The Impossible Reviews

(MU) Bayona tiene un especial gusto por el cine de catástrofe, no muy coral, no muy espectacular; pero fue mejorando con los recursos fuera de España. Aquí el final feiz esforzado y los locales no importan nada... no hay horror

Since this movie was chosen by Roger Ebert as one of the best movies released in 2012 so there was a good chance that the whole thing would be good and I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, after watching the damned thing, I would agree with Roger Ebert and I’m actually surprised that this movie didn’t get more attention when it was released (eventually, only Naomi Watts received a Oscar nomination for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role). Indeed, I thought the whole thing was quite impressive. While watching this, I couldn’t help thinking that we spend a lot of time watching such movies and shows like ‘The Hunger Games’ or ‘The Walking Dead’ about some fictional survival stories when, in fact, there are some real tales about survival and, when they are very well developed like this one, there are just fascinating and quite heartbreaking to behold. Indeed, here, we are dealing with a real threat and thanks to the impressive acting by Naomi Watts but also by Ewan McGregor, you could get a pretty good idea about how it must have been to be there. Of course, some people argued that it was dealing with some white people when it was fact taking place in Thailand but, for once, it didn’t bother me as many tourists were indeed victims of the tsunami. To conclude, I thought it was a very strong drama and it is definitely worth a look.

Behind the majority of tragic catastrophes in the modern age, we are provided with a film based on those events featuring a story that becomes a symbol of hope and leaves the audience a lot to reflect on. The Indian Ocean tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 appeared out of nowhere and shook us all. In fact, it became one of the deadliest natural disasters in world history. So, The Impossible examines the horrors of these events through an innocent family’s real-life experience and also leaves the audiences with a leap of faith within humanity. Therefore, although it is hard to watch on many occasions, The Impossible is an incredibly powerful motion pictures that is filled with suspense, emotional drama and is quite possible one of the most courageous disaster stories adapted put to film.


Besides having a wide historical background, The Impossible had issues as a film. Over the years, disaster motion pictures have been over-killed by Roland Emmerich, a director who succeeds on a visual level but totally misfires in terms of realism, heartbreak and emotional drama. However, the superb direction from Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage) fulfills the purpose of The Impossible at a both tragic and inspirational standard. While he has already worked on scaring and making audiences feel uncomfortable, he expresses something that hadn’t been done before. The tsunami itself is evidently an immensely powerful force of nature upon the innocent in a civilized society, but is exposed as a sin that totally tears the ordinary, peaceful lifestyle apart.


Furthermore, the actual disaster killed thousands so the biggest challenge was to illustrate a balance of respect as well as involvement between those who lost their lives and those who survived. While Bayona pulls this off beautifully, he gives the audience a very gripping in-sight to the disaster, particularly during the tsunami. The creative use of camera movement during the sequence created an uncomfortable illusion that the audience were as close to the tsunami as the victims within the film, and it did not need 3D effects. Therefore, Bayona’s direction in The Impossible is among the list of most underrated and overlooked works of modern film-making.


In front of Spanish director in a Spanish-made film based on a Spanish family are two British actors taking the roles of young parents Maria and Henry (Enrique in real-life). First, there is Naomi Watts who delivers a very powerful performance as an innocent wife and mother who becomes on the verge of death and must take a large step in order to survive. Watts’ role is not entirely shown in a powerful form through dialogue and chemistry with other actors but particularly during the second half of the film, we saw her emotionally and physically suffering through her eyes and figural expressions. Watts is an underrated actress anyway but her performance as Maria is one of her best to date.


On the other hand, Ewan McGregor portrays Henry (Enrique) who becomes separated from his wife and eldest son following the tsunami. McGregor has always been a Hollywood star but despite that and a few exceptionally great performances, he mostly fails to grasp the realistic touch of his roles. He is more of a supporting actor in The Impossible as child star Tom Holland (who portrays the eldest son Lucas) overshadows him but when we do see McGregor, he is good enough. As for Tom Holland, yet another child newcomer in the film industry, shines out of nowhere in the role of Lucas. As Watts’ appearance slowly drops whilst McGregor’s increases, Holland literally carries the film and becomes the symbol of innocence and courage behind it all. So, in some ways he is the bigger priority in The Impossible than the more sophisticated McGregor and Watts.


Despite The Impossible evidently showed signs of courage within humanity, the film is still gut-retching to watch as it shows the horrors of that shocking, devastating Boxing Day. It has a very similar set-up to Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center but Juan Antonio Bayona created much more realistic drama through impressive camera movement, editing and managed to capture the heartbreak of the hundreds and thousands who perished through a single story about a civilized family. Nevertheless, ‘the impossible’ becomes fulfilled here and is a dramatic journey that sets up a new benchmark in disaster cinema.

"Lucas, look at this place. They're so busy in here. You get to go and do something. Go help people. You're good at it."

Due to the efforts of Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay, cinema-goers are accustomed to seeing images of mass disaster, to the point that we have become desensitised to destruction and perceive it as innocuous entertainment. But even for the most desensitised film-goers, director Juan Antonio Bayona's The Impossible will scare the living daylights out of you. A horrifyingly vivid dramatisation of the Boxing Day 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, the movie is a harrowing reminder of the reality of real-life catastrophes. Even though The Impossible is Bayona's second feature film after 2007's The Orphanage, the filmmaker hits it out of the park, working with a perfectly balanced screenplay by Sergio G. Sánchez, based on an extraordinary true-life story of one family who survived the tragedy. It's a tale ripe for motion picture treatment, as it's almost too unbelievable to be true, and it reinforces the determination of the human spirit.

For Christmas vacation, married pair Henry (Ewan McGregor) and Maria (Naomi Watts) take their three children, Lucas (Tom Holland), Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast), to Thailand. Staying at a luxurious beach resort, they enjoy a lovely Christmas together that is free from work interference. As the family enjoy a morning of pool activities on Boxing Day, tragedy strikes, with a massive tsunami hitting the coast that decimates the resort and splits everyone up. In the surging waters, Maria and Lucas find one another, though Maria suffers severe wounds that may prove life-threatening if she does not receive urgent medical treatment. Meanwhile, Henry manages to find Thomas and Simon in the aftermath, and he keeps them safe as he sets out to find his wife and other son.

One of the primary strengths of The Impossible is that the protagonists feel like a genuine family unit. Their conversations and interactions are familiar to everyone who grew up with a family, and the depiction of Christmas morning looks like an authentic slice of life, especially since we view everything through the lens of the family's video camera. Developing credible characters amplifies the story's power, as you will shed endless tears whenever family members reunite or something hard-hitting occurs. Also powerful is the depiction of the overwhelming sense of community and unity in Thailand following the disastrous tsunami. Although the Thai people lost everything they owned, they waded through the flood waters right after the wave to help the tourists. Instead of solely focusing on a Western family working to overcome the odds, the film emphasises the help they received from others, with Thai people driving them to safer places, offering them clothes and nursing their wounds. This overwhelming sense of humanity and heart keeps The Impossible from being a brainless special effects demo reel.

Clint Eastwood staged a depiction of the Boxing Day tsunami in his 2010 endeavour Hereafter, a sequence which earned the picture an Oscar nomination for its CGI. But The Impossible tops Eastwood's efforts in execution and staging. I have no idea how Bayona and his crew pulled it off, but the tsunami looks genuine, and the special effects are seamless. Furthermore, the tsunami scenes are heart-wrenchingly intense - as the wave enters the frame and barrels towards the characters, one has to cover their mouth. And watching the characters wade around in the dangerous waters full of sharp debris is almost unbearably visceral. If you've ever wondered how a tsunami would kill you, The Impossible provides an eye-opening lesson. The scenes of the destructive aftermath are equally phenomenal, looking as convincing as anything you will glimpse in a big-budget blockbuster. Just as impressive is the makeup; the images of wounds and sickness are hauntingly realistic. We've all seen the likes of Saw and Hostel, but the injuries here look horrifying, and amazingly, Bayona gets away with such content within the constraints of a PG-13 rating. Equally miraculous is Bayona's ability to achieve such technical luminosity on a scant $45 million budget. Now watch as Bayona is offered every single disaster and action movie currently in pre-production.

It's impossible to overstate how exceptional the actors are, as they ground the movie in a sense of reality and emotion that is pivotal to the feature's success. Watts earned The Impossible its sole Oscar nomination for her astonishing portrayal of Maria. The British-Australian actress shoulders the most responsibility here, needing to convincingly play a loving mother while also conveying fear, injury and illness. Yet, Watts pulls it off with seemingly little effort. Also remarkable is McGregor, who's hugely charismatic and believable, and who handles the emotional aspects of the role with utmost confidence. It's an amazingly multifaceted performance that never feels false or flat. And then there are the boys - Holland, Joslin, and Pendergast - who look and interact like siblings. Holland gets the most to do, and the young actor does a bravura job with the material. Many of the Thai extras here were reportedly actual survivors from the tsunami, which further amplifies the movie's power.

People may deride The Impossible for using British protagonists when the true-life family was Spanish, and for employing a few Hollywood-ish touches here and there. But to do so would be foolhardy. Besides, Watts' real-life counterpart was involved in every aspect of the production to ensure the movie tells her story correctly. The Impossible is a rare type of motion picture, an Oscar-calibre drama that's not unbearably tedious or dumbed-down. It packs a great deal of emotional power, is overwhelmingly human, and keeps you thoroughly interested from start to end. Most remarkable is that the movie still provides a sense of hope through all the doom and gloom. The Impossible is easily one of 2012's best movies, and the fact that it was not even nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars is genuinely baffling.

9.4/10

Super movie based on a true story of family that not only survived & managed the odds of natural disaster of mega level. The tsunami that hits the shores of south east Asian countries creating havoc and total devastation in south east Asian countries specially Indonesia, Japan & Thailand.

The Impossible focused the gritty true story of a family that actually experienced a catastrophe – the 2004 Tsunami in South Asia – the 114 minutes smack every emotion in your body. The cinematography and acting is superb that keep the viewer glued and above all emotionally engaged as the pure horror of the situation is captured humanly possible through the lens.

The symbolic true story of a family has a happy endings but there were thousands of people fir whom this Tsunami left a scar on the soul?