The KayElle Gazette has previously highlighted The Impossible as a film to watch out for in January with good reasons. This film is packed with emotions that brings viewers along the journey of a real-life survival story through the eyes of a family during the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami catastrophe. Due to the strong emotions that are linked to the film and the disaster, viewers will either love or hate the film with passion.
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The Impossible has already opened in various countries across the globe in December 2012, but it took a while to hit the cinemas in Malaysia. The KayElleGuy has been looking forward to watch this film after watching its trailers and learning about the story. I believe this is the largest film to have ever interpreted the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami which hit various Asian countries into motion pictures.
The Impossible
Language: English, Thai (some dialogues)
Run Time: 114 minutes // 1 hour 54 minutes
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rating: 'P13' (Malaysia) // 'PG-13' for intense realistic disaster sequences, including disturbing injury images and brief nudity
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Starring: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland and cast (See the elaborated list of cast members below)
Date-of-Release: 17 January 2013 (Malaysia) // 21 December 2012 (USA)
What is it about: An account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophe of our time, the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.
Tagline: Nothing is more powerful than the human spirit.
(Read on for The Impossible review)
The KayElle Gazette has previously highlighted The Impossible as a film to watch out for in January with good reasons. This film is packed with emotions that brings viewers along the journey of a real-life survival story through the eyes of a family during the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami catastrophe. Due to the strong emotions that are linked to the film and the disaster, viewers will either love or hate the film with passion.
First off, the KayElleGuy would like to express his delight towards the casts especially Naomi Watts (playing Maria Bennett) and Tom Holland (playing Lucas Bennett, one of 3 sons of Maria and Henry Bennett) for their heart-wrenching performances which enabled viewers to be brought into the emotions and story of the film. It gives us a realistic and closer look at the catastrophe in the form of documentary as opposed to news. Viewers were able to experience the horror, grief, pain, loneliness, despair, anguish, desperation, delight and other strong emotions through the acting skills of the main casts as well as the supporting casts and extras, giving us a more personal connection to the horrors that happened.
[SPOILERS ALERT!] We felt the horror when Lucas and Maria were engulfed in the giant waves of water collapsing on top of them; the pain when Maria was covered in wounds caused by the tsunami (the huge chunk of meat was cut out of Maria's leg - there's a huge bloody gap at the back of her leg) when she tried to move away from the shores and when she was pulled through the field by an elder Thai man who tried to rescue her; the despair that Henry felt when he broke down while talking to his father on the phone at a refuge centre and the care when the surrounding survivors offered him their support, as well as excitement and relief when Lucas was finally reunited with his father and 2 younger brothers, Henry, Thomas and Simon. [SPOILERS END!]
Another thing worth mentioning is the great make-up that were applied to the casts to reflect the ill-states of the survivors. The wounds looked real and gut-wrenching. The use of costumes was also appropriate to reflect the necessary states throughout the film, while the use of lighting enhanced various scenes such keeping it realistic during the outdoor shoots after the tsunami hit as well as the gloomy and chaotic mood in the hospital. The film was also shot in various locations including Krabi, Phuket, Khao Lak (Thailand) and Spain, making the movie more authentic and closer to the original story by incorporating the locations which were hit by the tsunami.
As mentioned earlier, The Impossible is based on a true-story. The plot and ending were rather predictable, but KayElleGuy thinks that the focal point should be on character developments and the bonds between characters, as suggested by its tagline "Nothing is more powerful than the human spirit". As the plot progressed, viewers get to see how the characters grow stronger appreciation towards simple things such as human bonds, friendships, family ties and compassion that most people tend to forget and ignore in our everyday lives.
KayElleGuy has also noted several other comments stating that The Impossible has several underlying issues connected to racism in several decisions that the film makers have made including changing the nationality of the main characters from Spanish to British and the focus of the camera on "western" characters instead of the locals. However, I'd like to point out that the catastrophe took place the day after Christmas in a holiday location which is popular with western tourists, and it does take the director, producers and writers a lot to choose the best survival story from the survivors. What I meant was that they have to take a lot into consideration such as the amount of details available that could be turned into a film, the right approach to make the story more relatable to a wider crowd of viewers across the globe, and let's not forget about the funding for the film.
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the stories from other survivors should not receive the same amount of attention and respect, but I'm merely saying that the director and producers may have just wanted to make it easier for the audiences to understand the events and for them to feel the emotional impact from the film by following a continuous story-line of the main characters. I also thought that the Thai locals were portrayed as helpful and kind throughout the film, and I loved how Thai dialogues were interjected into conversations between the locals (most Thai people converse in Thai Language and speak minimal English especially those in the suburbs). I think that by using the same approach as the Titanic, the story and message could be conveyed to more people easily.
The Impossible is a "beautified" version of a true-story based on a family of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami survivor, or a Hollywood-documentary of the catastrophe. Those who enjoy good acting and emotion-filled film like myself would certainly enjoy this film.
First off, the KayElleGuy would like to express his delight towards the casts especially Naomi Watts (playing Maria Bennett) and Tom Holland (playing Lucas Bennett, one of 3 sons of Maria and Henry Bennett) for their heart-wrenching performances which enabled viewers to be brought into the emotions and story of the film. It gives us a realistic and closer look at the catastrophe in the form of documentary as opposed to news. Viewers were able to experience the horror, grief, pain, loneliness, despair, anguish, desperation, delight and other strong emotions through the acting skills of the main casts as well as the supporting casts and extras, giving us a more personal connection to the horrors that happened.
[SPOILERS ALERT!] We felt the horror when Lucas and Maria were engulfed in the giant waves of water collapsing on top of them; the pain when Maria was covered in wounds caused by the tsunami (the huge chunk of meat was cut out of Maria's leg - there's a huge bloody gap at the back of her leg) when she tried to move away from the shores and when she was pulled through the field by an elder Thai man who tried to rescue her; the despair that Henry felt when he broke down while talking to his father on the phone at a refuge centre and the care when the surrounding survivors offered him their support, as well as excitement and relief when Lucas was finally reunited with his father and 2 younger brothers, Henry, Thomas and Simon. [SPOILERS END!]
Another thing worth mentioning is the great make-up that were applied to the casts to reflect the ill-states of the survivors. The wounds looked real and gut-wrenching. The use of costumes was also appropriate to reflect the necessary states throughout the film, while the use of lighting enhanced various scenes such keeping it realistic during the outdoor shoots after the tsunami hit as well as the gloomy and chaotic mood in the hospital. The film was also shot in various locations including Krabi, Phuket, Khao Lak (Thailand) and Spain, making the movie more authentic and closer to the original story by incorporating the locations which were hit by the tsunami.
As mentioned earlier, The Impossible is based on a true-story. The plot and ending were rather predictable, but KayElleGuy thinks that the focal point should be on character developments and the bonds between characters, as suggested by its tagline "Nothing is more powerful than the human spirit". As the plot progressed, viewers get to see how the characters grow stronger appreciation towards simple things such as human bonds, friendships, family ties and compassion that most people tend to forget and ignore in our everyday lives.
KayElleGuy has also noted several other comments stating that The Impossible has several underlying issues connected to racism in several decisions that the film makers have made including changing the nationality of the main characters from Spanish to British and the focus of the camera on "western" characters instead of the locals. However, I'd like to point out that the catastrophe took place the day after Christmas in a holiday location which is popular with western tourists, and it does take the director, producers and writers a lot to choose the best survival story from the survivors. What I meant was that they have to take a lot into consideration such as the amount of details available that could be turned into a film, the right approach to make the story more relatable to a wider crowd of viewers across the globe, and let's not forget about the funding for the film.
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the stories from other survivors should not receive the same amount of attention and respect, but I'm merely saying that the director and producers may have just wanted to make it easier for the audiences to understand the events and for them to feel the emotional impact from the film by following a continuous story-line of the main characters. I also thought that the Thai locals were portrayed as helpful and kind throughout the film, and I loved how Thai dialogues were interjected into conversations between the locals (most Thai people converse in Thai Language and speak minimal English especially those in the suburbs). I think that by using the same approach as the Titanic, the story and message could be conveyed to more people easily.
The Impossible is a "beautified" version of a true-story based on a family of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami survivor, or a Hollywood-documentary of the catastrophe. Those who enjoy good acting and emotion-filled film like myself would certainly enjoy this film.
KayElleGuy's rating: +-+1.png)
(9.0 / 10)
(9.0 / 10)
List of cast members:
- Naomi Watts as Maria Bennett
- Ewan McGregor as Henry Bennett
- Tom Holland as Lucas Bennett
- Samuel Joslin as Thomas Bennett
- Oaklee Pendergast as Simon Bennett
- Marta Etura as Simone
- Sönke Möhring as Karl
- Ploy Jindachote as Thai Caregiver at the Hospital
- Johan Sundberg as Daniel
- Jan Roland Sundberg as Daniel's Father
- La-Orng Thongruang as Old Thai Man
- Geraldine Chaplin as the Old Woman who spoke to Thomas at the hilltop and cast
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