Written by: Sergio G. Sánchez
Starring: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland
Release dates: 11 January 2013 (Wide World)
Running time: 113 minutes
Budget: $45 million
Box office: $198,087,212
A few weeks ago I finally watched
‘The Impossible’. Revolving around the 2004 Asia-Pacific Tsunami, this movie
had me in tears since the first wave hit.
From the real story of The Bélon
family, it tells the story of a European family consisted of a father, mother,
and 3 sons. In December 2004, the family went on vacation to a resort in Khao
Lak, Thailand. Unfortunately, a mere 3 days after their stay, The Tsunami hits.
The mother, Maria (Naomi Watts), and her eldest Lucas (Tom Holland), were
separated from the father. And so, each of their desperate fight began; Henry (Ewan
McGregor), the father, tirelessly searching for his family, Maria against nasty
wound on her thigh, Lucas, forced to be the adult for her mother’s sake, and
the two youngest boys, trying not to be separated in the evacuation camp while
their father went looking.
Being the first
and so far only, Hollywood movie centred on the fifth deadliest natural
disaster since 1990, The Impossible was faced with high expectations from many
parties. And to face that challenge, director J.A. Bayona used a very unusual
method to depict the Tsunami waves. Instead of using the easier CGI waters,
Bayona used actual, physical waters, only adding some details in CGI. And that was
one of the reasons I why I consider this movie as one of the best movie I've ever
seen. Even real-life survivors of the 2004 Tsunami admit (and praise) the accuracy
of Bayona’s Tsunami. No wonder this film needed two years in post-production
stage before released into
The other
thing that made me love this movie even more, are the emotions. The actors in
this movie totally and beautifully succeed in portraying a distressed family.
Tom Holland, in particular, is my favourite. Playing Lucas, he perfectly acted
in such a way that it was hard to believe that he’s just a 12 years-old British
actor and not a victim of the Tsunami, forced to mature much faster to help his
mum. His acting was such he later describes it as emotionally tiring. He even have
to take breaks to avoid letting the emotion overcame him totally. The two younger
boys too, despite much too young, can act with just the right emotions.
Another I’d
like to praise from this movie is its accuracy. In fact, the only difference
according to Maria Bélon, the real-life survivor whose story was depicted in
the movie, is the colour of the ball Lucas took just before the wave hits. All the
other things, from the location, the people, the position, were made as close
to the truth as possible. The movie was shot in Khao Lak, exactly where the
resort The Bélons stayed. The extras used in this movie were mostly real-life
Tsunami survivors. And the presence of The Bélons family in the set ensures the
accuracy.
All in all,
I’d give this movie 8.5 stars out of ten. Wonderful performances, beautiful accuracy,
and realistically wonderful, this film is truly a must-see.
M Thariq
Ziyad
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