The Impossible

                  I'm not a big fan of water. And I'm not a big fan of catastrophic movies - especially when I know that the catastrophy really happened. That's why I was somewhat sceptical to watch "The Impossible". We all could see the destruction and death on the news, almost live. Why make a movie about it? But - in the end - I did watch it.

What I liked in the movie were firstly special effects. I cannot of course say how tsunami looks like, but in the movie it was more or less the way I imagined it. Fast, roaring water, relentless, crashing and destroying everything in its path. There is no stopping it and people are powerless when facing it. I was particularly transfixed with the scene in which Naomi Watts gets hit by the wave and tries to resurface. I could only sit and stare on the screen trying to believe that anyone could ever get alive from this. For me it was truly impossible.

I liked the actors, who were very well chosen. From Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, who are experienced and accomplished actors, through excellent Tom Holland to Samuel Joslin and Oaklee Pendergast, two sweet, little boys so natural in their acting. The movie relies on their efforts and talent.

What I didn't particularly like was the fact that only the one family was shown. Thousand of people suffered that day, but their tragedy is merely a background to the Bennett family. It can somehow give viewers the impression that the scale of the catastrophy was in fact much smaller than it was in reality. It sometimes doesn't show the whole picture, which for me is hard to except at times.

"The Impossible" is worth seeing for many reasons. For me this one scene, which I mentioned above as being the most transfixing, was enough to realize how painful and dificult the ordeal was. To understand that the survival of this family was a true miracle.

Different movie posters: