Problem Solving in 127 Hours

This was an extremely impressive film to me. It was amazing from an audience’s standpoint. It takes place in a  space roughly the size of a phone booth for the better part of a week and it still managed to keep me interested the entire time. The transformation of Aaron from a happy-go-lucky guy to one struggling for survival is a feat that James Franco pulled off expertly. And, from a technical perspective, the climax of the film was one of the most impressive special effects I can recall. All good reasons to like this movie. But what I really loved was that this showed me a story I have never seen before.

I know Aaron’s story. I watched the news reports of his self-rescue right after they happened with great interest. I watched his documentary made with Peter Jennings with fascination. I hiked some of the same landscapes Aaron did. And I did them alone, and without telling anyone where I was going. In short, his story speaks to me on a very personal level. So when I saw the film, I knew, in a general sense, what to expect. For those unaware, Aaron goes on a hike in a secluded canyon. He fails to tell anyone where he’s going. While climbing down a narrow canyon, a rock dislodges and traps his arm. He’s stuck there for the titular 127 hours. In this time he dehydrates severally, hallucinates, tries several different methods of moving the rock, and finally, when all else has failed, he amputates his own arm. He then finishes his hike, as that’s a shorter distance than the way he came in, stumbles across some hikers who give him their food and water, and finally a helicopter comes and whisks him to a hospital, saving his life.

They could have told this story several ways. Knowing the story as well as I did, I knew that it was no coincidence that the helicopter was there. His mother had been looking for him frantically. She managed to guess his email password, read his messages, contacted his coworkers, and took guesses as to where he might be. She called all the potential parks, where they found his car. Once they had found the car, they sent the lifesaving helicopter. This movie could have been about the relationship between Aaron and his mother. A family reuniting has been told many times before. That would have been a very good movie. Instead, what they gave us was the story of one man solving a problem.

Problem solving is not a subject that most movies will tackle head on. When problems usually occur to characters, the solution is for the character to change in some way previously foreshadowed. It’s the change in characters that’s the source of the drama. Here, though, the character doesn’t change. He’s the same Aaron walking out as walking in. The epilogue of the movie nails this point home, saying Aaron still hikes and loves outdoor activities. The only difference, the movie tells us, is that now Aaron leaves a note. When Aaron first finds himself trapped, he takes stock of all the tools he has, taking special note of his pocket knife. He tests the knife’s sharpness, and it’s clear that he’s thinking, even at the very beginning, that he might have to cut his arm off. That’s not his first attempt. He calls for help. He attempts to move the rock, fashioning a very clever pulley system. He attempts chipping the rock away. Indeed, as his situation gets more dire, he fashions a tourniquet, tries sawing at his arm only to be stopped by it’s dullness, tries stabbing only to be stopped by the bone. Finally it’s panic that really pushes him over the edge. He breaks his arm by leveraging his body weight against the rock that trapped him, then worked, for minute after agonizing minute, hacking at each layer of muscle and tissue, till he finally free himself. Before this he rations out his minuscule food and water. He figures for how long he would have to survive before rescue is even possible. He entertains himself. At the worst of times he badly hallucinates and falls into deep despair.

Now, what amazed me is how many times I have run into similar but infinitely less severe situations. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has a great deal of good information on what the problem solving process looks like. There are so many examples in my own day to day life. A stripped screw, a flat tire, a difficult to assemble piece of furniture. Anything, where your goal is relatively small and straightforward, but an unexpected delay causes you to nearly fail in the entire attempt. My favorite example is from when not long after I got my license, and I had to drive into New York City to pick up my parents from the airport. An easy job. I got directions, checked traffic, left myself plenty of time to get there. This is the pre-GPS days. Then I managed to get thoroughly lost. Now what? Ask for directions? From who? Check my map? What map? I have one that’s about 30 years old. All I can do is come up with hypotheses, and test them. Try this road, try heading north, keep an eye on street signs. Ask at gas stations. Finally I found the airport through a combination of luck, effort, and a lot of failed tries.

Every part of Aaron’s journey was familiar. The initial hubris. The disbelief at something so small stopping you so completely. The taking stock of supplies. The despair at the fact that the only reason you’re in this situation is your own actions. The attempts, each getting more desperate, at getting passed it. The final attempt that either gets you passed this problem, or stops you entirely.

After Aaron self-amputated, he still had to hike the narrow slot canyon, rappel down a rock wall, and hike several miles in the blazing desert sun. And he knew that, and planned for it, even after the incredible pain and blood loss he endured. He understood that solving a single problem didn’t mean he was done. There was still his initial goal, and it had to be completed, even though now it meant an unbelievably more difficult and dangerous trip. After I found the airport, I still needed to park, find my parents, then negotiate rush hour traffic to get back home. Was my situation less severe than Aaron’s? Absolutely. But the techniques to get passed it were essentially identical.

I’m not aware of any other films that focussed so completely on solving a single problem. Character falls away. Story, plot, rising action, climax, and all the other elements of successful storytelling are present, but they all are pushed aside to focus on one man, getting passed one obstacle.  The tag lines for the movie went something like, “How far would you go to survive?” They could just as easily been, “How do you solve problems?”

Pirates Part 2

So we last left our characters betraying each other, all for their own ends. These next events are critical, as they set up the entire movie from here. Sao Feng allies with Barbossa, to free the never-before-mentioned Calypso. They overwhelm the EIC’s crew and head to Shipwreck Cove, where they intend to free her. Sao Feng thinks he has a way of allying himself with Calypso, but mistakes her for Elizabeth. It’s a fair mistake. Here’s he’s met a strong woman with an agenda of her own, who’s respected by her friends and enemies alike. It’s reasonable to assume there’s more to her than meets the eye.

Meanwhile, Jack has been captured by the company, for the sole purpose of having him meet with Beckett. After some back and forth, Jack agrees to betray all his friends in exchange for his own life. He’ll betray the location of Shipwreck Cove, betray the pirates hidden there, and the members of his crew he finds annoying. In exchange he gets Davey Jones off his back. Now, this scene is fascinating, as we’re not really sure of Jack’s intentions. Does he really intend to betray his on again off again allies? He was killed by one of them. He’s spent the last few scenes explaining to Barbossa he has no intention of fighting, that he’ll use the Black Pearl to outrun all his enemies. Beckett certainly believes him. However, Jack has to realize that after handing over all the other pirates, he has no protection. No leverage, something this series of films has a lot to say about. So what does he really have in mind? Jack and Beckett agreed to Jack’s plan, and they part ways.

We now move to Sao Feng, who’s quickly been caught by Davey Jones. He states his intentions towards the woman he thinks is Calypso, and is promptly killed.

Now, Sao Feng has already betrayed his previous deal with the EIC in order to capture Elizabeth. Davey Jones shows up now, conveniently killing Sao Feng, and making Elizabeth captain. This moment, where Elizabeth becomes captain, is Sao Feng's entire purpose in the film. Everything else that Sao Feng does is quickly undone. 1 plot down. While Jones captures Sao Feng's ship, Norrington comes back, and betrays the EIC for Elizabeth. Norrington's desire to win Elizabeth motivates nearly all his behavior in all the Pirate movies. In the first film he wanted to rescue her. In the second, the get his old position back, and it’s never stated but it’s implied it’s for her. Here, he reaches his redemption. In letting Elizabeth go, she forgives him, and he pays for his sins with his death. His death is clean; he dies doing what he believes in, and does not take the coward's way out, by which I mean signing up with Davey Jones. 2 plots down. With Norrington out of the picture, though, the Flying Dutchman loses interest in chasing her, and instead goes back to Beckett, with Beckett's lieutenant in charge now. This is the last we see of Elizabeth for awhile, as she slowly makes her way to Shipwreck Cove, the pirate's meeting place.

The next thing we see is a trail of bodies, floating in the water for Beckett to find. Beckett assumes it’s a “gambit, from a skilled opponent.” He thinks it’s Jack leading him. Clearly, he thinks Jack is keeping to his end of the bargain. We find out, though, that it’s not Jack but Will leaving the bodies. Does this mean that Jack was lying? After all, he could have done this exact thing. He all but confesses to Will that he had already thought of it. But here he states another goal. He wants Davey Jones off his back permanently. The only way to do so is to kill him. The only way to kill him is to take his place. What he does here is critical. He hands Will his compass, then hands Will to Beckett. Is he still trying to lead Beckett to Shipwreck Cove? Is he trying to lead Davey Jones there, to get his chance to kill him? We don’t know. Jack’s motivations in this film never entirely clear. It doesn’t help that he’s crazier than we remember after his time in Davey Jone’s locker.

With Will aboard Beckett’s ship, he reveals everything. Will is easier to figure out than Jack. Will wants his father freed. He wants Elizabeth. He reveals everything in order to do so. Calypso, the Brethren Court, everything. He even agrees to use Jack’s compass to lead them there. It’s easy. The compass leads to what it’s holder wants most. Beckett wants Jack dead. Will wants Elizabeth. Davey Jones wants Calypso. Everything is at Shipwreck Cove. How much does Will know of Jack’s intentions? Does he believe that Jack will truly kill Davey Jones? Does he care? Will is no simpleton, but he is in a completely different league than Jack who’s own intentions aren’t even completely clear to himself.

Skipping forward a bit, we arrive at the Brethren Court. Elizabeth is late, and when she arrives she makes the case to go to war with Beckett. Norrington had told her that Shipwreck Cove’s location was betrayed, and she uses this to press her argument. Barbossa says to go to war is ridiculous, that they would lose, and they must release Calypso. Jack says they need to run away. Once again, we’re wondering exactly what Jack’s motivations are. Elizabeth is in no way dishonest about what she wants. She’s been a dynamic character throughout this whole film. Barbossa is completely honest as well. Slightly less than Elizabeth. He steals the “Pieces of 8,” but he does so to do exactly what he originally stated. But Jack. Does he really want to run away? He always has before. How will that help him kill Davey Jones? How will that help Will kill Davey Jones? We don’t know, but we get a little more information soon.

When Beckett’s armada reaches Shipwreck Cove, they talk to Barbossa, Elizabeth, and Jack. Elizabeth is now pirate king, so she has every right to be there. Why these two other characters are here and not the rest of the pirate lords is never stated. I always felt that was a weakness here, but from a movie making perspective, it does make the scene much more fluid. It’s the writing that bugs me. At any rate, Beckett states that it’s been Jack who’s betrayed the pirates, and Will was just the tool. They trade prisoners, Jack for Will, and prepare for battle. Walking away, Will and Elizabeth give us the best evidence for what Jack’s intentions actually are. They both agree that they need to get Jack to Davey Jones, to give him his chance at taking his place. How did they know what Jack was thinking? How could they be sure he’d survive? It’s a measure of their trust. The three of them had been through so much they knew that, despite his outward appearance, Jack is a trustworthy guy. He’ll do the right thing. Elizabeth has been saying so since the last movie. And Will will do pretty much anything she says.

So once again we get an enormous action sequence. This fits right in, as the plot is now completely convoluted. We need something to compensate for the confusion. It ends the way we would all expect, with the bad guys dying gloriously, the good guys getting what they deserve. It’s inevitable that Will will become Davey Jones. Twice, first in the second and again in the third, Calypso says he has a “touch of destiny.” It’s obvious that Jack will do the right thing. It’s obvious Elizabeth and Will end up marrying. It’s obvious Barbossa remains the dastardly pirate we’ve come to love.

This is what’s great about the Pirates films. Despite all the confusion, convolution, and sheer insanity, it ends in comfortable ways. This isn’t a movie to base a thesis on, but it’s hard to argue that it’s not a good time. It’s nice to see a Disney film really accomplish what it set out to do.

Pirates of the Caribbean, At World's End

When I last, long ago, wrote about Pirate of the Caribbean, I wrote about the enormous number of plots the writers were dealing with. We left Jack Sparrow for dead, newly re-appointed Commodore Norrington taking his old job back but with a new boss, The East India Trading Company, Will failed to save his father, Elizabeth estranged herself from Will, and, in the last shot, Captain Barbossa comes back from the dead. And let’s not forget Davey Jones, who’s lost control of his one weakness. The filmmakers here dug such a deep hole for themselves it’s difficult to imagine a way to pull them out. The end result is a mess of shifting alliances, secret decisions, and simple confusion. I love it. To unravel this web of stories, let’s start at the beginning.

The first section of this film loosely mirrors the first section of the second movie, Dead Man’s Chest. The whole journey to the Land of the Dead, as Barbossa calls it, or Davey Jones’ Locker, as it’s called at other times, doesn’t really do a whole lot for the story as a whole. Much like Will rescuing Jack from the cannibals, all it serves to do is set the tone for the movie, and get the main characters where they need to be in order to advance the plot. Everything that happens before the Black Pearl emerges back into the real world can, from a plot perspective, be forgotten. For the purposes of the analysis, I will consider the movie to start at the island where Will and the competing captains go to resupply.

Immediately before they go, we see a stand off. Everyone pointing guns at everyone else. It’s ended by Jack, who quickly discovers their guns don’t work, as they’re wet from their previous journey. This is a fascinating point. After all, their guns will dry. Even if they don’t, they’re all armed with swords. There’s no reason to let the fight end here. Yet they don’t, they instead decide to resupply, and take up their argument later. On the surface, this struck me as lazy writing. Why else have these characters threaten each other’s lives, only to have them decide to wait? It seemed a way to extend the length of the movie, nothing more. It wasn’t until I rewatched it that I saw what the point was. Will was the one who pulled the chart out, finding an island to resupply. Will was the one who mediated the fight between Barbossa and Sparrow, as who was to leave the ship. He did it with some humility, his “temporarily” spoke volumes, but he was the instigator. A few minutes later, the captains realize they’ve been had. Will had been planning to steal the Black Pearl all along, since they left Sao Feng’s city, indeed conspiring with Sao Feng to trade off Jack Sparrow in exchange for the Black Pearl. The other characters held off their argument because of Will’s subterfuge. That’s not the only reason. Sparrow needs a willing crew to continue his flight from Davey Jones. Barbossa wants the Black Pearl back. Will just gave them an excuse.

Shortly after this, we see the first of several double crosses. First is Will’s, as he claims the Black Pearl to free his father. He had learned during the last film that the Pearl was the one ship that could outrun Davey Jones, and he stated then that he wanted to fight. However Sao Feng quickly betrays Will for the East India Trading Company. He claims the Pearl from Will. Then the EITC claims the Pearl for itself, betraying Sao Feng. What happens next sets up all the rest of the events of the film. For this, we await part 2.