| The life and times of death-cheater ARON RALSTON... |
| Written by Sacha Young | |||
| Saturday, 12 February 2011 11:53 | |||
I had been anticipating the upcoming scene for the entire film... I could cut the tension between the dry, earthy canyon walls with a [blunt] knife, and as James Franco twisted the carabiner around his elastic D.I.Y. tourniquet, I couldn't help but cover my eyes and watch it between the fingers of my right hand.
To digest the idea that '127 HOURS' is a real story, that ARON RALSTON (played by Franco in the film) actually exists and that this series of events took place in real life in 2003, it's a hard concept to imagine. Yet, when the man himself is standing in front of me, in confronting him, I also confronted the pure brilliance and will-power that fought for his survival.
Not many people can say that their so-called 'ego journey' consists of climbing all of Colorado's fourteeners, nearly drowning in the river of Colorado at Havasupai, being stalked by a bear in Grand Teton National Park, being buried in an avalanche of snow whilst back-country skiing in the Colorado Rockies OR having your right hand wedged between a canyon and a chockstone. In this case, it feels like an adult version of 'The Series Of Unfortunate Events'. However, Aron Ralston would contest this argument to say that his Blue John experience was a date with destiny, calling it a 'blessing' and a 'gift' that he has been given to share with others.
Aron Ralston has come a long way since fate met him in Blue John Canyon, and was kind enough to share with Coup De Main a few thoughts on his experiences while in town in support of the local release of '127 Hours'...
COUP DE MAIN: It's old news I know, but congratulations on your book - especially with the success it had here in New Zealand!
ARON RALSTON: Thank you, I appreciate it! I think New Zealanders resonated with this story, perhaps in a more personal way... A bit more of that 'rugged individualism', maybe a more prevalent character aspiration here. I think people 'get it' a little bit more here.
CDM: You're here for the release of '127 Hours', what changed your mind from creating it as a docu-drama to letting Danny Boyle make it a feature film?
ARON: There were a few things, it was mostly getting to know him and build a relationship with him. He's a very genuine and respectful guy. He's absolutely a creative genius as well. He was very humble with it and gave so much respect to the story. As well as having a really convincing argument, that was really the most effective way to reach the goals that we shared, [which] was to inspire the audience and touch them in a profound and uplifting way. The best way to do this, was not to have me talking about the story, but it was to have an actor living it and to bring an audience then vicariously into living it with him. I figured now after seeing the movie, he was absolutely right! Especially the authenticity in which they crafted the movie, you really go through, what I went through.
CDM: Being so attached to your story, was it hard to hand it on to film-makers?
ARON: Yeah, that kind of detachment, really letting go of it. It was really 'giving' the story. I felt like it was given to me as a gift to share with others. I've always had a tight connection with that process of giving it, either through writing a book or speaking or doing interviews, kind of all of that. This is the first time that I got to step back. Danny still wanted me to be involved with it every step of the way; from the pre-production to the costuming, the equipment, gear and the locations, as well as even the editing, giving feedback over the whole process, and consulting with James. So I was still very involved, but not entangled. With my wife's help especially, she's an artist, to cultivate that detachment and let the creative guys do their thing. This is my wife's advice: 'you have to let the artists, be artists'. And I'm like: yeah they make really good films. 'Slumdog Millionaire' among many others being so well recognised. I trusted their goals and their methods - at times when I felt they were embellishing, adapting or changing things I understood that they were doing it with the intention to try and take you deeper in to my real experience. Just that one part was definitely the hardest part of it - was that detachment.
CDM: Can you tell me about how even though you were alone in Blue John Canyon, you felt like you were connected to the outside world?
ARON: I definitely felt connected through technology - is the odd thing - it facilitated this connection with my loved ones. That very spiritual experience thinking about my parents, my sister, my grandparents, my best friend, ex-girlfriends, all of it. It was all facilitated by turning on a video camera and what happened was that I would look into that camera, and see them gathered in a room with a VCR and a television set watching this tape, as though at my funeral and they were there and I could feel them with me - [this] was a very strange kind of delusion. That almost sounds perjure. It was the connection with my family, to actually be able to feel it and that was not a delusion, I actually felt it. It would lift me up and I would smile at times. It was perhaps bizarre then when James Franco and I watched that together, for him, to be able to absorb that experience deeper - he stopped in frequently to ask questions about it. "So what was going on, what was going through your mind when I just saw you have that flash of a smile on your face..." - things like that so he could understand. That's where the vignettes in the film come from, going to the Grand Canyon with my parents to watch the sunrise, feeling such appreciation that they instilled a love for the outdoors. I think that it really is a lesson of all of this. To me, strength, courage, determination, whatever of those attributes that you might give to the character in this story, to me, are really these human characteristics that come from the connections that we have, that come from love - with that it's the whole cliche 'with the power of love nothing is impossible' that is exactly the theme of my experience, as well as the film.
CDM: It seems as though you've cheated death quite a few times [when I was reading your book], like there was a real destiny aligning to the Blue John experience. In an interview you spoke of a gravitation to an edge of what would be 'life' and 'death' - can you explain this in more detail?
ARON: I really wanted to know 'who am I' [and] 'what am I made of'? What would I do if my life were really on the line? I mean a lot us might think that, and if you see the film and think 'wow, what would I have done if I were trapped in the same situation?' Well, I really wanted to know and I realised as I was trapped there, and I said this on the video that I hadn't just created this, that I had wanted it. The little soliloquy that James delivers pretty late on in the film said "I was heading for this my whole life..." because I really wanted to know 'where is that edge'? But of course the only people that really know as Hunter Thompson has said, were 'the edges', or those who had gone too far. Not only did I take it up to that brink in Blue John, but also in other experiences before that and later on. All up until almost three years ago where I was still pushing to discover and also to prove something, that I am capable, [that] I'm good enough, [that] I'm adequate. Even now I don't have a right hand, it's even more important that I keep proving these things. It's really in some ways, a journey of ego. It's not to be judgmental of myself. It's taken me to amazing places and yet the question is: "Am I going to be compelled by that, the rest of my life?" Well no, I can make a choice about this too, I can recognise an impulsive thing [in] 'am I good enough?' - and I can have my answer 'yes!' just inherently, essentially 'I am good enough'... I don't need to climb Mt. Everest to prove it. Would I still like to go to Mt. Everest? Sure, and maybe I'll take my son when he's old enough and we'll go, but it will be about a journey of an experience with him, rather than a journey of the ego in that way.
CDM: If there was one thing you would like people to take away from the movie, what would it be?
ARON: I really hope it's what any given person needs for themselves in their life. That's what we all need at times, is some hope or inspiration, maybe a cautionary lessons of sorts - carry a sharper knife, or make sure you tell people where you're going, whatever it is that they need for people that are going through trauma, loss or grieving, recovery from an accident, or just need some inspiration to get outdoors. Some people have written me and said "you inspired me to quit my job", others: "I wanted to move to Colorado, so I did and now I live in Breckinridge..." It's great, whatever it is for you, that's what I want it to be. I think though if there's something that perhaps in that spiritual, universal realm, that it's not just the will to live that will give us the strength to do anything in our lives, it's the will to love. And it's not explicit like that there, but I think you can see it between the lines and I know that it touches people when they come out and they say "the first thing I did, was I called my Mum..." I'm like great, that's awesome!
'127 HOURS' is out in cinemas now - watch the trailer HERE!
Click HERE for showing times and information.
'127 Hours: Between A Rock And A Hard Place' the book (by Aron Ralston), is released into stores this February!
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