The Impossible

January 17th, 2013 at 7:02:01 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
I feel conflicted about the film, The Impossible. As you probably know, Indonesia suffered the massive share of the casualties in the 2004 Tsunami, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand, with European visitors to Thailand less than half the deaths of the natives. The overwhelming majority of the Europeans were from Germany and the Nordic Countries, with Spain having two confirmed deaths.

While this tragedy is not a Spanish story, the story of this Spanish family and the mother's articulateness has moved the country. A young Spanish director who had a huge smash hit five years ago (a horror movie) decided to undertake this move in English, with all British actors. The resultant English movie is one of the biggest boxoffice smash in Spanish history.

The story is told with utter realism. They don't go out of their way to exploit the viewer, and strangely it is possibly the only movie I have ever seen without a protaganist. There is one brief moment where someone won't share his phone, but it is portrayed as a practical decision. The character say "Look around you. Everyone needs something. I'm sorry but I need this phone for my family." Given the number of families that are torn apart, cellular battery time becomes one of the most valuable commodities.

The acting is first rate. Naomi Watts is always brilliant, and the former stage actor who plays her teenage son is very moving. Unfortunately, without protagonists the movie seems slow in the middle. The director does use one storytelling trick (which I won't reveal) to deliver an emotional punch at the finish.

Strangely, because the movie has no protagonist, it can be more disturbing after the film is over. You can just be going about your life, and suddenly nature can devastate you and your whole family.

By all means, don't miss this movie, but you don't have to see it in a theater.
January 17th, 2013 at 11:52:04 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
I've watched YouTube stuff about the various Tsunamis including the Boxing Day Tsunami. I've always felt it was solely a story of the Civilized World (the Tourists) suffering the effects of the raw power of nature while venturing into unknown territory where the natives have different understandings and react differently.

I discounted most of the stories about the people who lived there and felt only interested in the stories of the tourists, so I pretty much ignored anything that was happening to the natives or was narrated by a native. I did focus on the economic devastation but usually from the viewpoint of the resorts that were being destroyed and could therefore no longer be tourist destinations.

Some Europeans were slow to realize the danger and tended to grab cameras whereas natives tended to run. Some Europeans tried to flee laterally rather than gain height on upper floors despite the obvious danger to lower stories being swept away. The awesome power of water and water-borne debris was amazing.

A Spanish film made in English about a Spanish family's experiences. Yes. I think I might want to go see that. YouTube just has too much of natives dying and the local governments being unable and unwilling to cope with the destruction and its aftermath. There are films made about Tsunami warnings but I think the warnings should be directed at the Tourists not the local governments.
January 17th, 2013 at 1:12:28 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: Fleastiff
I've always felt it was solely a story of the Civilized World (the Tourists) suffering the effects of the raw power of nature while venturing into unknown territory where the natives have different understandings and react differently.

I discounted most of the stories about the people who lived there and felt only interested in the stories of the tourists, so I pretty much ignored anything that was happening to the natives or was narrated by a native.


There may have been 100 native people killed (most of them poor) for every European tourist (plus as high as 80 people from all three countries in North America). So while the European tourists and the resort industry may have dominated much of the stories, it is simply the way news gets reported.



But it is not about civiliazation vs unknown territory. Catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis have occurred along Washington's coast at least six times in the past 7,000 years. If another one hits it will devastate Seattle .


The Spanish language horror film that was the director's first big hit is on line.
January 17th, 2013 at 5:01:26 PM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
Yeah, I sometimes think the whole darn event would have gone unnoticed but for one of Opera Winfrey's cameramen had a missing lover or something and that brought more publicity to the event.

Is there anywhere the film is Completa en English?