A few days ago I went to the cinema, taking advantage of the fact that the Goya Awards have brought some films up to date and have been replaced in theaters. I couldn't miss the chance to see again "The impossible", and I enjoyed a great movie about very diverse topics, among which I want to highlight the strength that children give us and how strong they are.
I imagine that you will already know that "The impossible" is a film based on the true story of a Spanish family that lived in the first person the tragedy of the tsunami that devastated the coast of Southeast Asia in 2004. And if it is said that reality exceeds the fiction, in this movie you can see clearly.
The film has left me quite impressed, so much that I have looked for the interviews that have been published by María, the woman protagonist played by Naomi Watts and who advised at all times the realization of the film.
She points out that even scenes had to be removed because they were too implausible. And I thought that a lot of fiction had been added to the theme ... A warning: SPOILERS, from now on I reveal part of the plot of the film, in case you don't want to find out in this way ...
The impossible and the strength of parents and children
The family goes on Christmas vacation to a heavenly place, a hotel complex in Thailand. Nor do they imagine what is coming, the devastating tsunami of December 26, 2004 that left thousands dead.
I want to focus on the relationship established between the mother and her eldest son, Lucas, when the big wave arrives and the family (husband played by Ewan McGregor, wife and three children, aged ten, seven and five) is separated.
Maria, after being swallowed and injured with the first impact of the wave, comes to the surface, is hurt, scared and thinks that her whole family has died. I would say about to leave, until he hears his eldest son Lucas, floating like her and dragged along the great current of the sea that has engulfed the hotel and the coast completely.
Needless to say, at that moment a spring jumps and the wounded mother draws strength from where there are none To try to save his son. When they manage to join and survive the second onslaught of the sea, there is a scene that impressed me greatly (well, actually I started crying when the wave approaches and I almost didn't stop until the end of the movie).
I mean when Lucas sees his mother badly wounded, with an almost detached chest and thigh. The boy is impressed, he tells his mother, crying, that he cannot see her like that, and at that moment his mother gives him first place on his dangerous path through the waters and a devastated world.
The son has just become a hero, the one who opens the way, the head of the diminished family. He is still a scared child, his mother's wounds impress him, he cries, but he wants to go first and help her move forward, climb a tree to protect herself, feed her ... the roles have been exchanged in some way.
She is in many moments on the verge of death but draws strength to move forward and so that her son does not lose his strength, guiding him in everything. And his son is very brave and soon learns many lessons of humanity and solidarity.
In an interview, María Belón, the true protagonist of the story, says that she believes that a few minutes passed from the tsunami until she realized that his son had suddenly grown becoming a man with incredible strength.
She also points out that she does not want the film to be seen as a story of a mother, of a family, but of the thousands of families that, like them, were able to survive, but also a tribute to all those people who helped those affected and also a tribute to those who died in the catastrophe.
A history of solidarity
There is another moment that struck me and that happens when mother and son end up putting their feet on the ground after the tsunami and begin to see some victim, and they hear a child cry and ask for help.
Lucas only thinks about saving himself, but his mother convinces him to go to help that child: "He thinks it is one of your brothers who needs help." Lucas insists that his priority is to save themselves, but his mother replies: "Even if it's the last thing we do".
Another example of strength and that not only saves the life of this little boy, Daniel, but also finally thanks to the help of Maria and Lucas, he finds his father who had also survived (I already told you that sometimes reality exceeds Fiction).
It is clear that a mother (anyone, I imagine) could not live with that position of conscience of not helping a child.
Charge of conscience that the inhabitants of this area of Thailand would not have supported when, in search of their relatives who worked in the hotels, they did not hesitate to help the survivors they found on their way and bring them to the hospital with the minimum means of They had.
I don't know if this story will be seen otherwise if you don't have children. It is likely that, because knowing that it is a true story and that it already makes anyone's hair stand out, the empathy we feel immediately with the defeated parents for what they think has been the loss of their family and revived in their search.
But we must not lose sight of that, beyond mothers, fathers and children (which is what I wanted to highlight here), we talk about stories of people.
"The impossible" is not a catastrophe movie to use. Nor is it the story of a family. It goes further, and tells us about the survival and death of many people, about the strength of the human being, about renewed and reinforced ties in the face of a borderline situation.
How you can find and see the light despite the darkness, drowning, rising to the surface in a gigantic, hopeful and luminous emersion, impeccably moved to the screen with that scene of the mother's dream and her hand first and all Your body after looking for the light.
And above all, those of you who are parents will understand and cry with it, "The impossible" tells us about another tsunami, an emotional tsunami, how incredibly strong we can be in the face of a misfortune if we have to survive for our children and How incredibly strong our children are. Little heroes.
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