Ron Howard talks about the miraculous rescue of ‘Thirteen Lives’

A rescue operation that seemed like a miracle: 13 boys, including 12 between 11 and 16 years, plus their 25-year-old assistant football coach, extracted alive in 2018 in Thailand after more than 17 days in a trap, in the depths of the largely flooded cave of Tham Luang, with water continuing to rise and oxygen continuing to descend. An extraordinary true story that Ron Howard, in Thirteen Lives, retraces with a film, arriving from 5/8 on Prime Video, full of pathos, underwater scenes and very scrupulous in reconstructing the facts. The incident four years ago captured worldwide media attention and involved alongside Thai Navy Seals teams (who recorded two deaths, one during the days of the rescue and one shortly after, due to a blood infection. contracted in the days of the operation) also 10 thousand volunteers, who arrived from all over Thailand and various other countries. Highlights include British underwater rescue specialists Richard Stanton (Viggo Mortensen in his first career role as a royal character), and John Volanthen (Colin Farrell). The film in over 2 hours, without a moment of slowing of the rhythm in the rigorous story, alternates tones of action and drama in bringing back to those days. From the choice of the boys to go for a ride in the cave, just before the birthday party of one of them, to the torrential rains that almost overwhelm the cave and the alarm raised by the parents. The rescue operation is immediately triggered, but the unknowns prevail on how to proceed to reach the boys (who will turn out to be 2 km and a half from the entrance of the cave), with whom there is no contact and who are feared to be already dead. The two English divers will be among the first to reach, after a long diving journey, the group that, despite the lack of food and little hope, supported itself by relying on team spirit and a deep spirituality. Stanton and Volanthen also help direct the rescue operations, thanks to the help of anesthetist Richard Harris (Joel Edgerton), given the lack of other ways out, in extracting them in a state of sedation in the underwater path. The cast that brings the story to life also includes Tom Bateman, Paul Gleeson, Pattrakorn Tungsupakul, Tui Thiraphat Sajakul, James Teeradon Supapunpinyo, Sahajak Boonthanakit and Weir Sukollawat Kanarot. “This story is full of suspense, mystery, and full of dangers – explains Howard in the production notes -. Not just a physical danger, but also an emotional danger. What does it mean to take a misstep? What does it take to rescue? What price do you pay to try to reach the kids? In making films based on real events, including Apollo 13, I have found that audiences are fascinated by the details. ” As we spent time with some of the protagonists, such as Rick Stanton, John Volanthen, and Dr. Harris, “we kept gathering information and discovering things that could very easily have gone wrong.” The story in Howard’s gaze combines the ‘action’ dimension linked to the rescue operations (told with great truthfulness especially in the almost impossible diving conditions of the rescuers), to the more personal one, including doubts and anxieties of the rescue team, of the trapped boys and their families. Howard also wanted to highlight how, beyond the help arrived from abroad, “it was Thais who saved these young people – adds the director -. The community in Thailand, through various forms of intervention (from Naxy Seals to the arrival of engineers who found ways to relieve the water pressure in the cave, ed) allowed to keep the boys alive and to bring them to safety. This is why in my mind I felt a real sense of responsibility towards the Thais and their culture ” .