Story Text: The 2010 London Film Festival ended on Thursday (October 28) with the European premiere of "127 Hours," British director Danny Boyle's retelling of the true story of a climber who cuts off his own arm to survive.
Starring James Franco as real-life survivor Aron Ralston, the majority of the movie is set in a tight, claustrophobic space between rock faces and focuses on the mountaineer as he struggles to free his arm crushed under a boulder.
As exhaustion and desperation set in throughout the five-day ordeal, the action builds toward the grisly point of no return.
The American mountaineer was forced to amputate his lower right arm when he was trapped in a remote Utah canyon in 2003.
Franco described the story as "an incredible example of human will" adding that Boyle helped to get one of his best performances out him.
"I'm very proud of it. I have come to believe or understand that movie's are a director's medium. So what that means is when I work with the best directors I have the best experience. Sounds pretty simple but I didn't quite understand that before so I just worked with Danny Boyle, he's one of the best, so it was great," he told Reuters Television.
Boyle has long been a proponent of digital cinema. In "127 Hours" he said it not only gave him more freedom as a director but helped make Franco's performance as authentic as possible.
Small digital cameras allowed crews to film in the tight spaces where the actor was wedged, for long take without having to move sets.
"For James it was as real an experience as you could get and yet we could still record everywhere with him. Obviously Aron also had a digital camera with him in the canyon upon which he left a series of messages which he was kind enough to show us before we started filming and they inform the film greatly and a lot of what you see in the film is verbatim message anyway - repeated by James obviously. So, yeah, it really is a digital film, very much so."
Franco agreed that the digital method of filming allowed him to thoroughly immerse himself in the role while shooting.
"What that did is gave some of those scenes a real feeling of authenticity, short of cutting my own arm off, but I really felt that I could get into a scene and actually do the activities without pretending to do them, but really do them and I think it really lent itself to the feeling of the film," he explained.
Ralston himself said that watching the recreation of his ordeal was a powerful experience but often for different reasons from the audience - at different times.
"I'm crying when the rest of the audience is watching what this character is going through but I'm in tears because it's evoking memories of my family and my past. Other times I'm sitting there and he's cutting his arm off and I'm sitting there eating popcorn and like: 'Wow, that's so well done' and as I'm watching everybody else is sort of gripping their arm rests, on the verge of fainting which has happened but I think it's a testimony to how people empathise with this. They're really experiencing the depth of that journey in the canyon," he said on the red carpet at the premiere.
The premiere brings the curtain down on the annual festival, which this year included 201 feature films and 112 shorts from 68 countries.
Boyle, an Oscar-winner for his Indian drama "Slumdog Millionaire," received a lifetime achievement award from festival organizer the British Film Institute at a gala dinner late on Wednesday, and Russian movie "How I Ended This Summer" picked up the prize for best film.
"127 Hours" hits UK cinemas on January 7. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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