THE IMPOSSIBLE: Blu-ray (Summit Entertainment 2012) Summit/Eone Home Video
Few natural
disasters are as ingrained in my mind as the 2004 tsunami that decimated the
coastal retreat of Khao Lak, Thailand; an event of such mind-boggling devastation,
its total comprehension is virtually impossible to fathom for those of us who
were not there. The shaky images captured by terrified tourists on their
iPhones and other home video recording devices, flashing across our television
screens were significant only in presenting the paralytic moment of impact and
its immediate aftermath. But the overhead shots of earthy-colored rising tides
consuming the coastline were strangely surreal, or perhaps even artificial;
like a spectacular CGI effect created by Hollywood artisans instead of a raw
and eviscerating act of Mother Nature.
I must confess
to a naiveté. Until 2004 I don’t think I ever even heard the word ‘tsunami’
before – or perhaps had, but chose not to register it consciously as anything more
than a big wave knocking over a few trees. Certainly, I had never seen one
broadcast in real time and, God willing hope to never experience such a
cataclysm in my own life. But in the days and weeks that followed, survivor
testimonies began to filter through the media outlets. These were not merely
heart-wrenching but crystalized the experience as terrific and as awe-inspiring
as any apocalyptic ‘end of the world’ scenario Hollywood could concoct. Most
definitely it must have seemed this way for Maria Belon and her family, come to
the newly inaugurated Golden Palace Hotel for a little R&R over the
Christmas holidays and looking forward to nothing more substantial than a week
of lazy lounging on Khao Lak’s ivory sands.
This vacation,
however, was to turn deadly for 230,000 people; a loss of human life so
staggering that to discover even one survivor from this perilous afternoon seems
more a miracle now than it perhaps did then. To learn of five - all in one
family - is a phenomenon, and the subject of Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible (2012). Bayona tells the
tale from Maria’s perspective; albeit with one minor artistic flub; the Spanish
Belon family having morphed into a decidedly Caucasian/British brood headlined
by Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. Otherwise, The Impossible quickly acquires artistic integrity as an
unrelenting portrait of heroism despite overwhelming tragedy; its triumph of
the human spirit genuine and satisfying.
Bayona and his
screenwriter, Sergio G. Sánchez have managed an extraordinary feat; to tell a
true story in a narratively compelling way without embellishing or twisting the
facts. By Maria’s own harrowing account, we experience the epic wrath of the huge
black wall of sea water smashing into bungalows, counterbalanced by excruciating
moments of gut-wrenching fear racing through our protagonists’ minds; the drowning
sensation Maria herself has described as “like
being in a spin dryer” realized for the audience in all its
heart-palpating, nerve-jangling dread. The
Impossible is not an easy film to watch – and not chiefly because we know
the event being depicted actually happened, but rather because the performances
given by Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland (cast as Maria, her husband
Henry and young son, Lucas respectively) seem so ‘of the moment’ and ‘in the
zone’ of the close-knit Belons suddenly torn asunder by this swirling
maelstrom.
Most disaster
movies brutalize the audience, placating our morbid desire for catharsis. We
are able to survive fires, floods and the proverbial gnashing of teeth all from
the comfort of our plush theater seats or cozily snuggled up on the couch with
a bowl of popcorn and favorite soft drink in hand. But The Impossible is different somehow – almost documentarian in its approach,
and forcing us to live through the nightmare moment by moment. The drama yields
to an even more un-quantifiable appreciation. By the end of the first reel we have
completely set aside the premise that these are actors assuming just another
role in their ever-expanding repertoires. Watts, McGregor and Holland manage no
minor coup when they all but disappear from our collective consciousness,
replaced by a haunted verisimilitude that gets under our skin and rattles a
deepening trepidation with the even more daunting realization of finding loved
ones still alive – if, in fact, at all – after the repercussion from those
subsiding tides.
Our story
begins predictably enough with the Bennett family’s arrival to the Golden
Palace – a picturesque Thai resort newly opened to the public. Physician Maria
Bennett (Watts), husband Henry (McGregor) and their three sons Lucas (Holland),
Tomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast) have been looking forward
to this getaway – particularly Henry, who fears that his job at a Japanese firm
is about to be terminated. Director Bayona resists the urge to simply jump
right into the thick of things. Instead, he conscientious sets up the story
with a few choice scenes that establish the special loving nature of this
close-knit family; Henry and Maria’s devotedness to one another and Lucas’ selfishness
in his inability to understand Tomas’ fear of flying: little brother – what a
pain!
Bayona does an
exceptional job recreating the relaxed cadence preceding the deluge. We observe
the resorts’ guests partaking in a moonlight candlelit balloon launch; the
sun-filled beaches a resplendent tropical paradise beckoning Henry and his sons
to go snorkeling; the entire family submitting to a retirement from their
worldly cares. Regrettably, this respite will be short-lived. For on the next
day, as Maria prepares to curl up in her deck chair with a good book, and Henry
and the boys frolic in the pool an unexpected shift in the breeze and the scattering
gulls overhead mark fateful seconds of quiet repose before the indelible incubus
unfurls.
Triggered by a
cataclysmic earthquake in the Indian Ocean miles away, the initial tidal wave
unleashes its fury; uprooting trees, tearing apart bungalows and flooding the
resort with a mountainous berm of murky salt water that consumes everything and
everyone in its path. Maria and Lucas are swept away. Henry is unable to get
out of the pool with either Tomas or Simon, presumed to have fallen under the
crushing weight of the ocean. Director Bayona does a fairly brave thing with
these scenes; silencing the soundtrack repeatedly as Maria’s head periodically
slips beneath the raging waters – in effect, realizing the sensation of being
drowned for the audience.
Against all
odds Maria and Lucas manage to reunite, perilously clinging to floating debris
until at last they are propelled far enough inland where the waters have
receded, leaving behind their path of unbridled destruction. Compositing CGI
with full scale dump tanks and miniatures of the resort, Bayona manages to
effectively recreate this incalculable annihilation while never once allowing
it to anesthetize the audience in their complacency for more special effects. Maria’s
leg is badly injured. Without proper medical attention she will surely die of
infection.
Lucas and
Maria discover a small child, Daniel (Johan Sundberg) separated from his family
and trapped beneath debris. These three climb into a tree to relative safety to
await rescue. A local Thai father and
son (La-Orng Thongruang and Tor Klathaley) find Maria, Lucas and Daniel and
drag her – literally – to a nearby makeshift hospital where, due to a mix-up
Maria is labeled with another survivor’s name. Thus, after being encouraged to
go and assist the others, Lucas returns to find Maria’s bed empty and told by
the Red Cross Nurse (Jomjaoi Sae-Limh) that his mother has died.
We shift focus
back to the waterlogged remnants of the Golden Palace where Henry, Tomas and
Simon have survived. Henry entrusts seven year old Tomas with Simon’s care and
sends his boys on ahead in a truck bound for the hospital while he sets out on
foot to learn what has become of Maria and Lucas. Injured by falling debris, Henry is taken to
an evacuation center where various survivors share their stories. At first
Henry is understandably numb. But when another man, Karl (Sönke Möhring),
desperate for news of what has become of his own family, willingly offers Henry
a chance to call home using his cell phone to explain what has happened, Henry
is overwrought with crippling anxiety and hopelessness. Enough cannot be said
of Ewan McGregor’s performance in this scene; so lyrically heart-breaking - so
utterly true to the moment in its frazzled unraveling of his composure.
Bayona
counterbalances this absolutely tremendous moment of realization with another –
more understated, but nonetheless graceful. We see Tomas, having arrived at a
rest stop for the night, quietly observing the twinkling stars in the night sky
as Simon sleeps by his side. A kindly old woman (Geraldine Chaplin) approaches,
asking if she may sit with him for a while. To this inquiry Tomas responds as
any child might. “How old are you?”
to which the woman replies “Seventy-four.
How old are you?” “Seven”, Tomas admits. In this single scene Bayona has
captured the essence of the tragedy – impactful to both young and old, sparing
no one, yet bringing everyone together.
Now, Bayona
telescopes his narrative into its penultimate reunion for the Bennett family.
Lucas learns that Maria is alive – having survived surgery on her chest but
still very weak and facing an even more arduous operation on her leg. Through a
whim of fate the rescue truck with Tomas and Simon has stopped for a moment on
the outskirts of the hospital, and Henry – his own search for Maria thus far
come to not - has also found his way into the wards. Maria sees Henry through the heavy gauze of
her curtain but is unable to call to him. Meanwhile, Simon – needing to use the
bathroom – jumps from the back of the truck to relieve himself on the side of
the road. Lucas, who has glimpsed Henry leaving the ward but has now lost sight
of him, instead finds Tomas and Simon. Their tearful reunion is heard by Henry
who cannot believe his great good fortune. Karl instructs the driver of their
truck to move on. Lucas takes Henry to Maria’s bedside and after another
successful surgery on her leg the family is ushered by their insurance provider
aboard an airplane bound for Singapore – their ordeal at last at an end.
The Impossible is perfect storytelling – not because
it seeks to transform its narrative catastrophe into high art, but rather
because it uses the artistic patina of visualized narrative fiction to humanize
a story we only thought we knew from
newsworthy accounts. Naomi Watts and Ewan
McGregor give career-defining performances. The word ‘performance’ usually defines the artifice in acting. But herein I
use the term merely as a reminder of how seamless both Watts and McGregor are
in resurrecting that raw emotional center of the piece; undeniably the movie’s
greatest strength. Tom Holland is an old soul in a boy’s body; absorbing the
character of Lucas as part of his DNA and taking on more ballast than one might
expect, but never in a way that seems beyond the character’s years.
Fernando
Velázquez score is appropriately subdued and reverent. We get none of the
deafening groundswells generally associated with this type of underscoring but
rather a quiet, understated and all together effective bit or musical
foreshadowing. DÃdac Bono, Lek Chaiyan Chunsuttiwat and Marina Pozanco’s
production design works its own minor miracle on a budget. The film’s singular
flaw is Óscar Faura’s cinematography. I’ve stated before my zero tolerance
threshold for shaky handheld camerawork. Faura’s is among the most equilibrium
upsetting in recent years. There are other – better – ways to create visual
tension. Masking your actors by constantly moving the imagery around doesn’t
equate to creating visual art. It never does. It never will. Otherwise, at 114
minutes The Impossible is a succinct
drama. It takes us on a terrible journey, but one that is ultimately life-affirming.
Eone and
Summit Films have assumed the distribution for The Impossible in North America.
Their Blu-ray delivers the hi-def goods – revealing the finer details in Óscar
Faura’s copper-toned cinematography. The 1080p image is sharp without appearing
to suffer from digital manipulations. The stylized contrast – boosted to bleach
out whites – is well represented. The 5.1 DTS audio will give your speakers a
workout, but dialogue early on seems thin and lacking in spatiality. Extras are abysmally bad: two featurettes –
each under ten minutes - in which impressions made by principal cast and crew
are distilled into mere snippets inserted between truncated scenes from the
film. The audio commentary by Bayona, Sanchez and Maria Belon is far more
astute and comprehensive at putting the pieces together for us. We also get a
few scant deleted scenes and the original theatrical trailer. Bottom line:
highly recommended!
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)
4.5
VIDEO/AUDIO
5
EXTRAS
1
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