The Impossible

When I saw the previews for this show, I wondered why it was taking so long to be distributed. After seeing "The Impossible" and reading more about it, I found out that it was an independent film from Spain. I am very impressed. The acting, special effects and design of the movie are its most noteworthy qualities. I am left to wonder how much of the true story was altered in the adaptation but it appears that the filmmakers were faithful.

A theme of this movie is that nationalities mean nothing in the face of a disaster. Accordingly, the family's nationality is changed from Spanish to British in order to achieve universality and cinematic success internationally. The film is bookended by the family's arrival in and departure from Thailand by airplane. The opening scenes appear picturesque and it is established that the family is rich. They are typical in their relationships and Christmas morning is a relatable scene because of the use of a handheld camera to simulate video camera footage. The resort is also very striking in its beauty but despite all of this, there is an ominous feeling courtesy of the musical score. There is just a small hint musically that an important plot point is about to happen. I was very impressed by the recreation of the tsunami for this movie. Not only were CGI and miniatures well employed but also the behavior of the real water around the actors seemed so much like the real thing. The aftermath was also well built and designed. I completely believed the destruction. The nudity in this film had a story reason where as other movies use it in a vulgar way. Whenever we see Maria's chest, it is brief and ins seen through the eyes of her son. The nudity represents him being exposed to tragedy and hardship. My favorite moment in the show is when Lucas reunites the Swedish father and son. The feeling of hopefulness is so powerful. When Ewan McGregor was yelling for Lucas, I was doing my best to try and keep "Star Wars" out of my head. When the family reunites at the climax, I felt that the filmmakers were giving into clichés a little too much. We have all seen movies where lost family members just miss seeing each other and I was hoping for a more original approach. Still, the reunion is quite powerful thanks to every child and adult actor. Another part of the film that I felt needed improvement was the flashback as Maria is put to sleep for surgery. The movie lost its realism for a brief moment in the flashback because of the use of slow motion, sound and lighting. A good thing the filmmakers did was to maintain suspense as to whether Maria would recover. I love the reprise of the line: "Close your eyes and think of something nice." That was well handled in the script. It was powerful but not redundant. The family and by extension we the audience are reminded constantly that other people were not lucky. This was the deadliest tsunami in recorded history after all and it was a miracle that this entire family survived. We see images of numerous body bags and people weeping by lists of names.

The acting deserves to be highlighted. I wanted Naomi Watts to win the Oscar that year but I could tell that Jennifer Lawrence would win instead. Watts gave a believable performance and her best scenes are during the tsunami & when she throws up in the hospital. This is the best performance that Ewan McGregor has ever given in my opinion. His best scene is when he breaks down while on the phone. Finally, Tom Holland is an actor to keep our eyes on. To me, his character was the central one and a lot of the film rode on his performance. He rose to that challenge. "The Impossible" is going to be hard to top with another true story from the disaster. It is the "World Trade Center" of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. Spain should be proud of this cinematic achievement.

4 Stars