Technical
assessment: 4
Moral
assessment: 3.5
CINEMA
rating: PG 13
MTRCB rating: PG 13
The impossible is a drama set
during the 2004 tsunami, detailing one family's
incredible fight for survival.
Following an eventful Christmas day at a beach resort in Thailand, Henry
(Ewan McGregor), his wife Maria (Naomi Watts), and their three sons Lucas (Tom
Holland), Simon (Oaklee Pendergast) and Thomas (Samuel Joslin) are enjoying
their tropical poolside holiday when one of the worst natural disasters in
modern history changes their lives in the blink of an eye—the tsunami that
rocked the world. With no time to
run for safety, Henry and his family, just like the dozens of other horrified tourists
on the resort, lose one another as they are washed away by the 90-foot wave. As the devoted parents fight all odds
to find and protect their children, they encounter scenes of heart-wrenching
tragedy and experience acts of incredible compassion amidst the chaos.
The actors did a marvelous job—you have to see
it to feel their sincerity. The
depiction of the horrendous event is flat out stunning. The
impossible’s technical perfection leaves
the audience no room to nit pick about flaws—or to try to guess which is actual
footage and which is CGI—as it rips right into the viewers’ emotion and carries
them away to rush along with the bodies getting slammed on trees, electric
posts, broken masonry and other debris.
Witnessing on film and empathizing with the victims’ suffering is a
moving and unnamable experience for us who have never been through a tidal
wave. So this is what a tsunami
does… Bodies battered by the
merciless waters, scores of cadavers, live victims covered in blood and filth,
the anguish of the suddenly orphaned … could the victims be blamed if they were
never to believe in God again?
Through it all shines the power of the human
spirit not only to overcome but more so to put the welfare of others before
one’s own. Complete strangers weep
shamelessly and comfort one another in their grief. Having heard a child crying beneath the debris, Maria,
herself badly cut, bruised and
almost breathless tells Lucas to rescue the child. Lucas at first refuses lest another wave tear them apart
again, but Maria insists “We must… even if it’s the last thing we do…” In the hospital, Maria, bandaged
and strapped to an oxygen tank, tells Lucas to go help others in any way he can
instead of just sitting by her bed.
Such instances winess to the undying human spirit and fortify the
central self-sacrificial theme of this true story. Himself going through the angst of yearly adolescence, Lucas
absorbs the impact of this vital lesson about life, giving, and sacrifice.
So this is what a tsunami does… When your life
hangs by a thread, you just stop caring about gifts, careers, travel plans—you
come to see what really matters in life: life itself, family, compassion. Try and imagine what you would do when
all the things you so enjoy in life are claimed in a split second by an
unfeeling tidal wave, when your whole family is grabbed away by a watery hand
that’s bigger than your prayers. What
would you do?
