“Just close your eyes and think of something nice” is a refrain repeated several times during J.A. Bayona’s Tsunami disaster film that sees Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts (and their three children) attempt to re-unite after a tidal wave destroys their hotel and threatens their lives. There is no arguing with the staging and execution of the disaster itself – a tour de force sequence that sees the camera, Watts and young Tom Hollander swept away in a river of debris-strewn water for an unrelenting 15 peril-laden minutes.
But the film itself seems to ignore that there are actual Thailanders in Thailand, and only focuses on ‘saving the white people’ for its runtime. Occasionally, a local will show up to help (having nothing better to do?), but the film only has eyes for Caucasians; not just the split-up McGregor-Watts clan, but other stranded European and American tourists. I’m not one to be easily offended by this sort of slanted storytelling, but it’s impossible (heh!) to miss here.
The film does little to establish the family, only implying that their finances are spread a little thin, and that Maria (Watts) is a doctor who is taking time off work to raise their boys, and that Lucas’s (McGregor) sweet Japanese job may be in trouble. This minor character development is literally swept away by larger issues at hand. The first half focuses mainly on Maria and her eldest son trying to get medical attention for a fairly gruesome injury. It is as if Bayona saw Michael Haneke’s recent remake of Funny Games and thought to himself, I can go further on making Ms. Watts suffer and cry for the bulk of a motion picture.
The film attempts to squeeze as much emotional grist as possible by having various parts of the family (eventually Lucas and the other two boys) get separated and re-unite ad nauseam. Case in point, the film’s most egregious offense is a ‘we will just keep missing each other’ sequence. Ostensibly the movie’s climax – involving moving hospital beds and lots of running around the where the characters keep crisscrossing without meeting in a hospital set-piece – the sequence, frankly, is offensive and way out of place with the straightforward drama that Bayona seems to be aiming for. It simply doesn’t fit.
The film has the nerve to flirt with an Owl-Creek-Bridge kind of scenario but then pulls back its punch. I’m not sure which decision would actually be worse. Geraldine Chaplin shows up briefly to pontificate about the transience and beauty of life, but by that time, nobody cares and the film goes back to being “The Passion of Naomi Watts.” The film was based on (inspired by?) the true story of a family who survived the actual 2004 Tsunami that hit the coast of Thailand, but this is all traditional Hollywood moviemaking on display here. The film often teases that it will break out of ‘formula,’ but then pulls back at the last minute. Whether that was so it could adhere to actual events or for commercial concerns remains a mystery to me.
Nevertheless, the film does indeed look gorgeous. It displays one of the best uses of high contrast, super colour saturation I have seen, period. J.A. Bayona easily scales up the wonderful craft on display in his 2007 ghost-story The Orphanage; the director knows what to do with a large budget in terms of spectacle, but then after putting all of that money up on screen, he asks that, well, you close your eyes and think of something nice.
“It is as if Bayona saw Michael Haneke’s recent remake of Funny Games and thought to himself, I can go further on making Ms. Watts suffer and cry for the bulk of a motion picture.”
Exactly my impression.
Torture porn meets melodrama. Uneven mix, but I liked it.
“It is as if Bayona saw Michael Haneke’s recent remake of Funny Games and thought to himself, I can go further on making Ms. Watts suffer and cry for the bulk of a motion picture.”
Too much suffering and crying for you? Tell that to the real family: “Hey guys, I know you’re in pain and dying after that tsunami, but let’s not get carried away with all the crying here”…
“But the film itself seems to ignore that there are actual Thailanders in Thailand, and only focuses on ‘saving the white people’ for its runtime.”
Guess what? This movie is based on a real family. And guess what? They’re tourists. There’s a reason why the film takes a “Heaven on Earth” approach. Before the tsunami hits, we see the “paradise” perception of Heaven, from the perspective of tourists on vacation. But after, we see a very different perception of Heaven, one where we are surrounded by love and compassion, and as Juan Antonio Bayona puts it: a place where “people are removed from their nationalities and social levels” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXfRBTrWKY0).
You can consider this “slanted storytelling” if you want, but just remember that this film simply follows one family that was fortunate enough to survive the “impossible” and clearly reminds us, in the end, of everyone who was not so fortunate.
Well put Patrick. I agree. I think we are pulling too different things form this particular quote though, I am not highlighting to say the film overdoes it, it is probably fairly accurate or at least plausibly accurate considering what happened, just that it being Naomi Watts the first thing that came to mind watching her performance was Funny Games and this film outdoes the torture her character goes through in that, or at least the depiction appears worse by how Bayona shoots it.
I am kind of tired of the argument that you cannot tell a story from a white perspective if it impinges on a narrative that is dominated by other ethnicities. It is not that there is only ONE story to tell, the story from the locals experiencing the tsunami should be told as well, but this being a true and interesting story, that it is about white tourists should not, on the surface, exclude it from being told. The exclusion of any story solely because of the colour of the character’s skin is wrong.
On the other hand, a Hollywood studio would NEVER do a movie like this based on anything but a white family. Like, ever.
If it starred Denzel Washington they would
Well played.
Bayona may have attempted to eliminate ‘social strata’ by way of a disaster, but the filmmaking suggests otherwise. Why Naomi Watts and Ewan Macgregor if the couple were Spanish? Oh, because it’s a $50M+ movie, and will only stand a chance of making its money back if it is a save the white people movie. Even this doesn’t bother me too much, the switch from spanish to Aussie/UK, but the filmmaking and tone I have issues with. It’s simply not a well told version of that story, IMO. And I am a huge fan his Bayona’s THE ORPHANAGE from a character/storytelling point of view, so this was a rather large disappointment from me.
“Why Naomi Watts and Ewan Macgregor if the couple were Spanish?”
I think this is irrelevant to the point you made in your review about focusing less on the Thailanders and more on the tourists (whether they be Caucasian or Spanish). That said, we can only speculate on the reasoning behind it; but I’m okay with it as long as the filmmakers (who are Spanish themselves, of course) are okay with it. And based on the many positive comments of Naomi Watts’ and Tom Holland’s acting, it’s hard to imagine any better candidates for the roles anyway (Spanish or not).
“It’s simply not a well told version of that story, IMO.”
I think I understand where you’re coming from, but keep in mind that all the melodrama and contrivances are there not to exaggerate the “true story”, but to emphasize the impossibility of this “true story”. Surviving such a tragic event is simply luck of the draw, and unfortunately, only the people who were blessed with these “contrivances” were able to get through it all. Otherwise, there’d be no reason to call it The Impossible.
The thing is though, Kurt, you knew these things going in, at least that it was big name white celebrities, that couldn’t have come as an assault to your sensibilities. I knew the movie I was in for and adjusted expectations accordingly. I agree it is partially formulaic, and bluntly plays up the drama as melodrama always does, but it does have its share of excessive gore, and effective horror. I think it does go at times too cute with its heartwarming scenes but mostly it had me, Watts and McGregor fucking sell their roles and the kids are solid too.
“I think this is irrelevant to the point you made in your review about focusing less on the Thailanders and more on the tourists (whether they be Caucasian or Spanish).”
I’m Spaniard and I would like to say that Spaniards (from Spain) are Caucasian even though some Americans believe that only the anglo-Saxon are Caucasian. They use to miskate hispanic (mexican, Colombian and other nationalities of America) for Spaniard. I suppose that is why the word “Spanish” and “hispanic” is used both alike (sorry for my english. I know is horrible) .