On June 23, 2018 the heart of the world stopped. All eyes turned to the Tham Luang Nang No cave in northern Thailand: 12 children and their coach were trapped in it after a storm that flooded it, preventing their exit. Their lives hung by a slight thread that was sustained by the hope of millions of people. In the film 13 lives, Ron Howard recreates the agonizing and harrowing rescue of those boys with Viggo Mortensen (Falling, The Lord of the Rings) Y Colin Farrell (Hiding in Bruges, Alexander the Great) who will play the leading cave divers of the rescue. The screenplay is by William Nicholson, the novelist and playwright responsible for Gladiator Y Knight Fateamong other.
For a few days the world put aside its differences to be aware of those boys, locked in a cold dark cave, without food or shelter. There was little to no chance of survival, but still, everything humanly possible was done. This is his story. Premiering on Prime Video on August 5 of 2022. You can read HERE another review made by Cinematopsail of this movie.
Review of ‘Thirteen Lives’
Data sheet
Title: thirteen lives
Original title: Thirteen Lives
Distribution:
Viggo Mortensen (Rick Stanton)
Colin Farrell (John Volanthen)
Joel Edgerton (harry harris)
Paul Gleeson (Jason Mallinson)
Tom Bateman (Chris Jewel)
Year: 2022
Duration: 142min
Country: United Kingdom
Address: Ron Howard
Script: William Nicholson
Music: Benjamin Wallfisch
Photography: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
Gender: Drama
Distribution: Amazon Prime Video
Trailer for ‘Thirteen Lives’
Synopsis for “Thirteen Lives”
the cave of Tham Luang Nang No, located in the north of Thailand is not just any cave. It is part of a 10-kilometre underground system full of labyrinths made up of narrow rooms full of stalagmites and stalactites, winding corridors and dead ends, and which is flooded during the monsoon season.
Nevertheless, that fateful June 23, 2018, there were no signs of a storm that hinted at rain, and the cavern didn’t seem dangerous, just a cool, adventurous place to explore. Those twelve boys from a soccer team and their coach came in for a fun afternoon. No one imagined that tragedy would take place that day.
The storm raged outside with enormous force and before they knew it, the water had completely flooded the cave.
They couldn’t go out or communicate with anyone.
Caught up
The rescue operation quickly formed. The news jumped to the rotary presses of all the world news. Several countries and many volunteers offered their help. This story is also a set of figures and a unique example of global solidarity.
10000 participated people in the uncertain rescue.
17 countries
18 divers among the most experienced in the world.
10 helicopters
700 diving cylinders
One billion liters of water were evacuated from the cave and a large number were diverted from the mountain
Dozens of farmers lost their crops due to diverted or evacuated water.
million prayers they rose in a single cry.
Hundreds of ideas were weighed.
13 lives is a film that tells this and much more.
A risky bet in Thirteen Lives
In 13 livesits manager, RonHoward, has faced the challenge of recreate a real event that shocked the world and that many of us still keep in our retinas, and we even know the outcome. To the challenge of transferring to the screen an agonizing situation that brought together the efforts of thousands of people and the anguish of millions of viewers. To the challenge of reproducing a titanic rescue in a cave several kilometers long, completely flooded, dark, with hellishly narrow passageways that barely fit a person. To the danger and the difficulty of recording in these conditions.
Without falling into tabloid or morbidhas reflected in a sober and forceful way the chronicle of survival and the generous and voluntary rescue action, emphasizing the spirituality of the thai peoplewithout forgetting the intricate paths of the bureaucracy and the political classes, the same in all parts of the world.
In the realism that emanates from the film, it is clear that there is a great documentation work behind it. Howard spoke with the protagonists of the rescue operation: the divers, the volunteer engineer who was in charge of evacuating the water from the mountain and with several of the many people who participated. The actors, Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell and other cast members also spoke with them to find out what really happened. His story captivated them.
All this results in the spectacular result of the film. 13 lives. By showing us the initial planning of the rescue, we become accomplices. We want to help. Get into that black water. Save those children once and for all. Nothing is left to chance. The 142 minutes of footage are each and every one necessary and keep us in suspense until the last moment.
What it was not seen
The tremendous drama that these boys and their coach experienced could be approached from many points of view, since its edges are infinite.
The first, of course, It would be from the point of view of the boys, to see in detail how they coped with those terrible 16 days in which they were locked up without water, shelter, food or electricity.
another should be From the point of view of the parents, who settled at the foot of the cave, many already just waiting for the bodies of their children to be delivered to themyes
Another way of looking at the matter would be international and local cooperation to save the kids as it was.
And another point of view would be the planning of the rescue operation, which was the chosen option.
A film could be made that briefly touched on each aspect, or one that recounted only one of them and reflected all the difficulties and pitfalls that arose. And that is what Howard has done in this immersive production, focus exclusively on the bold and innovative rescue, in which nothing was spared and everything went wrong.
Underwater
That Ron Howard is good at disaster movies, we know. we already saw it in Apollo XIII. It seems that the number thirteen is very, very good.
The movie 13 lives gives prominence to the English rescuers Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, played by Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell, respectively. We all know them very well, they are both great actors, but this time, they go out. Literally. Sober and restrained, they are the true mainstay of the film.
And after seeing them, it is impossible to imagine any other actor playing those roles. Completely impossible.
As the footage progresses, more English rescuers join in, Mallinson (Paul Gleeson), C.hRis Jewel (Tom Bateman) and anesthesiologist, Harry Harris (Joel Edgerton) who add their personal touch and turn the focus on the final problem.
The professionalism with which all of them have adapted to an aquatic environment stands out, so that the one who had to renew his amateur diver card, and for which they were trained by professional divers, who at first would be the ones who would film most of the you take them But the actors said they would learn whatever it took and train whatever it took, but they wanted to be the ones shooting all the scenes. And so it was done.
the stage
With 13 lives This is a great film, both for the result and for the large cast. We have to keep in mind that at the mouth of the original cave, there were times when more than 500 people gathered, which caused the oxygen to drop to less than 15%. We also have the parents of the boys, the Thai SEALs, who mobilized their divers, the politicians on duty or the volunteers who diverted the water from the mountain with their hands. A complete blockbuster that deserves to have been released in the best theaters in the world, and not simply on an audiovisual platform.
Although the images of the cave have an impressive realism, we cannot ignore those of the base camp that was installed on the outskirts of the enclave, or the cultivated fields that were artificially flooded. Although, they are certainly not striking, there it does take us suddenly to the interior of Thailand, to its people. To his way of life and his deep religiosity and respect, keys in the resistance of the kids.
Conclusion of ‘Thirteen Lives’
A great and exciting film that reproduces with great accuracy the drama of an agonizing and uncertain rescue that shocked the entire world and opened the news for weeks. A drama that touched all hearts, and that moved media, operations and ideas, some more outlandish than others, in the midst of frustration at the impossibility of saving the boys.
He has managed to recreate all aspects of the rescue operation, without forgetting the importance of the faith and religiosity of the Thai people or the unique role that meditation, Guided by the boys’ coach, he took on the boys’ survival.
It’s harrowing, claustrophobic, immersive, exciting, hopeful, heartbreaking, moving.
13 lives It is a film that catches us from minute 1 to the end, no matter what you remember or know the story. It’s been a long time since any tape moved me this way. Highly recommended and educational. A song to the survival and unity of the countries for a cause that was worthwhile, and that shows, fortunately, that all is not lost.
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