The virtue of human kindness

Rating: 8/10 (28 January 2013)

The Impossible looked like a very sentimental, unnecessarily sprawling and messy contrived film where the white family saves the locals but in fact, it's the opposite, it's about community and saving your neighbour and features all kinds of nationalities in dire situations together. When our protagonist family is in trouble, they are helped and then when others are in trouble, our protagonist family help them. Human kindness is one of the most underrated virtues in cinema and how powerful it can be. The end of 127 Hours where Aron Ralston finally finds people after being isolated for so long drags me to tears every time I see it. The Impossible, while it's not as cathartic because of the quantity, features human kindness to this level in all of its sequences. It's a real emotional roller-coaster that's brought to life by its director as the script does show risks of being sentimental and contrived, it's played in exactly the right way. Although the characters are a little underdeveloped, they are more vehicles for archetypes, it still hits hard. And it's wonderfully overwhelming.
As Juan Antonio Bayona is a director of horror, having directed the popular The Orphanage 6 years ago now, the terror of the soon-to-be-iconic tsunami scene is horrifying. There's a realism and a scale to it that pinches your gut. With the breath-taking sound design and precise editing, it's a masterwork in suspense despite knowing what's going to happen from the trailers. It's a truly immersive scene and every bump is felt. Although there is a hint of realism in this sequence with a surprising amount of gore, The Impossible is one of the most cinematic films I've seen in a long time, especially with its sweeping and near impossible cinematography, having all those cranes in the water. While I feared it would be too epic for its own good, it goes to a manageable and focused scale that it makes work and still manages to be intimate. Naomi Watts is astounding. She's probably the best actress today who can show pain and she marries the physical, emotional and psychological pain with the emotional core of her character incredibly well. She gives one of the best performances of the year for sure.
Tom Holland is a welcome lead to the story and his bond with his mother is one of the most moving things about the film. Ewan McGregor is great in his role, despite not seeing him for the first half post-disaster, and highlights the value of compassion. Unfortunately, the film does lose some momentum after the reunion scene as there is little left to resolve for the last 20 minutes. I thought they were going to save it for the climax but it was just as cathartic as I hoped for. It does give it a brief feel of being procedural at that point as a mere retelling rather than storytelling, a factor that has been bugging me for 2012 when films have underwhelmed. But an ambiguous revisit to the tsunami brings things full circle and reminds us what an unforgettable moment that was. The Impossible is pure cinema and personally, finally brings scale to a traumatic event that I remember hearing about and not comprehending when I was 12. Maybe bad trailers are a blessing since it's the only way I can be surprised when they knock down my expectations. Maybe The Impossible grows on me. It's lack of character personality and scattered flaws holds it back from being a favourite but as a technical feat it is astonishing.
8/10