the impossible

I went to see Juan Antonio Bayona's film “The Impossible” at the Watershed this afternoon… Moira preferred knitting+nattering with her friends! As you’re probably already aware, it’s about the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 and, in particular, the true story about how a family of five survived the catastrophe. Naomi Watts (the mother) and Ewan McGregor (the father) are both excellent – as are the young actors who play the three sons.

I already knew the story of the family’s truly remarkable survival (the film title is entirely appropriate) and, clearly, this made watching the film a little easier to take! The staging of the tsunami is stunningly effective (and convincing) and the story is compelling. Almost inevitably, the film is so focused on the family that it barely touched on the devastating effects the tsunami had on the lives of others – or, indeed, the deaths of some 250,000 people.
Nevertheless, a very impressive film.