January 04, 2013
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, Oaklee Pendergast, Geraldine Chaplin
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Depending on which way you look at it, The Impossible, starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, is either a voyeuristic spectacle of human suffering, or a gut-wrenching but ultimately moving tale of courage and survival. The truth is that Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona shrewdly alternates between both approaches for this real-life account of a family swept away by the deadly 2004 tsunami that hit South East Asia.
McGregor and Watts stars as Henry and Maria, an English couple on holiday with their three boys at a Thailand beach resort. This paradise of golden sand, clear waters, and cloudless blue skies is ravaged when catastrophe strikes the day after Christmas.
The tsunami sequence, evidently created with the help of nifty special effects, is the film’s most harrowing, visceral portion…at times hard to watch, especially when Maria is tossed, twisted, and bludgeoned by the speeding currents, her skin flayed by debris. Badly injured but reconnected with her oldest son Lucas (Tom Holland), she struggles to make it, even as the fate of her husband and two sons remains uncertain.
Despite heartfelt, understated performances from both McGregor and Watts, and a terrific turn by Holland as a kid thrust with responsibility far greater than his years, The Impossible occasionally feels heavy handed and melodramatic. The family’s trauma is presented in excruciating detail, the camera lingering over every physical injury – particularly Maria’s – to emphasize the suffering. Worse still, in focusing so exclusively on this white family, and only fleetingly on others (all tourists), the filmmaker completely overlooks the impact of this disaster on the thousands of Thai locals rendered homeless, injured, and bereaved.
Yet it’s unfair to dismiss the entire film as contrived; the recreation of the tsunami itself is brutal and completely convincing. And it’s hard not to be moved by those inspiring scenes in which we observe ordinary people become heroic, and the best instincts of human nature that not even such a tragic disaster can keep down. From Lucas volunteering to reunite families estranged in the chaos and carnage, to a desperate survivor sharing his mobile phone with an anxious parent, there are several moments that will turn even the most cynical hearts.
The Impossible then is seldom subtle, but vastly improved by three stupendous central performances. It’s a far from perfect film, but one that touches you and moves you despite its shortcomings. I’m going with three out of five for The Impossible. Watch it for the remarkable acting, and for the horrifying disaster scene filmed so realistically.
(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)
Dear Rajeev,
regarding the point that you make about the film being neglecting the other victims of the Tsunami,
here’s an article addressing that by an English survivor who was in Thailand during the Tsunami.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2013/jan/04/the-impossible-beautifully-accurate-film
Comment by Vinay — January 4, 2013 @ 11:51 pm
I doubt that you really care very much about the Asians who died in the Tsunami if you can’t emaithpze with other disaster victims, just because they happen to be wealthier. Are you out collecting donations for Syrian refugees? How much thought did you give the Iranian earthquake victims? A victim is a victim, wealth doesn’t soothe losing a child, or keep you afloat when you’re drowning.There’s a very good reason why the characters are anglophonic white westerners, because they need to be relatable to the movie’s target audience. Also most of the documentaries about the Tsunami focused on tourists because there was more video footage of them to use, so it’s mainly their stories we’ve heard and associate with the tragedy. The movie is a Spanish production, not Thai or Indonesian.
Comment by Jacob — April 11, 2013 @ 4:34 pm