The Lost Get Found

Posted on | Tuesday, March 8, 2011 | 10 Comments

Disclaimer: This post will be a tiny bit spoilerific. (Or not, given that the movie is based on a true story, and I know you are probably far more well-informed about these things than I am. :) Also, it really serves no purpose other than for me to think out loud.

Last week, I promised to blog about the movie, 127 Hours, and being a person of my word, that's exactly what I intend to do. I have to admit, I'm not really sure why this movie has stayed with me the way it has, but for whatever reason, you're stuck hearing me mull over it. (Sorry!)

In short, the movie is about a mountain climber, Aron, who becomes trapped under a boulder, but eventually manages to free himself after five days. More details here and here, if you're interested.

So. About half an hour into watching 127 Hours, my stomach did a cartwheel. And botched the landing. I was seriously starting to regret letting my friends drag me into seeing this. My exact thought, I believe, was, "This. is. my. worst. nightmare." And I wasn't even being melodramatic much.

It wasn't that the movie itself was graphic - which it is, sort of*. It wasn't even the fear of What Was Coming - which I was well aware of, having a) read spoilers b) been warned by people that had seen it earlier (don't sneak in Twizzlers! [which is not to say, btw, that I would ever sneak Twizzlers into a movie theatre] seriously, don't. I'm saying this because I care!) and c) because I'd read a bit about the real Aron Ralston beforehand.

It wasn't any of that, though. It was a sense of claustrophobia. This intense discomfort watching and imagining myself in Aron's place. Trapped. Alone. Dehydrated, starving, and bleeding to death. But mostly, alone.

I have no idea which Famous Person said that you've achieved the highest level of self-actualization when you can be alone, when you can enjoy your own company. Um, okay, slight misquote. That person is probably very intelligent and does not drool over gratuitous pictures of close personal friends beautiful movie stars.

Case in point:

Eleanor Roosevelt would be all, "Find some new trousers, boy." And you know Einstein would be all, "My facial hair, geometrically speaking, is vastly superior to this gentleman's." I, on the other hand, am thinking neither of these things.

With all due respect to Famous Person, I disagree. I know about loneliness, that aching, muscular pain of feeling outside or out of place. I know less about aloneness, which is different. The kind of aloneness where all you can hear is yourself, breathing in and breathing out. Where the sound of your own voice is a reminder that there's no one else. That? Is awful.

That was the feeling, the one that made me regret going to see this movie.

But Then. Something like ten minutes before the movie ended, after Aron had freed himself (OrRyanGosling is asking for details, but I'll spare you those, and text him or something.) and was stumbling through the canyon, I discovered a new Worst Nightmare.

This might sound strange, but the hardest bit to watch of the whole film was the part right after he (finally!) got free. I refuse to confirm or deny the various reports about my squeezing the living daylights out of JD's hand.

My new Worst Nightmare was this: Nobody is going to come for him.

Can you imagine? 127 hours (I'm *cough* assuming this is how long he was trapped for?) and he'd just freed himself from a massive boulder [the WAY he did] and nobody is going to come for him.

There are a couple of gotcha! moments in the movie, too. You think he's free, but um, nope. Not yet. You see a face, a person, Hope, but nope, not here. Not now.

I was squinting at the screen, watching with only one eye open at times. Is he found? Did they come? How about now? How about now? Now? Now? ...

...Now?

My favorite moment in the movie was when they came, when they finally came. So [spoilerific] he's just gotten free, he's stumbling around, and he finally sees a family of three in the distance. We hear him sort-of-deliriously shouting an explanation of what has happened and where he's been and I was holding my breath, hoping these people were real, hoping they could and would help, that they would come.

Finally, they did. They burst into a run, and they all came.

It made all the movie-watching angst (which, by the way, I'm usually not such a fan of) absolutely worth it.

I can't get that moment out of my head.

You know, sometimes I think getting hopelessly lost must be worth it, if only for that moment when you're assuredly found.

*It is graphic, but probably not as bad as it could have been, given its subject matter?

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Comments

10 Responses to “The Lost Get Found”

  1. Liza
    March 8, 2011 6:43 AM

    Since I couldn't possible make myself see this movie, I'm glad to have read your review. It told me all I need to know...and you know, I'm going to ponder your last statement for a while...

  2. Katie
    March 8, 2011 6:56 AM

    Your review is basically brilliant.

    Speaking of worst nightmares, at the moment, mine is Nazis. Literal, for real Nazis in my dreams. Last week I dreamed that Lady Gaga and her Nazis kidnapped me. That one was terrible.

    Anyways.

    I saw this quote one time that basically said (I have no idea if you're a Christian or not, and if not, you'll think it's stupid but whatever) that God made us (girls, specifically) a little lonelier than we'd like to be so that we'd turn to him in our loneliness.

    And I thought that was profound.

  3. Matthew Rush
    March 8, 2011 7:03 AM

    I haven't read the book or seen the movie, but I do know the story. I imagine after four or five days, trapped, with no food and little sleep, he probably would have been hallucinating pretty badly.

  4. Tricia J. O'Brien
    March 8, 2011 7:20 AM

    "when you're assuredly found."
    Sarah, you tore my heart out with this post, which is so much more than a review. It hits the core of what makes us human.
    I won't see this movie, because I know it would be too traumatic for me, but I'm so grateful to read this. Thank you.

  5. Little Ms J
    March 8, 2011 8:07 AM

    Mr J. saw the movie while I slept on the couch one night. I have to admit I'm kind of glad I wasn't awake since the pregnancy hormones make me a little nutty. Let's just say heaving crying at most movies if their soundtrack has any Coldplay in it. Yea, that bad. This would've been a tough one for me, but I love what you've taken from it.

  6. Mariah Irvin
    March 8, 2011 9:52 AM

    I haven't had the , but to see this yet but I know I definitely want to. This is a great post, Sarah!

    I've also heard that the end is crazy significant because he's never in his life been one to rely on others or ask for help. That's really what makes me want to cry.

    I'll probably be a blubbering mess when I finally do see it. Thank goodness for McHotVoice.

  7. Icy Roses
    March 8, 2011 10:24 AM

    Your last sentence is the greatest.

    I don't think I'm brave enough to see this movie, though. Maybe one day. Thanks for the review.

  8. Sarah
    March 8, 2011 1:18 PM

    Liza: Totally understandable. I almost didn't see it, either! Thanks for reading. :)

    Katie: Okay, the Gaga nightmare? Totally rational fear. Can you imagine what they might make you wear? I am a Christian, and I think that quote is 100% true.

    Matthew Rush: Yeah, the hallucinations were definitely understandable. I can't even imagine what psychological trauma or PTSD he might have had afterward.

    Tricia: Thank you so much for reading. :)

    LMJ: Haha! "Fix You" is a throat tightener. I get it. ;)

    Mariah: That is true - he's depicted as never wanting other people's help. I'm still fascinated by the fact that it's a true story. Most people's "adventures" don't have a distinct beginning, middle, end, with hugely meaningful life lessons thrown in. I guess that's why they made it into a movie! Let me know when you do see it - I'd love to hear what you think!

    IcyRoses: You rock! :)

  9. Hannah
    March 10, 2011 3:22 PM

    Yeah, it's unlikely that I will see this movie. But I love, love what you got out of it! "getting hopelessly lost must be worth it, if only for that moment when you're assuredly found." Wow...

  10. Serenity
    March 10, 2011 10:08 PM

    My gosh. I never thought I could take this movie, but you might have just convinced me. That was beautifully put.

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I read, I write, I watch too much reality TV. I sing in the shower and in the car. I like things that make me cry and things that make me laugh. I imagine in a past life I was a world-class athlete, a saint, or at least a little taller. And now, I blog. I'm repped by Suzie Townsend at Nancy Coffey Literary. My debut YA novel, ALL THESE LIVES, will be published by FSG/Macmillan in June 2012.

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