The Impossible (2013)
Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona
Starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland
'Nothing is more powerful than the human spirit.'
First things first, I'm not the type of person who loves the genre of film that sets out to have you weeping and claims to 'tug at the heartstrings'...but I have to say, The Impossible won me over.
The Impossible tells the story of the tragic Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 from one family's point of view. The film starts as you might expect; happy family with sullen teenager go on holiday to the beautiful Thailand for an idyllic family Christmas to the backdrop of stunning beaches and sunsets, all of which can only fill the viewer with dread at knowing the horror that await them.
Odd as it is to say it, the triumph of the film is the tsunami itself. The spine chills as soon as it hits, destroying everything in its path. The camera is swirled to and fro, sound rushes past you from every angle; every blow to the characters, you wince as if experiencing it yourself.
'Close your eyes and think of something nice...'
The real star of the film, in my eyes, is Tom Holland as eldest son Lucas. Having already featured in Billie Elliot the Musical, he gives an astonishing performance as a boy frightened for his own life who shows incredible strength to save his mother and sacrifices his own needs for those of others. Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor are also amazing as parents Maria and Henry. Both are full of raw emotion and heartbreak that leave you reeling for the whole film.
There have been questions asked about The Impossible in that the original family which the characters are based on are actually Spanish, and some see the use of an all-blonde, all-Caucasian main cast as unnecessary and inappropriate. I believe that changing the ethnicity of the family does not add anything, but that we cannot deny the extraordinary performances brought to the film by those who were cast: maybe, quite simply, they were the best people for the job.
I must admit, despite hearing plenty of good things about it, The Impossible was not my first choice of film. However, I left the cinema completely awestruck, horrified and emotionally drained. It is a heart-wrenching journey full of incredibly moving moments that will linger with you long after the credits end.
Rating: 4/5
Even if you don't think this is your type of thing, this film deserves to be watched!
Thanks for reading,
Sophie.
I may have been absent from Blogspot for quite a while now, but working, university and the festive period can add up to being pretty busy! I haven't gotten the chance to actually go to the cinema for months now until this week, and I thought that Quentin Tarantino's new 'Southern' Django Unchained was the perfect thing to start 2013 with.
Django Unchained (2013)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson
'Gentlemen, you had my curiosity.
But now, you have my attention.'
Django Unchained is Quentin Tarantino's debut in the Western genre, or as he calls it, the 'Southern'. It is set two years before the Civil War in a Deep South rife with the slave trade. Django (Foxx) is freed by German dentist-turned-bounty-hunter Dr. King Schulz (Waltz) so as to assist him in finding his next targets, the three Brittle brothers. After a prosperous winter of vigilante justice, they set off to rescue Django's wife Broomhilda (Washington) from sickly sweet plantation owner Calvin Candie (DiCaprio).
Now, I may be a bit biased with this one. I'm a huge Tarantino fan, the classic Pulp Fiction and brilliant Inglourious Basterds being my top two, and have been excited for the release of Django ever since I heard about it last year. But I have to say, I loved this film.
Everything is good here; the soundtrack is effortlessly cool, the acting incredible, the tension unbearable and the comedy brilliant.
Django is full of Western iconography, with plenty of swooping camera angles, pistols drawn from hips and close ups of beer spilling over tankards. Tarantino is the master of switching the atmosphere between the laugh-out-loud and the downright frightening, including a memorable scene at Calvin Candie's dinner table.
Speaking of Candie, Leonardo DiCaprio's sycophantic monster is the highlight of the film. He brings a slimy unease to the screen, and there is always the sense of rage and psychosis simmering under the overly polite exterior. He is like a petulant boy at times and a heartless villain at others, and him and Samuel L. Jackson as the devoted Stephen make for a great comedic pairing.
As for the 'good guys', Christoph Waltz is excellent as always, pulling off reels of smart dialogue effortlessly as well as truly emotional moments between him and Django. Jamie Foxx does well as the vengeful slave, showing a real progression through the film from someone unable to read and too sympathetic to fire a fatal bullet, to a convincing hero who is as resourceful as the German who unchained him. Foxx has a real physical presence and has you rooting for him, but gets a bit lost surrounded by massive performances by those around him.
A character I personally found issue with was Django's wife Broomhilda, played by the beautiful Kerry Washington. She's very much a damsel-in-distress for the whole film which gets a bit wearing, but in terms of the story she couldn't really be anything else. A German fairytale is at the center of the plot, with Django playing a 'real life Siegfried' who dodges a fearsome dragon and walks through hellfire to save his beloved Broomhilda, simply because 'she's worth it'.
One thing to be warned of is the violence. This is, of course, a Tarantino film, so expect the usual cartoonish gunfights and lashings of spurting red stuff, but there is also some pretty gruesome scenes involving dogs, whippings and a particularly brutal 'Mandingo fight'. I don't think it's anything an over-18 audience can't handle, but it will have you wincing in your seat (which is, of course, the point). The director has faced slavery head on, and made the unthinkable racism the real horror of the film.
The film is most definitely a triumph and is seriously enjoyable to watch, but, I hate to say it, it is long. Really long. Although the ending is certainly gratifying and worth the wait, it feels like it should come about half an hour before it actually does. Despite that, it will definitely be one I'll watch again and again!
Rating: Not my favourite Tarantino, but still utterly brilliant.
5 out of 5!
Go see this film!
Thanks for reading,
Sophie.
'This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time....'
As you may know, I am a Media Student at Teesside Uni. Some people consider a Media degree to be easy, a cop out, something students do when they aren't intelligent or motivated enough to do a 'real' degree. What these people don't realise is that the Media is something that all of us consume every day, so in my opinion, studying it is one of the most relevant things in our culture to gain a degree in.
I want to work in the media...so why wouldn't I study a degree in it? Yeah, astrophysics might push me more academically, but whats the point if it has nothing to do with the career I want?
Anyways, rant over.
My point was that studying Media involves studying aspects such as philosophy, sociology and psychology as part of media theory. One part of media theory we have been studying lately that has particularly interested me is postmodernism.
I'll try and sum this up, because defining postmodernism could take a long time. The main points are that we live in a postmodern society; nothing is original, nothing has substance, and nothing is real.
In our lecture, we recently watched David Fincher's brilliant Fight Club, and discussed how it is a postmodern text.
'You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're the all-singing, all dancing, crap of the world.'
The Narrator, played by Edward Norton, is an insomniac. He is also obsessed with Ikea, and meticulously scrolls through the catalogue 'as if it were pornography'. He attends self help groups because they are the one place he can let go, cry, and finally get some sleep. Before he discovers Fight Club, that is.
Fight Club is an incredible film, making a dramatic social comment on our consumerism-filled lives. Until he meets Tyler Durden, the Narrator compulsively collects furniture, belongings, wondering 'what kind of dining set defines me as a person?'. Some postmodernists believe that today, we have no actual personality because we define ourselves through our possessions, much as the Narrator does with his yin-yang coffee table. Tyler offers the Narrator the option of a life without materialism or authority, without being held down by a house or a job. He is the alternative voice, one that says we do not need to own things to be 'complete' (if we can ever be 'complete' at all).
'I am Jack's
wasted life
broken heart
complete lack of surprise
inflamed sense of rejection
smirking revenge.'
The presumption that we as people have no substance because we are too busy being mindless, excessive consumers might seem....offensive, belittling or infuriating. After all, it would be pretty difficult to live in the Western world as we do and not give in to materialistic pressures. We are richer than we used to be, so it makes sense that we would buy more things.
Tyler Durden: 'Reject the basic assumptions of basic civilization, especially the importance of material possessions.'
I know I'm being a little deep here, but I found myself really interested in this issue and wanted to share it.
I can't help but agree that these days, we do define ourselves by what we own. I do, anyway; I love fashion, and what is fashion if not a way of showing who you are by wearing clothes, shoes, the latest trend?
However, I don't think this is as bad a thing as it sounds. I think the stuff we own, wear, listen to, watch.... it's a form of self-expression that we just couldn't afford years ago. I'm sure we could all do with getting back to basics a little, but that doesn't mean that by being active consumers we are nothing but style rather than substance.
Apologies for the wordy/theoretical post, but this is what I'm studying so this is what I'm thinking/blogging about!
Hope this gave you some food for thought, and do please comment if you have any opinions!
Thanks for reading,
Sophie.
