Phuket Tsunami Film ' The Impossible' Drawing In Crowds, But No Criticism

[webfact]

Phuket tsunami film 'The Impossible' drawing in crowds, but no criticism

Phuket Gazette

Although initially thought by some as insensitive, the tsunami film 'The Impossible' has been bringing in crowds at cinemas all over Phuket. Photo: Official trailer image/Summit Entertainment

PHUKET: -- Although initially thought by some as insensitive, The Impossible, which recounts a Spanish family's survival and struggle to be reunited in the wake of the devastating tsunami in 2004, is drawing crowds, but not criticism in Phuket.

The blockbuster film starring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor was shot at a variety of locations in Phuket, with many extras being chosen from the expat community.

“It has been showing in our theater since November 29 and so far many people have come to see the film,” an employee at Jungceylon Phuket SF Cinema City told the Phuket Gazette.

“There were no special instructions from our headquarters in Bangkok and we have not received any negative feedback from the audiences; no complaints, emails or phone calls complaining about the movie,” he said.

“Since the disaster occurred years ago, I believe that time has healed many of the feelings of loss and sadness in many people. I think that’s why the movie can be shown in cinemas,” he added.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2012/Phuket-tsunami-film-The-Impossible-drawing-in-crowds-but-no-criticism-19658.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-12-07

[JetsetBkk]

"I believe that time has healed many of the feelings of loss and sadness in many people."

Anyone who lived through the tsunami knows that a film cannot reproduce the horrors of that day. Time doesn't heal, but it helps to put the memories at the back of the mind.

[PoodMaiDai]

Looks like it will be a very emotional movie.

[Jingthing]

I saw the movie. My only connection to the tsunami was feeling the earthquake in Bangkok and having had a holiday right on the beach in Khao Lak before the event (and of course Phuket). Anyway, I think the film is just an entertainment vehicle without a super close connection to the event. It's almost all about this one western family and the miracles it shows do seem rather impossible. It's not even close to a raw footage documentary type depiction. Yes you see plenty of dead bodies but they don't seem real. The real part is the emotion they predictably engineer with the family, especially milking the small children angle. I kind of recommend it to a wide audience who is in the mood to be emotionally manipulated.

Perhaps emotionally fragile people who lost loved ones in the tsunami might want to skip it (the same group might have unreasonably high expectations for the film as being a definitive statement about the tsunami which it totally is NOT), but I think it is really OK for everyone else, and clearly all about entertainment. If that seems crass, well the movies are a business.

BTW, personally I don't ever want to go back to Khao Lak because of what happened there. Irrational but real.

Edited December 7, 2012 by Jingthing

[mok199]

the story needs to be told................

[brianP]

sensationalism and exploit ism? Are any widows or other victim families sharing the profits? Hollyweird milking the heartstrings of every tragedy for $$$$.

[JetsetBkk]

sensationalism and exploit ism? Are any widows or other victim families sharing the profits? Hollyweird milking the heartstrings of every tragedy for $$$$.

Have you seen "Titanic"?

[Jingthing]

sensationalism and exploit ism? Are any widows or other victim families sharing the profits? Hollyweird milking the heartstrings of every tragedy for $$$$.

Not exactly a Hollywood movie. More SPANISH than Hollywood.

[stevenl]

the story needs to be told................

What story would that be, the story of how a Spanish family got separated but found eachother again?

[whybother]

BTW, personally I don't ever want to go back to Khao Lak because of what happened there. Irrational but real.

I was there last month. It's a beautiful area. I didn't think of the tsunami much when I was there.

[sysardman]

the story needs to be told................

I think the story has already been told in the BBC/HBO mini series 'Tsunami: The Aftermath'. This new one just sounds like the same,same but too late!

[Jingthing]

BTW, personally I don't ever want to go back to Khao Lak because of what happened there. Irrational but real.

I was there last month. It's a beautiful area. I didn't think of the tsunami much when I was there.

That wasn't my point. I'm sure it is lovely as it was when I visited there. The thing is I had a great time there and really enjoyed the warmth of the Thai staff at my resort. I assume most were killed as the tsunami happened not long after my visit. I just don't want to think about such things on a beach holiday. Yes, irrational, but it works for me.

[JetsetBkk]

BTW, personally I don't ever want to go back to Khao Lak because of what happened there. Irrational but real.

I was there last month. It's a beautiful area. I didn't think of the tsunami much when I was there.

That wasn't my point. I'm sure it is lovely as it was when I visited there. The thing is I had a great time there and really enjoyed the warmth of the Thai staff at my resort. I assume most were killed as the tsunami happened not long after my visit. I just don't want to think about such things on a beach holiday. Yes, irrational, but it works for me.

Nothing irrational, JT. When I go to north Karon beach to eat at the "new" restaurants next to the lake, I wonder what happened to all the food stalls and the vendors that used to be on the beach side of the road. Not a pleasant thought.

[tombkk]

I enjoyed the movie. Do I need to feel guilty about that? I don't think so.

[JetsetBkk]

I enjoyed the movie. Do I need to feel guilty about that? I don't think so.

Depends why you enjoyed it.

[thaibeachlovers]

I enjoyed the movie. Do I need to feel guilty about that? I don't think so.

Why would you feel guilty?

War movies are popular and they are about what actually happened- death and destruction- but no one goes on about feeling guilty when they go to see them.

[Jingthing]

Back when this film was first being discussed (long before the release) there was some PC chatter that this film was offensive because it's focused on rich white people's experience of the tsunami rather than the "third world people" it mostly hit (especially in Indonesia).

Edited December 14, 2012 by Jingthing

[thaibeachlovers]

Back when this film was first being discussed (long before the release) there was some PC chatter that this film was offensive because it's focused on rich white people's experience of the tsunami rather than the "third world people" it mostly hit (especially in Indonesia).

Hmmmm. Producers fund films to make money, and they probably thought there would be a better return on a film that the prospective audience would want to see.

[Jingthing]

Back when this film was first being discussed (long before the release) there was some PC chatter that this film was offensive because it's focused on rich white people's experience of the tsunami rather than the "third world people" it mostly hit (especially in Indonesia).

Hmmmm. Producers fund films to make money, and they probably thought there would be a better return on a film that the prospective audience would want to see.

There might also be a market for a more third world perspective entertainment movie on the topic, but yes I do agree, movies for entertainment are a BUSINESS. Of course there is also room for serious documentaries.

The topic of the controversy over this film was previously discussed here:

[tombkk]

I enjoyed the movie. Do I need to feel guilty about that? I don't think so.

Depends why you enjoyed it.

Because it was professionally made, good acting, good directing, good story line, good light/sound.

[tombkk]

Back when this film was first being discussed (long before the release) there was some PC chatter that this film was offensive because it's focused on rich white people's experience of the tsunami rather than the "third world people" it mostly hit (especially in Indonesia).

Well. If it were about "third world people", the film makers would be accused of voyeurism. But then, anybody is free to make a movie about the suffering of the locals, Thailand has many good film makers.

This particular one was about a European family and made by Europeans, giving it a European perspective. I see nothing wrong with that angle. Looking forward to a movie showing another angle.

[Jingthing]

I enjoyed the movie. Do I need to feel guilty about that? I don't think so.

Depends why you enjoyed it.

Because it was professionally made, good acting, good directing, good story line, good light/sound.

I agree but it was not a great movie exactly. It was mostly about engineering an emotional response in predictable ways.

[Jingthing]

Back when this film was first being discussed (long before the release) there was some PC chatter that this film was offensive because it's focused on rich white people's experience of the tsunami rather than the "third world people" it mostly hit (especially in Indonesia).

Well. If it were about "third world people", the film makers would be accused of voyeurism. But then, anybody is free to make a movie about the suffering of the locals, Thailand has many good film makers.

This particular one was about a European family and made by Europeans, giving it a European perspective. I see nothing wrong with that angle. Looking forward to a movie showing another angle.

I agree with you on that too. I wasn't the one who objected to the focus of the film, but back then, it was brought up in the media as a potential issue.

[Ulysses G.]

I enjoyed the movie. Do I need to feel guilty about that? I don't think so.

I am glad that I am so shallow. I can enjoy a day at the beach in Phuket without even thinking about a tsunami that happened almost 10 years ago.

[Jingthing]

I enjoyed the movie. Do I need to feel guilty about that? I don't think so.

I am glad that I am so shallow. I can enjoy a day at the beach in Phuket without even thinking about a tsunami that happened almost 10 years ago.

I could enjoy Phuket like that but for some reason not Khao Lak.

[Jimi007]

I enjoyed the movie. Do I need to feel guilty about that? I don't think so.

I am glad that I am so shallow. I can enjoy a day at the beach in Phuket without even thinking about a tsunami that happened almost 10 years ago.

Funny, every time I go to Ya Nui beach, I look over at the plaque on the cliff dedicated to those who died there... But I still enjoy the beaches around my part of the island...

[JetsetBkk]

I enjoyed the movie. Do I need to feel guilty about that? I don't think so.

I am glad that I am so shallow. I can enjoy a day at the beach in Phuket without even thinking about a tsunami that happened almost 10 years ago.

Funny, every time I go to Ya Nui beach, I look over at the plaque on the cliff dedicated to those who died there... But I still enjoy the beaches around my part of the island...

It took them long enough to demolish that empty shell of a building at Ya Nui.

I won't go and see the film, but I'll probably download it when it's available. I'll have a quiet blubber on my own rather than do it in public.

[homeownership]

the story needs to be told................

Me and my Wife, were eating breakfast at the Amari in Patong Beach at 9am. I was particulary annoyed with the amount of effort required to obtain such a small amount of meat from the streaky bacon.

Contrary to popular belief there was no screaming, the tide went out and I heard a waiter say to another guest, winter low tide, when it comes back it, the surfers from Austrailia will be out.

An hour later the water came back and didnt stop at the shoreline, it kept coming in, spilling over every obstacle and taken it away with it deeper into land.

If you kow where the Amari is, then you know it is on a hill, no-one at the hotel died on the premises but plenty of guests did not return. Suitcases left abandoned.

By the time, anyone knew what was happening the bodies were floating bloated in the water, some were missing limbs, Thais, French, British who cares, these were human beings.

While in Thailand, I felt nothing, I was numb, it wasnt until I got to "UK border" at Manchester Airport and a immigration officer asked me where I had come from and then she asked was I alright, did I just break down and cry (in front of everyone).

For months I felt guilty that I had survived unscathed, while people who were on my flight and stayed at my hotel, eaten at the same restuarant as me died. It made me feel like I had been left behind and it took a long time to set those feeling aside.

Now they make film about it, like its entertainment.

If only you could see what I have seen with my own eyes, you would not be saying a story needs to be told, you would supress the memories and bury them deep inside you.

No doubt, the Thais wont benefit much from this blockbuster as per usual.

[2unique]

Had I not been traditionally drunk on Xmas day and had our travel agent been less conniving we would have been on Patong Beach instead of at breakfast (also with streaky bacon) in Karon. The water stopped 100 metres away and the first we knew of the Tsunami were the hordes of bloodied people streaming past the windows heading up into the hills.

Later that evening we drove into Patong and took photos of the hotel we had booked - it looked worse than the one in the movie - obliterated by sand and cars smashed through the 2nd floor walls/windows.

That night we watched football as usual, had beers as usual and it wasn't until back in Bangkok we were able to take stock of our missing friends and colleagues - so i was completely unprepared for the strong feelings the movie invoked in me. The memories of the looting, the angry locals blaming us, the waiting in the hills, the lack of Phuket to Phuket phone calls and the general feeling of despair, desperation and survivor's guilt had all been buried deep I guess and I wish I'd watched the movie with mates and booze rather than alone with those thoughts/feelings...

[Jingthing]

It's not promoted as a documentary. I think there are documentaries on the topic. People who for very good reasons don't want to watch an entertainment vehicle about this topic just shouldn't view it.