I had a harrowing afternoon. No, I didn't watch the rugby. I went to the cinema.

Today's Cameo double bill consisted of Touching The Void and 127 Hours. I couldn't watch much of the arm cutting in 127 Hours, daft when you know it's not real. You can only get a body double to do so much after all. But it was gruesome.

Before the the cutting itself the director has to find ways of filling up the five days that poor Aron Ralston was stuck there with his arm wedged against the canyon wall by a huge boulder. So we see the chap's various failed attempts to free himself, his near drowning in a flash flood, his camcorder ramblings and bits of flashback and hallucinations. But although my attention was held throughout it's a bit thin, so I had some sympathy for the guy whose loud snores told that he for one had not found the film totally engrossing.

Much more happens in Touching The Void so in a way the director's task is a lot easier, but the demands of recreating the climb and its aftermath are colossal. I saw a making-of about it once and the achievement by camera crew and actors struck me as immense. Seeing the film itself for the second time I was squirming in my seat in empathetic fear and trembling most of the time and couldn't keep my eyes off the screen. The inter-cut matter of fact commentaries by Joe Simpson and Simon Yates (and their non-climbing companion) are I think a masterstroke.

What a great film.