1 Warmer Answer the questions below. 2 How long is 127 hours in days? What day and time will it be 127 hours from now? Find the information Find the following information in the text and as quickly as possible. Who is Aron Ralston? What is the film 127 Hours about? What and where are the fourteeners? Where did the events in the film take place? What did Aron Ralston have to do to free himself? How did he achieve this? How did he get to hospital?
1 2 3 4 The extraordinary story behind Danny Boyle s 127 Hours Danny Boyle s new film, 127 Hours, tells how climber Aron Ralston found himself trapped alone in a canyon and had to perform surgery to save his life Patrick Barkham 15 December, 2010 Aron Ralston had been climbing the narrow canyons of Utah alone when a boulder fell onto his right arm, trapping him against a rock. He was trapped in the wilderness of Bluejohn Canyon, carrying a small rucksack with just one litre of water, two burritos and a few chunks of chocolate. He had headphones and a video camera but no mobile phone and there was no reception anyway. Most foolishly of all, he had not told anyone where he was going. He drank his water slowly, hopelessly chipping away at the 800lb rock and slowly entering a state of delirium, until he was eventually forced to cut off his trapped arm, with a small knife from his cheap multitool kit. Ralston, who is now 35 and still with the wiry physique of a climber, has just attended the London premiere of 127 Hours, Danny Boyle s film about his extraordinary escape from certain death. The film like Ralston himself, full of boyish energy is remarkably true-to-life, says Ralston. It is hardly surprising that audiences have responded with feeling: fainting when they watch the point in the film when Ralston, brilliantly played by James Franco (he has been nominated for a Golden Globe film award), begins his amputation. The year before his accident, Ralston quit his job as an engineer to climb all Colorado s fourteeners its peaks over 14,000ft. In May 2003, he began canyoneering in Utah, navigating the narrow passages of Bluejohn Canyon with a mixture of free-climbing, daring jumps and climbing with ropes. He was negotiating a 10ft drop in a 3ft-wide canyon when he dislodged a boulder. I go from being out in a beautiful place and just being so happy 5 6 7 8 and carefree to, like, oh [no]. I fell a few feet, in slow motion, I look up and the boulder is coming and I put my hands up and try to push myself away and it collides and crushes my right hand. Ralston was pinned in the canyon, his right hand and lower arm crushed by the 800lb rock. The next second, the pain struck. For 45 minutes he cursed like a pirate. Then he reached for his water bottle. As he drank, he had to force himself to stop. I realize this water is the only thing that s going to keep me alive, he says. Having failed to tell anyone where he was going, he knew he would not be found. I put the lid back on the water bottle. It was like, all right, brute force isn t going to do it. This is the stop-thinkobserve-plan phase of rational problem-solving. I have to think my way out of here. As he describes how he thought through his options, he taps his fingers on his prosthetic arm. He ruled out the most drastic option suicide but he thought of the next most drastic alternative immediately. There s this surreal conversation with myself. Aron, you re gonna have to cut your arm off. I don t want to cut my arm off! After two days spent chipping away at the rock with his knife and thinking up unsuccessful ways to move the boulder, he put his knife to his arm, only to find it was so blunt he couldn t even cut his body hair. By the fifth day, Ralston had found peace in the knowledge that I am going to die here, this is my grave. The next morning came the revelation that Ralston could throw himself against the boulder to break his own bones. From then, it was easy. The snap of his bones like, pow! was a horrifying sound but to me it was euphoric, he recalls. The detachment had already happened in my mind it s rubbish, it s going to kill you, get rid of it, Aron. He recalls being very cool and calm when he picked up the knife. It took him an hour to hack through his flesh. As painful as it all was, the euphoria was driving it, he says. In the canyon, Ralston calculated that it would take him at least ten hours to find medical help and that he would bleed to death in that time but,
9 10 using pieces of climbing equipment, he strapped himself up and somehow managed to climb a 65ft cliff to escape the canyon. Exposed to the fierce sun, he was found by three Dutch tourists, who gave him water and helped him walk, before he was picked up by a search-and-rescue helicopter sent by his family to look for him. Ralston is radically different today compared with his pre-accident self as portrayed by Franco in the film. He recognizes that he depends on other people. The love of others, his relationships with his family and friends, kept him alive, he says now. Ralston s camera connected him to other people s love. He recorded his last will and testament in a series of video diaries while he was trapped, so it is nicely symbolic that his ordeal 11 has been made into a film. Although he played his videos to his parents, he decided he would never allow them to be shown in public. Instead, many of Franco s monologues exactly replicate what Ralston said in his own personal videos. Boyle shot 127 Hours at the exact spot where Ralston had the accident. The movie is so factually accurate it is as close to a documentary as you can get and still be a drama, Ralston says. I think it s the best film ever made. Guardian News & Media 2010 First published in The Guardian, 15/12/10 3 Key words and expressions Write the key words and expressions from the article next to their meanings. 8. 9. 10. 1 1 very large rock or piece of stone (para 1) a body shape that looks thin but is strong (two words, para 2) the removal of a body part by cutting it off (para 3) forced out of its position (para 4) when something has been hit or pressed so hard that it is badly damaged (para 4) swore, shouted and said bad words (para 5) great physical strength (two words, para 5) used for replacing a missing body part (para 5) not pointed or sharp (para 6) feeling extremely happy, usually for a short time only (para 7) the formal term for the legal document that states what you want to happen to your possessions after you die (four words, para 10) copy exactly (para 10)
4 Summarizing Put these facts in chronological order (1-9) to summarize the article. (AR = Aron Ralston) AR gets a prosthetic arm. AR amputates his right arm. AR films his final messages for his family. Danny Boyle makes a film bout AR. AR realizes that he should not drink his water all at once. AR quits his job as an engineer. AR smashes the bones in his arm. Film audiences faint. A falling rock traps AR in a canyon. 5 Discussion Complete the sentences by choosing the words which best reflect your opinion and adding your own thoughts. Then discuss what you have written with a partner. I think Aron Ralston was brave / stupid / clever / mad In the same situation, I would have cut off my arm / waited for help I would / would not like to see the film because 6 Webquest Watch the film trailer for 127 Hours on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5dhu-s7vxe Find photos and watch interviews with Aron Ralston by typing his name into a search engine (e.g. Google, Bing, etc.). Find photos and satellite images of Bluejohn Canyon by entering its name into a search engine or online atlas such as Google maps.
KEY 1 Warmer Five days and seven hours (students own answers) Teacher s note: These questions are meant to give the students a feeling for the amount of time the climber was trapped. 2 Find the information A climber and ex-engineer. Ralston s extraordinary escape from certain death. 127 hours is the length of time Ralston was trapped in a canyon. Mountains in Colorado that all have peaks higher than 14,000 feet. In Bluejohn Canyon, Utah, USA. Cut off his right arm. By breaking his bones and then cutting off his arm. Three Dutch tourists found him at the top of the canyon and helped him until the search-and-rescue helicopter that his family had sent out to look for him found them. 3 Key words and expressions 8. 9. 10. 1 1 boulder wiry physique amputation dislodged crushed cursed brute force prosthetic blunt euphoric last will and testament replicate 4 Summarizing AR quits his job as an engineer. A falling rock traps AR in a canyon. AR realizes that he should not drink his water all at once. AR films his final messages for his family. AR smashes the bones in his arm. AR amputates his right arm. AR gets a prosthetic arm. 8. Danny Boyle makes a film bout AR. 9. Film audiences faint.