Yesterday, Aki asked me if I was free and if I wanted to watch 'The Impossible'. I went. I knew Naomi Watts was nominated for her performance in this movie in the Oscars and know that 'The Impossible' is based on the story of a Spanish family surviving during the 2004 tsunami - a true story. I don't usually watch disaster movies and this is my second about tsunami, the first was Tidal Wave (Haeundae) the Korean film. This film is an English-language Spanish film so the characters names were changed a bit.

The acting by the lead casts (and even supporting roles) were soooo good! I mean, I don't feel anything was dramatised and I felt like I could picture it happening to victims back in 2004. There are so many memorable scenes in the movie and the scripting's pretty good too.

I LOVE Naomi Watts' performance as Maria Bennett,  both as mother and wife. She was really convincing. Pain was written all over her face. Tom Holland as Lucas also rose up to the occasion. I understand this is his debut in film. So, wow I'm really impressed. Even the little two boys' (Simon's and Thomas') acting were impressive. Ewan McGregor was almost missing in the first half of the film but made enough impact during the second half of the movie. Ahh, the whole family had a great chemistry with one another which made the film really watchable.

Anyway, this is not a movie for the weak-hearted. There were a few times I wanted to cry and just jump off the chair because the agony was so intense! : (

The film is disturbing in a way because this is just a film yet it did really happen before. And not many survived. For those who survived, I don't know how they lived. The post-traumatic stress must have been very damaging to their emotional well-being.

Since this is based on a true story, I Googled Maria Belon. You can read about her story (here). I think to go through such an ordeal must have been tough. But through it all, I think she was very blessed to have survived and still have a family together. I cannot imagine how is it like to lose all your loved ones and be left all alone by yourself :'( And yet, there are many out there who had lost their family as the tsunami robbed 230,000 people's lives. I shall end here with a quote from Maria Belon herself:

I was always afraid of things. The tsunami was an incredible gift. I embrace life. My whole life is extra time.