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If
there is only one thing that can be said for Juan Antonio
Bayona’s The Impossible, it's that it
is impossible not be emotionally affected by it. It is one of those
rare films
that impacts upon you on such a huge level that you cannot stop
thinking about
it when you leave the cinema, and all you want to do is go home and hug
your
loved ones a little tighter.
On
Boxing Day 2006, the coast of Thailand was hit by a tsunami
that left devastation in its path. The
Impossible is one family’s story about their struggle for survival
through
the tsunami and its aftermath. An exotic Christmas holiday for Maria
(Naomi
Watts) and Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three boys to Khao Lok
turns into a
nightmare when they are relaxing by the pool and they hear the moan of
the
dreaded wave as it approaches. The family is separated, with Henry and
the two
youngest boys staying in the vicinity of the resort, and Maria and
Lucas (Tom Holland)
being swept away. Both journeys are filled with the harsh realities of
disaster, but in disaster there is always hope and the kindness of
strangers
shines through.
The
Impossible
is an extremely emotional film and made even more emotional by
the fact that it is based on a true story. It is so easy to hear about
a
disaster in the news, but a news story does not capture the whole story
such as
this of the Belons. Their tale is heart-breaking, extremely intense and
emotionally draining.
One
of the reasons that The
Impossible strikes you so much on an emotional level is a result of
the
beautiful character development. The first 15-20 minutes are purely
donated to
watching the Belon family dynamics and seeing how much they are like
any family
that quarrels, but that they love each other and are truly happy when
they are
all together. When they are separated, you feel their pain and there
are some
extremely teary moments when you realise how much they miss each other
and are
incomplete without each other.
The
film is not an easy watch as it captures all the hardest
moments of the aftermath. This includes some very graphic scenes which
are not
for the faint hearted. The injuries sustained by Maria and others,
which are
shown in the hospital, are gut-wrenching and again not the type
of thing
you're likely to see in a television segment, due to the disturbing
images.
The
cinematography is fantastic. The scenes filmed when Maria and
Lucas are below the wave are very well edited and although they can be
a bit
jerky and give the effect of being dizzy, they reflect the chaos that
was
happening beneath the wave. Again, this is something which is often not
even
thought about when you think of the destructive nature of a tsunami.
There was
so much going on under the wave as well as above.
There
is no doubt about it: Naomi Watts’ Oscar nomination for this
film is well-deserved. Her performance is so powerful and some of her
scenes
are quite disturbing. It is a shame though that Ewan McGregor has not
received
the same appraisal on the scale which Watts has. He is brilliant as the
father
who is trying to remain strong for his family, but has his moments
where he is
overcome by emotion. Tom Holland is also wonderful in this film. His
character
shows how in such situations as this, boys become men and grow up very
quickly.
The Impossible is a beautiful
destruction film, but definitely not for the faint-hearted.
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