In 2018, Oscar-winning director Ron Howard, like millions around the world, watched media coverage of the 18-day search and rescue operation to save 12 members of a Thai youth soccer team and their trainer who were trapped deep in the Tham Luang. Nang Non cave system amid rising floods.
“The headlines offer a great cinematic story,” the famous 68-year-old director told The Christian Post. “I thought there was great drama in that big cliffhanger and that I can make a real movie out of the adventure side.”
Several years after that harrowing event, Howard received a script for the story, and was fascinated by the human interest aspect of it; the volunteerism of the Thai people, the bravery of the divers who rescued the team, and the spirituality that gave both the soccer team and their parents peace throughout the ordeal.
“That was an important element that I didn’t know much about, but I felt it was emotional and very, very beautiful and cinematic and completely true,” Howard said.
So in bringing the story to the big screen, the director of “Beautiful Mind” took care not only to tell it accurately, but also to capture as much detail as possible to honor rescuers and impress audiences just how extraordinary and complex it was really the operation. .
And true to the timeline of events, Howard’s latest film, “Thirteen Lives,” opens on June 23, 2018, when the boys of the Wild Boars football team, ages 11 to 16, they were stranded in treacherous caves during a monsoon. that came without warning.
When it becomes clear that the rescue efforts will require more than just locals, veterans of the British armed forces enlist to help: Rick Stanton (Viggo Mortensen), a 60-year-old retired diver; his partner, John Volanthen (Colin Farrell); Dr. Richard Harris (Joel Edgarton), a diver and anesthesiologist; and Chris Jewell (Tom Bateman), who comes up with a risky plan to rescue the team.
In all, 17 Navy SEALs were enlisted for the effort. Although divers successfully rescued all 13, one Thai diver died and another succumbed a year later to a blood infection.
Trapped in the cave for more than a week with little oxygen and limited food and water, the boys were weak and unable to dive, complicating the rescue process.
Filmed in Thailand and Australia, the filmmakers capture the narrow passages of the cave system, some as small as 3 feet wide and 2 feet high, the treacherous currents, and the murky water that posed a risk to divers trying to take the children to a safe place. .
Bateman said it was a challenge to bring the claustrophobic underwater scenes to life. Before filming began, he recalled Howard telling him, “This is going to be a tough shoot; working underwater is going to be slow, it’s going to be risky. They’re going to keep us very, very safe, but it’s like the stakes are high.” It’s very difficult to film there.”
Bateman and the other actors underwent extensive training to bring their characters to life, giving him great respect for the real-life divers behind the rescue.
“I never felt like I wasn’t taken care of after being trained by some of the most incredible people, but it was really hard,” the actor said. “We were trying to emulate something that no one else on the planet can do other than this small group of amazing men… We were very lucky to be so supportive… we were in the best possible hands, but it was a challenge.”
Howard ensures that viewers connect emotionally with everyone involved in the rescue.
The film shows how, for Volanthen, the rescue was personal because she had a son close to the age of the missing children.
Still, Farrell said that in bringing his character to the big screen, while it was necessary to show “certain psychological and emotional things and concerns” that the diver experienced, he wanted to highlight Volanthen’s professionalism and dedication to the rescue efforts.
“There’s a sense of measure to these men; it’s not that they don’t feel as deeply as you or I or anyone else who is screaming, crying, laughing, but they have a sense of balance and control. That allows them to do what they do.” and to have accomplished what they accomplished throughout the 17 days of the rescue. That was amazing. It was really about serving the event,” he said.
Outside the cave, the authorities grapple with the political issues underlying the boys’ rescue. Three members of the soccer team and their 25-year-old assistant coach were stateless, meaning they lived in Thailand without the same rights as citizens. Meanwhile, the area’s governor, Narongsak Osottanakorn (Sahajak Boonthanakit), is tasked with communicating with the frenzied public.
But the film focuses more on the bravery and collaboration of the children’s families and the locals. Knowing that their crops, their only source of income, will be destroyed, the villagers give the authorities permission to divert the water into the rice paddies, which helps save lives. meanwhile the children
Parents and family members pray tirelessly for the safety of the children and the divers.
“The only way that [los padres] they could help their children was by applying their spirituality in this way, because otherwise … it was like 18 days with their children in an operating room, and all they could do was stand in the waiting room,” Howard said. .
Religion is also very present in the cave. The children practice meditation while waiting for rescue. Although most of the children and their families practiced a form of animism, one athlete, Adul “Adun” Samon, was a devout Christian.
The film captures the pivotal moment when, after nine days of searching, Stanton and Volanthen watch the children slowly emerge from a dark corner of the cave.
“How many of you?” Volanthen yelled. “Thirteen?”
“Thirteen,” Adul confirmed.
Adul then shared how his faith sustained him through the harrowing experience, emphasizing that “help came from God during the most difficult time.”
Raymond Phathanavirangoon, who co-produced the film, told CP that it was essential for the filmmakers to highlight Adul’s Christian faith.
“We made sure that actually, even in our notes, it’s Christian, so it’s a little bit different from the others,” Pathnavirangoon said. “So even though he’s meditating with the others, we’ve always known, because his parents had to be Christians too, they don’t realize the details, but there was a cross on one of the parents… We really, really made sure that level of precision when we’re making the movie, because it’s based on real kids.”
Farrell said the faith and collaboration of the Thai people impacted the rescue and the morale of all involved.
“I always felt like I was close to my fellow actors and the other characters, and there was a lot to watching the guy [de] people… and being moved by their resilience, by their faith and by their prayer… all these extensions of faith and extensions of goodwill in the midst of this panic,” he said. “I wasn’t willing to do anything and I wasn’t trying to to impose my will on the scene or anything; I was just kindly responding to all the beautiful things happening around me.”
For Howard, the Thai cave rescue is more than a story of victory over the odds; it is a story of heroism, faith and, most incredibly, global collaboration.
When speaking with some of the real-life Western divers behind the rescue, Howard said they reflected on the spiritual impact of the event.
“Some of them told me that when it was over, they had felt the kind of spiritual atmosphere and the impact of that energy on everyone and possibly even the result,” he said.
“Thirteen Lives” is rated PG-13 for its strong language and disturbing imagery. The film opened in theaters on July 29 and begins streaming on Amazon Prime on August 5.