< Home / Interview / Critic / Bio / My articles in Japanese >

127 Hours

Coverage by Nobuhiro Hosoki

Story : While exploring a remote canyon in Utah, mountaineer Aron Ralston (James Franco) becomes trapped when a boulder falls on his arm. Over the next five days, Ralston examines his life and considers his options, leading him to an agonizing choice: to amputate his own arm and possibly survive, or remain pinned to the canyon wall and possibly die.

Opens November 5, 2010

Press Conference with Danny Boyle, James Farnco, Simon Beaufoy Christian Colson, Aron Ralston

 

(Q)Okay, so let's just kick thing off with a basic question to Danny talking about how the-- this project-- came together.  And then, I'm gonna open it up to the audience for questions.

(Danny Boyle)So, I heard the story-- I was in London, I live in London, I heard the story in 2003.  And I had-- it's weird what happened to the Chilean miners recently because in the same way that stories snagged, you know, the way it just snags people.  I mean, look, people in Britain were really fascinated. And obviously, we heard the story when Aron came out of the canyon.  And-- I remember waiting for-- I remember reading about a press conference being-- there was talk of a press conference.  And I remember following the news, tryin' to think oh, what, that'll be interesting.  So, it was a fascinating story, obviously.

And then, I read his book in 2006.  And there's a guy who-- Pathe, who are a kinda French company who operate in Britain and France, they're like a kinda mini-studio.  The guy who runs that is a climber, he's called Francois Ivernel.  And he-- set up this meeting with-- with Aron.  And I went to meet Aron in Holland, and you were-- I think you were on tour with-- I think you were on a book tour or--.

(Aron Ralston)That was a vacation that time.

(Danny Boyle) That was a vacation, anyway.  (LAUGHTER) The-- the-- and we talked and I had a very particular and passionate vision of how I thought it should be, and you wanted to keep a bit more control of it, very wisely because--

(Aron Ralston) Perhaps also as impassioned, but yeah.

(Danny Boyle) Yeah, no, because-- because you'd written a book and it was very-- and it's very factual and-- and I was basically sayin', oh no, no, no, no, don't do that, do-- do this.  Anyway, we couldn't-- we couldn't-- we couldn't find common ground on it really, so--

(Aron Ralston) But he was right.

(Danny Boyle)But no, no, no.  And then-- and then, we got back together again. Francoise Ivernel was-- was-- was very-- he-- he always thought that we would find common ground.  And-- and-- and you were much more-- you were more open then to the idea of-- I was putting it-- the entire story in the hands of an actor, which is sort of what I was sayin', is that we have to give it to an actor.

And my take on it was always that you'll never be able to watch-- if we depict it correctly, what happened to you, you'll never be able to tolerate it unless you can empathize.  And the way we all know that happens is through actors.  You know, it's not really through the-- the-- the slightly cooler tone of a documentary.  And so, we-- we-- we got together and-- and-- and started writing a script of it as-- as a first person immersive experience.

And-- Christian and I started-- approached Fox Searchlight and said, please, we did so well last time, please.  Let us develop this, please, let us make this story.  And-- and they were rightly cautious to begin with because it's a very, very difficult story to sell in many ways.  Part of the process, I think, is that we had to find the right actor.  Before we did that, Simon, who is also a climber and has been up Eiger, which is European equivalent of Everest--

(Aron Ralston) A bit smaller.

(Danny Boyle) --came in and sorted out our script, and we all worked on it together.  And then, we started-- we saw a few actors, and we met this guy.  And-- and you're-- the only thing I've forgotten that's a key ingredients, though I didn't know it at the time was I remember seeing Pineapple Express and thinking, whoa, great movie.

But also thinking, wow, Franco, he's got real range, hasn't he?  You know, it's like-- and that was a key ingredients, actually, because I think it-- there's a bit in the film for those of you who have seen it which is not-- it's not like Pineapple Express, that's a bit-- being a bit silly, but it is-- Simon wrote it, it's this extraordinary talk show host which is not based on Aron's messages which we did use for a lot of the material, but it's something that allowed James to explore the kinda further reaches of what's happening to his mind and his process-- his thought processing at the time.  So, that how we're-- that's the story really, here we are to-

(Q) For James Franco-- the gang down at the clock tower says hello, and I urge everybody to go see his show-- that's been extended through December at the clock tower--Anyway, the meeting you two had, the first time, you and Aron, what went on there, and you know, for both of you, what were the, I guess, you know, did you have casting approval with the whole thing?

(CHRISTIAN COLSON) I had total control over the whole project, so--

(JAMES FRANCO) Well, Aron-- I-- I think-- I think a lotta things happened there.  A lot of very important things that-- ultimately guided me through the performance.  So, I'll talk about a few, but-- you know, we had-- we-- we had discussions, we-- he-- Aron did some of the early work of just-- walking us through and showing us-- some of the things that he did.

But most importantly, and I think everybody that's up here was-- was in this-- this room.  We were at the-- Four Seasons in L.A., and it was the first time I met Aron, and he brought this-- ratty-- VHS tape that had the original-- the reel videos on it.  And-- we all sat there and watched it.

And-- it was-- for me, it was-- it was incredibly powerful for a lot of reasons.  The main reason-- I think one of the main reasons, just as-- as-- why it was so powerful, but why it was so valuable as an actor, too, is every other ver-- iteration of the story that you hear from now on, you know that Aron made it out.  And Aron can tell the story and we can tell the story, but you know, kind of, with happens.

On the video, it's Aron in the middle of the situation, not knowing that he's gonna get out.  And-- correct me if I'm wrong, Aron, but he-- you know, he made the messages up until, you know, within an hour of figuring out how to get out.  And so, I imagine by the end-- I mean, I was saying to myself while we were watching it, wow, there's a guy that-- thinks he's gonna die, and-- in some ways, he's accepted it.

I mean-- and it's not in our film, too, 'cause Aron, there's-- there's some-- some of the messages you go on for a very long time-- details about where your ashes should be-- spread.  And then, you said-- afterwards, you said a couple funny things.  You said-- gosh, it's a little arrogant-- I like-- 'cause the-- the places you tell people to put your ashes is like the top of this peak and here, it's like all over the globe in like-- like a hundred places they're supposed to scatter your ashes.

(ARON RALSTON)Yeah.

(JAMES FRANCO) And then, you also said-- tell me-- tell me exactly what you said, but I thought you said something like-- gosh, it's weird to watch this with-- with a director and an actor in the room because it's such a poor performance-- (LAUGHTER)

(ARON RALSTON) I even criticized myself.

(JAMES FRANCO)And we thought you were crazy to say that, but--

(ARON RALSTON)Yeah.

(JAMES FRANCO)So, but-- but-- for me, as-- as a performer, what I saw on those tapes were-- was a guy with the knowledge that he was probably gonna die, but the way he delivered the messages was with such dignity and really strength, you know, knowing that.  And a real simplicity.  I mean, these are very intimate tapes.  We were very pli-- privileged to see them.  And so-- and it's-- and it's video.  So-- so, it feels very immediate.
And it was just a guy talking to his-- his friends and family in a very, very simple and intimate way, but also not wallowing in self pity, you know, doing it with dignity. 

And-- that simplicity combined with that knowledge of-- of death behind it was incredibly strong for me, and showed me, you know, a way to do-- to do the part, especially the video messages.
(Q) fantastic film, James, what a performance.  Wow.  Did you ever have to put your own survival skills to the test, and if so, could you tell us the story?
(JAMES FRANCO)I-- no, I mean, with Aron in the room, I can't (LAUGHTER) no.

(CHRISTIAN COLSON)Not even stuck in an elevator?

(JAMES FRANCO)I mean, I've been lost-- you know, I got lost in Paris, I had to find a taxi and-- (LAUGHTER) there aren't taxis at a certain hour, and it was really hard.  No, nothin' like that.
(Q) has this experience changed your adventurous spirit in any way then?

(JAMES FRANCO)If I hike, I-- I'll be sure to tell people where I go.  But-- I mean, it's given me-- an appreciation for-- for my life, for the people in my life, certainly.  I always saw this-- and this is another thing that kinda went down in-- in-- we had a discussion in-- in the-- the first meeting.

Aron asked me why I wanted to play this role, and I-- and I still believe this, I love the way that it strips down this-- this character and this person, that everything that is familiar in our day to day lives with other people, that we can get food from a restaurant or a store-- just emotional dependence, everything that is familiar to us, and also just the daily activities that keep us from looking at ourselves, you know, in a very intimate way-- all of that is taken away and it's a man alone.  And it's a man facing death.

And so, I imagined that-- that what we had was a real way to-- to just study what it is to be human, what's important in our lives, what we hold onto from our outside life, what-- and then, what pulls us out, and what-- what-- really gives us strength.

And-- and I said in the first meeting, oh, Aron, I-- I-- I love all that, and I also like that-- that you had the strength that-- that, you know, you had the-- the will inside you to-- to-- to get out and to-- to do that.  And-- Aron-- I guess corrected me a little bit, and-- and-- and I think Danny believes this as well-- that it wasn't just himself, that one of the main things that-- that gave him the strength to-- to get out was his connection to his-- the outside world and-- and his friends and family, and that those videos weren't just a last message, that they were actually-- a way to connect to those people.

And-- obviously, Aron knew that they weren't listening at that moment, but that he felt a real connection to those people, and that gave him-- the-- the-- the wi-- the strength to survive.  And-- so, it's-- you know, it's given me an appreciation for-- for people in my life.

(Q) This question is for Aron.  How long did it take before you could be alone in-- in a room or your house, and what did you draw from yourself to be able to do that?

(ARON RALSTON) It's-- it's interesting-- the-- it wasn't-- it wasn't that I really wanted for-- for a long time, to-- to be alone.  What I wanted was to be with-- my-- my loved ones.  And-- and so, but nor was it something that was traumatic for me to be left by myself.

I was in the hospital for a long time, almost-- a month in total-- starting immediately from the-- I mean, the min-- the minute that the helicopter arrived in the canyon, like, 20 minutes later, I was-- I was in the hospital-- in Moab first, and then, in Grand Junction, Colorado.  But the-- I-- I-- I just wanted to-- to be with my-- my loved ones as-- you heard James talk about this-- this connection that I really tried to build with them through the lifeline of-- of these video messages.

And then-- just recalling memories, that it was-- it was what would put a smile on my face even as I faced my imminent death in the canyon.  And so, I just-- I just wanted to be with them.  Now, what was frustrating about that was that I was also on a lot of pain killers and narcotics that just had me, essentially drugged into a stupor, if not outright sleep-- for months, that it was very, very difficult to penetrate that kind of, you know, opium cloud of-- of-- of all of the Vicodins and OxyContins and everything else, the Dilaudids that I was getting for-- for a long time, and to actually connect with my-- my loved ones there, my-- my parents especially, my sister-- various friends that flew in from around the country to be there or-- drove out to Grand Junction from their homes around in Colorado.

So that it was-- it was a time when I just wanted to be with them.  But then, as I rebuilt my physical capacities-- getting back out and establishing my independence was-- an equally important aspect of my life, that I really needed that.  And so, it was kind of like, if a rebirth happened in the canyon, which I-- I very much feel that there was a death of sorts of a past life and a rebirth, a walking out and you see James-- do this little happy dance at the edge of the-- the cliff's edge, right before he repels and get to the water at the bottom of that cliff.

And that-- that ecstasy of being alive, and of-- of having another life to live-- it was at-- in a way, then-- I mean, I was an infant under the care of my parents.  And then, I grew up through another childhood, in a way, an adolescence of regaining freedoms and independence and self-reliance that was a growing pain of sorts with my family and tension with my mom 'cause I wanted to go out with my friends and-- and my parents wanted me to stay home.

And-- I-- I wanted to drive my truck, and my dad was like, "Well, only after I check you out."  And we drove around the neighborhood together-- and so, it was very much like going through an accelerated-- childhood again-- to get back to where I could go out on my own.  And I very soon-- wanted to go out both with friends as well as an occasional solitary trip to climb a mountain or to go for a run or anything like that.

But it was-- it was an important part of my recovery-- was that-- I guess that balance between the connection with people as is so firmly established in the film, but also that independence and out-- the outdoor connection, the-- to nature which is also, I think, very-- very well documented there in the film, too.

(Q)I blog on the Huffington Post.  James and Aron, since both of you share a literary connection, too-- I wanted to talk about, you know, what maybe this film and you guys maybe talking about writing and what you might have shared there, and maybe what it inspired in terms of-- stories or future stories.  And-- how's your acting career now?  (LAUGHS) Are you gonna get some tips from James for-- for that?  But talk about the literary side.

(ARON RALSTON) Sure.

(JAMES FRANCO)Yeah, I don't know, my book is like this at all, but-- (LAUGHTER)

(Q)Did it inspire-- fiction or fiction ideas or this experience 'cause I would imagine it made you think about, you know, how he created the book, or you know, inspired-- or maybe you two talked about writing as well?

(JAMES FRANCO)No, I think my book is very different than Aron's.  I mean-- Aron could probably talk about how this maybe is inspiring a book.  I think Aron has a new book in the works.  But I-- you know, my-- this is-- you know, this is based on Aron's experience, and then, I guess research that he did about the area and everything else.  And-- it's non-fiction.  It's-- in a lotta ways, a very different animal than, you know, and it had different intentions than-- than I have with my books.

(ARON RALSTON)But I do think there's some similarities.  I-- I mean, that-- between us, that-- that perhaps-- from a personality standpoint that did-- I think lend something beyond just an actor portraying a person that-- that it was-- I don't know, maybe-- I'm perhaps going out on-- we haven't talked about this, but there are some similarities between-- I-- I think both my-- tendencies for-- for ambitious-- I mean, just multi-faceted kind of endeavors and projects and-- experience that is very-- stimulating as well as-- I mean, just kind of being overextended.

Or-- or well, for me, it was being overextended, James seems to have some sense-- some resources internally that-- I-- I'm impressed.  But that it's-- I mean, I just don't remember a conversation that we had-- when I remarked about, like, all these Master's programs that he was studying for, and even reading the script on the set and doing-- doing this work that-- I was like, wow, so you like to be busy, huh?

And-- and he's like, yeah, I like to be busy.  And like, me too.  (LAUGHS) So, that there-- there's some connections that I think-- in-- in a sense of personality, then it-- maybe it gave James a little bit more access to-- to me to put the on the screen so that when you my family and my friends see this film as they have-- that every single one of them sees something at-- at some point in the film where they're like, "That's so you, Aron."

And-- and it-- and it comes more-- much more-- well, I-- I think more from perhaps just a sense of-- of common personality in some aspects-- than-- than a study of-- of an individual that then tryin' to portray.  It was almost like it was accidental and just happened in-- in some ways.

(JAMES FRANCO) Yeah, I would say that our approach that we-- that we thought we could serve it-- serve you best and serve the story best if it was like an inside out, and that-- and I always had faith, you know, as-- as an actor that if you do a lot of work beforehand, and then, proceed in a certain way so that it's-- you're-- you're-- generating the performance from inside out, that actually, you will hit the right-- the right beats on the outside.

(Q)Simon, can you and-- Danny talk a little bit about how you took-- Aron's book and adapted it into a screenplay?

(SIMON BEAUFOY)Sure.  Danny started the ball rolling-- with an extremely impressive piece of work that made it possible.  Of all the mountaineering stories, this is the one that shouldn't be able to be told 'cause it's just one person on their own and they don't even move.  It has everything going against it in terms of making a good film.

And that-- that was my initial response when Danny and Christian said, oh, we're doing a film about-- Aron.  And I scratched my head and I thought of all the stories, why choose the one that's impossible to make?  And then, Danny presented this document which had a way in, and it had all the verve and how it could be shot and how it could be done.

And crucially and very cleverly, he realized that it was-- he wasn't really down-- the canyon on his own.  Because he had this video recorder, he was talking to somebody.  And that is what really made-- makes the film possible.  Is that in a funny kinda way, there's two people down there.  He's talking to himself, but he's also talking to his extended family.

So, you have a route back through the video recorder into the rest of his life.  And that, for me, was really fascinating because then you can explore what on earth this guy was doing down there, which is something we talked about a lot-- is what it was-- what it is that drives people like Aron to push themselves nearer and nearer the edge of something, and challenge themselves more and more and more until they get to a place where they're sort of walking a very dangerous edge.

And that was-- to me, that was the most interesting part-- and what makes this screenplay more than just a story about an extraordinary man getting out of an extraordinary situation.  It's more-- it makes it accessible, a hope to-- to everybody who watches it.  And so, that's-- that was, for me, the most fascinating part of the journey, and-- which we could never have done without an incredible amount of trust from Aron who was extremely open about where he was in his life at this time, and his relationships with everybody in his life.  And-- that-- that, to me's the-- the sort of, heart of the film-- and he trusted us extraordinarily, I think, allowing us to portray-- some fairly difficult parts of people's personalities.

(Q)Christian, can you-- build on that a little and talk about how you assembled the creative team-- to come together, many of whom were on Slumdog?

(CHRISTIAN COLSON)Well, it sort of assembled itself for-- for that reason.  I mean, Danny and I were looking for-- another movie to make together.  He sent me-- the book.  He didn't-- already in existence was-- the six-page treatment that unlocked it, really, but he didn't send me that.  I don't know why, he just sent me the book and said-- what do you think about this?

And I-- I-- I-- I thought it was an impossible adaptation was my-- my first reaction.  A beautiful book but-- enormously challenging to adapt.  And he then shared the treatment with me-- which unlocked this-- the-- the way into the story Aron's book-- which is exquisitely well written, I should say, can you see me Aron when I'm saying this?

(ARON RALSTON) Thank you, I appreciate that.  (LAUGHS)

(CHRISTIAN COLSON)Alternated chapters between his-- the experience of his entrapment in the canyon-- but also his other experiences outside of the canyon and his-- in his previous life, and crucially, the rescue operation that was being launched by his friends and family on-- on his behalf.

And-- I think one of the key creative decisions that happened very early on was to take that out of the story.  In-- in a sense, to take the world was the biggest single challenge of telling a story like this, which is it's one guy in one place with no one to talk to for six days, facing almost certain death-- and actually magnify that problem-- (LAUGHS) rather than reduce it.

The initial documentary actually magnified it, they said, "We will never leave there, we will-- we will never cut away to the rescue operation.  And we will, therefore, immerse ourselves-- in this guy's experience more fully."  And in order to do that, we're gonna have to develop a new grammar cinematically-- to keep motion and dynamism and interest and variation in the story.

So, that was an enormous breakthrough, creatively, at the start of the story, which really got everything else rolling.  And from that point, it-- from the point Danny had written that, it was-- you know, in terms of-- assembling a team, it-- it felt very natural to go and talk to Simon who we'd just worked with-- had a great time on Slumdog with, happened also to be a climber.  It felt very natural to go to-- Anthony Dod Mantle-- given that we were gonna be enormously reliant on-- these very small digital cameras that we used in-- in Slumdog.

Danny also had this idea of-- we evolved this idea of using two units, two D.P.'s-- really in order to compress-- what would otherwise have been an interminably long shooting process.  Would have made it very difficult for James to spend two-- four months, you know, stuck to a rock.  But also, for everybody else, I think, you know, where there was such little variation in terms of where we shot the film, we had a set and we had some locations, that we needed to mix things up a bit in terms of our process.

So, we had this idea of two units that would shoot five day weeks-- Danny would shoot a seven day week.  So, we invented a ten day week, which was great.  We shot-- we had 80 shooting days over 56.  And-- we split the shifts so Danny shot most of 'em, 80 days in 56.  James here worked six days a week.

And you know, it was one of the-- that-- that compression and how we prepared the scripts, developed it, that happened fast, we-- it was shot fast-- and we cut it fast, too.  And part of the energy and dynamism that's up there in the film is-- is because of that very-- the-- the immersive approach that we put ourselves through in the making of the film to keep-- to keep energy in-- in how we were thinking about the story.

And lots of stuff was planned but then made up on the day and thrown out of the window.  And so, we worked very, very fast and-- and-- and I think-- I think you can see it in the finished film.  But in terms of how we-- it was assembled, it was really-- it was-- you know, Aron was, obviously, an integral part of the-- the process having-- lived it and-- Danny and Simon and finding James and-- A.R. Rahman was also involved.

So, we-- we went back to that group of people.  And-- and indeed, to-- to our studio partners.  It felt like the right thing to do to-- on the back of the success that we'd all enjoyed together, to go back-- to the same group of people and try and make a very different film-- but within the same family.

(Q) I love the movie so this is not at all-- this question is not at all a criticism of the movie 'cause I do love it.  It's a question for Christian and Aron-- obviously, a lotta people are fascinated by the existence of-- existence of this-- videotape footage. And I was curious whether you guys thought at all about doing some kind of companion doc or something which includes that.  Are you at all open to having that-- that footage out there?  Or is it kind of tryin' to keep that separate and tryin' to make a doc out of it?

(CHRISTIAN COLSON)Well, Aron should speak to that first.

(ARON RALSTON)I mean, I appreciate the interest, and I definitely do recognize the-- I think the intrigue that just knowing that that is a real piece of-- of-- of footage that exists-- but at the same time, it was a personal-- artifact that I made for my friends and my family, many of whom have seen it, the people that I spoke to on the video have watched it-- including my mom and my dad.

And-- and it was a very emotional experience for my parents to watch it with me.  I-- I mean, we got-- we literally went through an entire box of Kleenex sitting there and had to pause it many times to-- when we sat and watched it.  But because of the impact that it had on my mom where she was watching her-- her little boy-- disintegrate-- on-- on film.

I mean, she knew the story, this was four months after I'd already been rescued, was home, rehabilitated, and she said, "Okay, I'm ready now to watch it."  But it was so-- it was so profound for her to really go through and watch-- and you see me-- I mean, just dissolve on the camera.  Like, the-- the human who was there in the beginning, in the first frames, by-- by the time you're an hour through this footage-- six days has passed and I've lost almost 40 pounds off of a pretty scrawny frame to begin with.

So, it's-- I mean, just-- a human being who's been decimated and turned into a ghost.  And-- and that was so difficult-- for my mom to-- to endure that I promised her that I-- I would-- I would never share that publically.  And she also understood that it would have a role in-- in the telling of the story and things like sharing it with-- among a private group to-- who obviously were all very intimately connected with-- needing to replicate it.  But that it was something that was just, first and foremost, for my loved ones, so-- in the end, that's where it will stay.

(CHRISTIAN COLSON)So, no.  (LAUGHTER)

(Q) Question for Danny and Christian.  Christian, you mentioned A.R. Rahman specifically-- the mood of this film is so different than Slumdog Millionaire, and so-- what-- what did you talk to him about in terms of composing this music as compared to Slumdog which was a very exuberant soundtrack?

(CHRISTIAN COLSON) He's-- I mean, I think you know, he's a genius composer, really.  And I think he was delighted to be asked to do this because, I think, his-- the-- the only limitation in his life is that people will pigeonhole him as an exotic composer or an Indian composer.  Whereas he-- he's-- his language is music, it's universal.

And he read the story, and watched an early cut of the film, and was really taken with the film, and started to work.  And he based his work on-- you know, he based his work on solo guitar.  You know, he was thinking, obviously, because it's a western states movie, the solo guitar is very deeply buried in American myth and-- and-- and-- and fact.  And that's how we began.

And all the tunes that you hear in the film are actually-- they may not be played eventually on guitar, though a lot of them are-- they're all based-- they all come from that origin of-- of solo guitar, really.  And he used a player-- an American guitar player whose name I'm sadly forget, I'll remember it for the next time, I'll look it up.

And they worked on the-- they work-- they worked up these-- these songs together, really.  And he's-- he's an extraordinary guy to work with.  We're very lucky to have someone of his capability working in the industry, you know?  We work in a place called-- he has a little studio in Tufnell Park in London, which is a very-- not very fashionable part of London.

And it's this tiny little studio, and we go up there, and the problem with working with composers is that they start work at midnight, you know, and you're there, and you've done all day in the costume room, and then, they're like-- suddenly, they're bouncing around at midnight, and you're thinking I've gotta be back in the costume room at 9:00 a.m.  And-- but apart from that, he's a joy to work with.  (LAUGHTER)

(DANNY BOYLE)I-- I'd question the notion, too, that-- I mean, we all do think of the film as being-- very different from Slumdog-- because Slumdog was about millions of people, and this story is about one person, but we-- we've discovered-- sorts of strange similarities-- in a way between the two films.

And I-- I challenge the notion that Slumdog is somehow euphoric in a way that this isn't.  People remember Slumdog as being euphoric because there was-- a dance at the end, but we pass through some-- some pretty dark-- material before we-- arrived at that point in the story, and-- and earned that euphoria.  And-- in that sense, I think the-- the-- the two stories share a certain similarity.  They don't pull their punches-- in the darker moments, but the up side of that is-- at the end of the movie, hopefully, audiences feel they've been through something powerful, meaningful and true.  You know, so--

(SIMON BEAUFOY)And there's a little dance.

(DANNY BOYLE)And there is a very little dance.

(SIMON BEAUFOY)James does a few steps.

(Q) A lot has been made, obviously, of the climactic scene and how hard it can be to watch.  I mean, I know, I watched it through my fingers.  I'm wondering, Danny, how-- what is the challenge to know the line of what can be shown on screen and what can't?  Because obviously, you can't not show this-- this scene of the movie, it's the most important thing.

(DANNY BOYLE)Yeah, it's the book really.  I mean, I remember when I read it the first time, I felt-- breathless reading it.  It's the most extraordinary bit of writing.  And just going back to that question about-- who was it asked the question about writing?  Yeah. it was-- it was-- the-- this writing is-- I think, like-- there are other people who were not born writers, that's not their chosen career to begin with, but they're gifted writing by experience, hard experience.  And they become a conduit for experience, passed onto us all.  I'm thinking Joel Simpson, another climber, who's the most extraordinary writer. And obviously, in-- in-- in a much more extreme category, Primo Levi who was a chemist, and who became the most extraordinary writer through terrifying experience that he'd been through.  So, it was based on that really.  And we decided the only way to measure it was not to measure it in the sense of-- the sensibility of what would the-- fashion in the audience be?

We didn't wanna make it for a horror audience, we didn't wanna make it so that it was watchable by everybody.  You know, it was obviously going to be something that had to truly refrect (SIC) his experience, and the key-- the key things in it are that it took him over-- it took Aron over 40 minutes, and that it is-- it-- had a degree of pain in it, which was-- for a guy, anyway, is probably most of-- most guys never-- never get near that.

But also, that it was a doorway to something else, that it wasn't an event in itself.  And that what you-- and we decided that people would go through this as part of the experience of watching the film.  And the euphoria or the exhilaration, the ecstasy you feel at the end of it is deeply earned because you, like him, have been through some kind of intense experience.

And that was always how we-- how we judged it.  It's done to the book, and it follows very carefully the-- the book like that because there's no one else, not even doctors who do it under very different circumstances.  There-- there's no one else can-- you can trust or who can teach you about it other than Aron.  So, it was Aron's voice, yeah.

(Q)Aron, just as a follow up, what is it like watching-- having lived through it, what is it like watching a Hollywood version of it?

(ARON RALSTON)The-- I mean, just that-- that scene?  I mean, the whole film, I-- is-- is very intense.  I think-- it balances both-- my own personal-- personality-- my humor, a little bit of my confidence, maybe arrogance, the-- analytical nature as well as a little wild around, kinda, the fringes there-- as well.

I think James is-- is much more charming in the film than-- than maybe I-- I personally am.  At least my wife-- she-- she's like-- I had to make the first move.  Why wouldn't-- why didn't you flirt with me?  You know-- when he comes across these two young women early on.  But-- the-- I'm gonna hear about that now that I said that.  (LAUGHTER) But that it-- it-- if-- Christian, you remember-- it-- over in Newark, I got to see a rough cut of the-- this-- the screening of it, and-- I mean, I was-- I was crying from within-- moment of when the boulder falls on him and the-- I mean, pretty close to the beginning of the movie, and from that point, all the way through.

But-- at the-- at the moment of liberation, I'm like, I'm sitting there snacking on my popcorn when everybody else is, like, gripped in their seats.  And I'm like-- why am I making so much munching noise here.  But I-- I was watching it think-- like, wow, that's really well done-- which it is.  And it's very authentic to what I went through.

But for me, and I think for-- a lot of-- people in the audience, at least, that it's-- it's the release, it's the liberation.  It's-- you've gone through the entrapment.  You've been there, and you want him to cut his arm off.  And-- and you understand why he smiled as James does.  He smiles which-- I mean, I-- I really lobbied for that as-- as-- during the screenwriting, if there was one thing I cared about, it was that there was this-- this smile, even just for-- a glimpse, just a glimmer that this is a happy thing.  This is a euphoric experience.

And-- and I mean, as maniacal as it kind of was, that I was smiling as I did this.  And I hope that when people see it, they also see that and that there's this gratitude and appreciation which James says thank you-- as-- as he steps back, he's free, and he looks up as he-- before he leaves.  And-- and that's also very, very real.  So, that's-- I mean, my sense of it is-- is that it-- it does convey that this was-- a euphoric and exciting experience that the audience is grateful for and that I was certainly grateful for to get out of there.

(Q) This question's for Danny.  You're gonna be pretty busy until 2012 with non-film rated-- related projects, right?  You got Olympics and you got-- I believe a play or-- that you're workin' on.  Our readers wanna know how realistic is 28 Months Later.  Have you-- has a studio spoken to you?  is there-- Alex Garland said there's no script, there's a rights issue, will you direct?  And by the way, for James real quick, because this is gonna be taken away, has anybody spoken to you about-- Ridley Scott's Alien prequel?

(JAMES FRANCO)Yeah, that's weird news, huh?  Maybe I'll-- do Mapplethorpe in the Alien movie.  (LAUGHTER) It's-- I just heard about it on the internet like yesterday.

(DANNY BOYLE)There's a rumor going around that he was gonna be in 28 Months Later.  That was the latest rumor I heard.

(JAMES FRANCO)Well, what's the-- (LAUGHTER)

(DANNY BOYLE)We-- we-- I'd love to direct another one of it, actually, because I watched the second one-- I wasn't that involved in the second one, and I really enjoyed watching it as a punter, you know?  'Cause when you make films, you're not-- you're not-- you never really see them as like punters see them.  It's weird.  You're-- you're-- you're-- you're entrusted with editing a film for an audience and preparing a film for an audience, and yet, you're as far away from what they will see as you could ever get 'cause you've watched it hundreds of times, and you've minisculely produced it.  But I watched it as a punter, and I thought, wow, I'd really love to direct the next one.  And that's where that began really.  It's just-- it's a question of time and-- and-- stuff--

(Q)So, it will be after 2012 it happens?  It'll be after 2012 if it happens?

(DANNY BOYLE)Well, if we're all spared, yes.  (LAUGHTER) If I'm still alive after the opening ceremony of the Olympic games-- it's open to question.  I'd love to, yeah.  Sure.

(Q)Is it in Russia where you go to-- (LAUGHTER)

(DANNY BOYLE)It's-- it might be.  (LAUGHTER)

(Q) I was wondering, Aron-- clearly, the circumstances are very different, but what the Chilean miners are dealing with right now, you had to deal with in terms of everybody, the media blitz and people coming after you for not only interview requests, but you know, the pursuit of the-- the-- the book, et cetera.  What advice would you give them as they're dealing with this becoming very famous people due to their circumstances that they dealt with?

(ARON RALSTON)I-- I guess if I learned anything from-- from my experience-- with the-- the media and the aftermath-- it was that I had a choice to make about whether this was going to remain-- a personal, private moment, which as I was cutting my arm off, I-- I thought, like, wow, this is gonna make one heck of a story to tell my friends around a campfire.

I never-- imagined that anyone else beyond my acquaintances would care about it.  But that I had a choice to make.  I realized as I got-- I mean, to the hospital, and after the-- the immediate reunion with my family was over, that-- okay, now, there's a lot of interest out there, what am I gonna do?  And-- that it was-- I gotta say from a point of-- advice, but it was-- it was about looking at my values, what was important to me and making a decision based on that, which I believe that this was a gift.

And I wanted to make it as great of a blessing-- for myself and for other people as it could possibly be.  So, I made choices based on that.  First, to write a book to-- start a business based on public speaking and sharing the story, to do interviews, I mean, starting with that first press conference that Danny mentioned about hearing about.  And the-- all the way through having a film made about it to share the story again with-- with audiences even beyond who are already familiar with it.

So, I think that it was about a choice.  And for me, I made a choice for this trauma-- not to just-- to-- to be a tragedy at all, but actually, to be a blessing, and to try to make it the greatest blessing that I possibly could.  And basically, to share it as widely as I could.

(Q) James, for you, I'm wondering, the film really could have been very static if it had been done wrong, and it could have been static on-- on multiple levels.  What impressed you about the way Danny said about making it work technically so it felt like there was motion in the movie?  And in terms of guiding your performance, to nail the beats properly-- across the span of the running time?

(JAMES FRANCO) Well, like I said, I was-- I was attracted to just the-- the-- the setup.  I mean, you know-- the amazing story and-- and Aron's very incredible true story aside, just as a performer looking at a script like that-- was very exciting to me, and you know, frankly, I actually-- I-- I don't mind a slow movie, so if-- if this had turned out to be, like, incredibly like slow moving movie-- I probably would have been okay.

But-- knowing-- but Danny does-- definitely decidedly does not like those kinda movies.  And-- I think that's one of the things that gives it this-- this great power.  There's-- there are a lot of contrasts in this movie.  There's an incredibly intense-- situation, but there's humor.  The-- the character is static, but the cameras and the technology they're using is, you know, cutting edge.  And this is really, I believe, the most kind of cutting edge-- mainstream movie that you can find just based on, you know, what they're doing with the technology, how they're using the cameras.  But to-- to serve the film, not to show off, you know, and to-- to serve the experience.

And-- so, in that way, you get, like, Beckett on speed.  And-- it becomes-- like everyone said-- you know, one of the most common things that we hear is I've-- I've never had-- a movie experience like that.  It's because you're-- you're drawn into the character and-- and-- and that's-- really speaks to the way that, you know, Simon and Danny structured the script, told the story through behavior, and then, when the character does speak, it's as if he's speaking right to the audience.

So, you get incredibly close, like, third person kind of-- delivery, and then, almost first person where he's-- you know, he's talking to his friends and family, you never break the fourth wall, but it's as if Aron's talking right out to the audience.  And so, it's an incredibly intimate kind of thing and that gives it that energy.  So, I-- I personally would have been fine if it had been-- Jeanne Dielman, but-- this-- (LAUGHS) but-- but I'm happier with this version.

(Q ) This is for Aron and James-- (UNINTEL) Aron for a moment, do you think everyone in this room has it-- those same-- survival skills during extenuted-- extenuating circumstances?  Or does it taste-- take a certain person to go through what you went through and survive?

(ARON RALSTON)It's definitely a question I have-- I've thought a lot about over-- over the years, especially when confronted with people who would steadfastly assert that they never would have survived if it had been them.  But I think it's a fascinating point of empathy is-- is where we-- we enter-- an experience like this is by wondering what would I do if it were me?

And I've certainly wondered about other survival-- stories that-- I mean, Simon and I have talked about, and I mean, Danny mentioned another one about Joe Simpson.  That-- those are-- those are experiences that I entered and I wondered about myself.  And there's a moment in the film where you see James considering, like, the-- I-- I-- I chose this, I-- I wanted this.  That they're-- and I-- I did.

I said that even onto the tape that I wanted this.  I realized how much I was looking for the answer to the question what would I do if my life were on the line, and here you go, Aron, now you get to find out.  As far as whether I think it-- it-- it does touch on a commonality of-- of potential that we have as human beings, absolutely.

I think that's one thing that Danny has-- has long said about this, that-- the very-- initially, told me that this was the right guy.  He-- he gets it, he wan-- he's-- he wants to tell this story the way that I want it to be shared with that message, which is that-- that if-- even if the results might have been different for any given person, whether you live or die or get out on the first day instead of the sixth day-- that it's-- it's still that-- that we are-- I think, unified in this being a human experience of-- of really emphasizing, as James mentioned earlier, about what's important in life.

It's a chance to examine what is life about.  And for me, it was about relationships, how they sustained me while I was there, how they motivated me to get out of there, and how they-- they built me back-- as my friends and family did to getting through that second childhood and adolescence again.

And so, I do think that it's-- it-- it does speak something to the human spirit.  But mostly, from-- not just the will to live, but from this idea of the will to love.  That the reason that I did all of that, everything that I went through was to get back to my friends and my family.  And it-- I-- I think that's inside each and every one of us.

End. .