The Impossible tells the real life story of a Spanish family (cast as British here allow them to use native English-speaking actors) who were on holiday in Thailand when the Indian Ocean tsunami of Christmas 2004 happened. They were staying in a beach-side resort and were hit by the brunt of the huge tidal wave as it crashed down upon the unsuspecting Thai island. The family survived the initial wave but were split up and some of them were seriously injured. The film tells the true story of the various family members' journeys to reunite with the others amidst the carnage of that natural disaster.
The film breaks down into 3 major acts, the tsunami, the aftermath and the rebuilding. The major set-piece is the tsunami. The director and special effects crew have done an outstanding job of bringing a terror that I can only imagine to screen. We see the tsunami from the point of view of Watts' character. We see her helplessly dragged underwater, then tossed like a toy doll into cars, trees and debris as she can do nothing to prevent the onrushing water taking her and everything else where ever it wants. We hear the ominous sounds of the water approaching and share in the terrifying groaning and creaking noises after Watts' character is submerged and tossed around by this destructive phenomenon. The director uses wide panning shots sparingly, but when he does he captures the incredible scale of the tsunami's destruction. It's an outstanding sequence that uses audio and visual special effects, but relies on Watts and Tom Holland (who plays one of her sons) to provide a human reaction to it. It's a reaction of uncomprehending terror, in which neither nature nor nurture can prepare anyone for.
After that, the film settles down into a pattern of people fighting to overcome adversity. Watts' character is gravely injured and helped by local people to a hospital. McGregor's character is physically fine but mentally destroyed by the loss of his wife and eldest son. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts are brilliant in their respective roles here. McGregor has taken some questionable roles in the past, but when he's on form he's a great actor. It would take an extremely cynical person to not be moved by the sequence in which McGregor's character borrows a phone to call home. All his emotions are released in one moment as he finally has to admit to someone that he has no idea where his wife is. I didn't realise before that Watts was born in England, which probably helps to explain the flawless English accent she puts on in this film.
There has been some criticism in the press that The Impossible largely ignores the plight of local Thai people in favour of depicting the distress of wealthy European tourists. The family are no doubt extremely wealthy, but I don't have a problem with this as their story is true and amazing so there's no reason not to make a film about it. It would have been nice for the film to have had some sort of epilogue that told us a bit more about the local people and the sheer number of Thais who were killed though. My other criticism would be that there's a very slight anti-American moment (basically the only American we ever see has an unhelpful 'me first' attitude), not sure what the point of that was.
I think that these are extremely small nit-picks though, and overall The Impossible is an excellent film of a very real human suffering and hope against all odds. Excellently acted with outstanding effects, it's a great way to embark on my journey through 2013 in film.
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