Awards Season Review: The Impossible

Starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, based on true events, The Impossible is a poignant and ultimately tragic story about a British family and the devastation they face when on holiday in Thailand in 2004. As anyone who remembers the events of 2004 will know, that year saw the Indian Ocean tsunami, a natural catastrophe which led to the deaths of some 277, 898 people and destroyed some families permanently. In what can only be viewed as bittersweet, the Bennett family survive but the psychological and emotional traumas they face are likely to scar them forever.

Image Credit: Collider

Receiving largely positive reviews, the film begins with a peaceful aerial shot of the Indian Ocean, a beautiful body of water serene, gentle and, above all, calm. This is painfully ironic given that we know what is going to happen within a short span of time.

We meet the Bennett family before long, who are travelling to Khao Lak, Thailand, for a family holiday over Christmas. The family are clearly close, with both parents tucking their children in at night.

The film then moves forward to an afternoon scene at the pool, before disaster hits. Many readers will recognise this scene from the trailer – the awesome devastation of the tsunami as it rapidly unfolds and devours all in its sight, including the hotel where the family are staying.

The sunlight and peace of the pool are obliterated in seconds, as underwater scenes take over. Maria Bennett’s sufferings are particularly distressing; she seems to be drowning due to the colossal power of the waves overwhelming her.

However, Maria survives, only to discover the destruction caused by the brutality of nature. She manages to find her eldest son, Lucas, but they are both badly hurt. Those who don’t like blood are advised not to watch this, for Maria’s leg injury is horrific, to say the least. The gasps of shock and murmurs of horror I heard frequently in the cinema pay tribute to this.

These scenes are particularly harrowing, with trees overturned and floating in the water, corpses neglected, and the painful realisation on the part of both Maria and Lucas that they have been separated from the rest of their family. In their quest to be reunited with their family members, Maria and Lucas also save a young boy, Daniel, conveying poignantly a sense of humanity in the film despite so much suffering.

Both are found by locals and treated in hospital, where Lucas meets other patients and tries to help find their lost relatives and friends while his mother is immobilised. Maria undergoes surgery, but not before further trauma caused by hospital staff believing that she is dead and relocating her, much to Lucas’ distress.

The emotional scenes in this film make it highly watchable and especially poignant. The film closes with another image of the ocean, strangely still and yet destructive in its brutality, and Maria’s tears extending this water imagery.

The Impossible is a beautifully directed film, exploring both the destructive nature of nature and the kindness of humanity. All the actors are to be commended for their strong performances, while the film has been recognised to be accurate in its portrayal of the 2004 tsunami and its brutal aftermath. While despairing, yet often uplifting, this is a must-see film.

Conor Byrne, Senior Screen Reporter

 

Review: Django Unchained

Jess O’Kane, Senior Screen Reporter reviews the hotly anticipated Django Unchained, the latest Tarantino feature to attract controversy for its explosive treatment of history.

A disconcerting fact has come to my attention: it is now impossible to talk about a Tarantino film without referring to the man himself. He has, it seems, become a kind of hipster Stephen Fry, only more closely resembling a potato.

Image Credit: Columbia Pictures

Such is the mythology of this man that he lends his films a kind of aura; an expectation of madness and greatness that few directors working today can command.

It isn’t surprising, then that the opening moments of Django draw upon a recognisable iconography; wide red credits cut straight out of a 70s slasher roll, while a rousing corrido sings of the trials of our hero.

But of course, this never was just a Tarantino film; directly inspired by the violent spaghetti westerns of Sergio Corbucci, it combines the horrifically cool anti-heroes we’ve come to know and love with a surprisingly traditional aesthetic.

That said, the film still very much carries the mark of its director, with a predictable lust for violence that would make the bravest Southern Belle falter. Tarantino’s style suits the period like a glove; an era of such moral complexity lends itself well to the conflicted heroes he creates in Django (Jamie Foxx) and Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz).

Image credit: The Guardian

The central premise of a slave recruited by a white bounty hunter to viciously murder plantation owners for money is satisfying in a laden white guilt sort of way. And yet at times there are touches of insincerity in its approach, particularly in the frustratingly two-dimensional character of Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), which left me cold.

Is Tarantino moralising? Is he desecrating? Is he making up for a disgusting segment of American history? What we are meant to believe, if anything, is never clear.

What keeps it afloat is the quality of its central performances, which buoy an often convoluted plot. We’ve come to expect nothing but brilliance from Waltz since Inglourious Basterds, and this second partnership is no different.

Here, too, he is freakishly elegant, happily blowing heads off here and there whilst posing as a cheerful dentist. Waltz has a preternatural capacity for playing reasonable men who commit frightening acts with great sophistication and intelligence, and he makes the perfect partner to Django’s own confliction.

Image credit: Rotten Tomatoes

Foxx shines as the lead, lending Django a vulnerability and passion that forms a coherent emotional centre in amongst all the blood and boot spurs. Still, he’s an effortlessly cool anti-hero whose conviction is strong enough to allow for the 3-hour running time.

Oh yes, I did say 3 hours. But then this is a film that is both epic in heritage and ambition; as much a warped expression of love from a Western fan to the past as it is a mad, bad Tarantino classic.

What it relies on – and what it eventually delivers – is the impulse to trust in the motivations of its characters. In particular, the storyline revolving around the capture of Django’s wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), is frequently nerve-shredding and eventually satisfying, even despite Broomhilda’s vastly underdeveloped character.

Image credit: Hollywood Reporter

But the biggest surprise comes in the form of Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Stephen, an Uncle Ben lookalike and lifelong servant of Candie. Jackson’s hobbling, wild-eyed form is at once threatening and vulnerable, and his complex relationship with his master shows Tarantino at his most thoughtful.

Indeed, it’s obvious that a lot of thought is at work here; there was never a moment that seemed unjustified or misplaced. Nor, too, did the treatment of the period seem distasteful or unrealistic, despite its eccentricities.

There will still be some people who question Django – its violence, its treatment of slavery and its motives, and it’s true that it is at times a little incomprehensible.

But you know what? I really didn’t care. After all, this is Tarantino, and when faced with his bizarre brilliance we can only sit back like wearisome parents and watch him raise hell.

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars 

Rotten Tomatoes Critics’ Average: 4/5

Jess O’Kane