Movieman Madness: Cinema Spotlight III - J.A. Bayona (Part 2): 'The Impossible'

On December 26, 2004 the South and Southeast Asian countries including Sumatran, Indonesia and Thailand were struck by a tsunami. Reported to be the worst Tsunami disaster of all time, over 225,000 people from locals to visiting tourists lost their lives as villages and towns were completely destroyed. This is the story of a family who survived.

Left to right: Thomas (Samuel Joslin), Maria (Naomi Watts), Lucas (Tom Holland),
Henry (Ewan McGregor) and Simon Bennett (Oaklee Pendergast).

The Impossible marked J.A. Bayona's first English-Speaking film and premiered in his home country of Spain on October 11, 2012. The movie premiered in the United States on January 4, 2013. Maria and Henry Bennett (Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor)go on a Christmas vacation at a Thailand resort with their three sons Lucas (Tom Holland) Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast). The day after Christmas, the impossible happens. Henry, Thomas and Simon are stranded on what's left of the hotel while Maria and Lucas are swept by the ferocious wave.What follows is a struggle for survival as the family search for each other amidst the agonizing aftermath.

Disaster films give us an idea of the force majeure whether fact (Titanic) or fiction (The Day After Tomorrow). The Impossible goes for the former showing in full display the seismic sea wave as a stunning and horrifying sight to behold.

Bayona direct's with great detail in recreating this natural disaster you forget it was done with practical and visual effects. Adding to the realism, the movie was shot tn the exact resort the real family stayed when the tsunami hit.

The performances are all-around powerful with Naomi Watts bringing the most depth both physically and emotionally. We see her beaten and smashed by water and debris and succumbing to fatal wounds but still maintains whatever strength she has left to find her family with her oldest son Lucas by her side. The film is also notable as the first appearance of future Spider-man himself Tom Holland who immediately showcased his talent of a boy suddenly thrust in this frightful situation.

Bayona's style begins to take root from a family being separated by natural or unnatural forces, and the unbreakable bond bond between a parent and a child, and a mother swimming to stay alive and see her son.

Laura in The Orphanage and Maria in The Impossible trapped in a watery abyss

The Impossible succeed's on being terrifying but not in the same manner one expects as in a horror film. Bayona's previous film, The Orphanage had a ghost element to it and something out of an adult fairy-tale from the Guillermo Del Toro library (Interestingly, Del Toro helped produce Bayona's first film). This movie brings a fear that is real in our own world. It happens everyday and can happen to anyone. An example of how reality can be just a scary as what we see in fiction.

Bayona's film would make Roger Ebert's final Best Films of the Year list before his passing and Watts earned an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actress. The Impossible shows us things that are are indeed impossible and yet we see it unravel in front of our eyes. Whether it's horrifying as a tsunami or seeing the human spirit rekindle and striving to stay alive.

Fun Fact: The real family the movie was inspired on were present during the filmmaking. In term's of inaccuracies the biggest lie the movie fabricated was the color of the ball the children play with before the tsunami struck was yellow not red.

Geraldine Chaplin Cameo:

Daughter of the great Charlie Chaplin and the Stan Lee of Bayona's work. In his previous film The Orphanage, Geraldine Chaplin played a medium who possessed a sixth sense. In The Impossible she plays a survivor credited as Old Woman.