‘The 33’ Adds Depth to the Trapped Miners of Chile

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly versionE-mail page to friendE-mail page to friendPDF versionPDF version
Average: 5 (1 vote)
HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – In the art of film, the best way to approach a based-on-truth story – where the outcome is well known – is to create a point-of-view vision for the narrative. The story of “The 33,” the trapped miners from Chile who were rescued with worldwide attention, is a prime example of that vision.

Director Patricia Riggen and the screenplay adapters – Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten and Michael Thomas – fashioned a timeline for the rescue events that added impact and interest, both down with the trapped miners and up on the surface. There are some clichés, but they exist to add to the story, and give some presence to the situation. Overall, the film is engaging, and very earnestly performed. Despite knowing the outcome, it still manages to provide a sense of what it was like, which is about as successful as this type of film can be.

At the outset in 2010, we are introduced to the group of 33 miners working on an old mountainous gold vein. There is the family man, the guy about to have a baby, the retiree, the alcoholic and the outsider – your basic movie mine crew. As they go deep underground, over a mile, the mine collapses. With no outside communications and only three days of food for 33 men, the situation looks hopeless.

The 33
Mario (Antonio Banderas, foreground) and the Miners of ‘The 33’
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

On the surface, the sister of the alcoholic, Maria (Juliette Binoche) is leading a group of family members demanding a rescue crew. This involves a Chilean bureaucrat (Rodrigo Santoro) and an expert engineer (Gabriel Byrne). Underground, the miners are losing hope, but a leader emerges named Mario (Antonio Banderas). At 17 days, they are found, but it will take another 50 days until they can begin to extract the 33.

Director Riggen mixes it up a bit, and that makes the whole process of the disaster and rescue more interactive. After the mine collapse, the earliest tense moments in tracking the miner’s realizations are the best moments – while they’re thinking no one is coming, on the surface there is a parallel connection with the decision making (apparently the usual choice is that it’s too prohibitive to even try). The food allocations get down to virtually nothing, the miners have a literal Last Supper.

The performances keep a grim situation balanced. In the mine, Banderas is a house-on-fire, making sure that the fellowship of the 33 remains intact. There are other Latin stars portraying the miners, including Lou Diamond Phillips and Oscar Nuñez from “The Office” (always in an ensemble). The French actress Juliette Binoche plays a Chilean goddess, is there anything she can’t do? And for American roughnecks, it doesn’t get any rougher than a tough-but-benign drill man played by James Brolin.

The way that Riggen broke up the story was delicate and intuitive, the film has her mark. There is a song performed in the middle of the film by one of the above ground family members that is full of emotion, even as it’s sung in Spanish. The rest of the sequences are stitched together in a easy-flow format. For a straight ahead tale with a ending most people know, there was a grace and honor to how it was presented, which allowed for some real feelings to emerge.

The 33
On the Surface: Rodrigo Santoro Represents the Chilean Government in ‘The 33’
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

It did have its laughable parts, especially at the beginning. The introduction of the miners were at a TV movie level, giving them each a distinctive characteristic as to keep tabs on them once they were trapped. Apparently there was a miner with a mistress and a wife who duked it out on the surface, and that played like a telenovela, which may have been the point. The ending – which I’m sure was difficult to decide on – was a bit abrupt, but there wasn’t too many options for concluding, when the conclusion had already occurred. The film, bottom line, is absorbing and passionate.

When James Brolin appeared, I couldn’t help but think of those 1970s TV movies which sort of ripped off the popular disaster films of the era. Brolin’s entry into that genre was “Trapped” (1973). But instead of a mine, it was a department store guarded by Doberman Pinschers. In retrospect, that would seem ironic, if only the concept of irony hadn’t long since been buried.

“The 33” opens everywhere on November 13th. Featuring Antonio Banderas, Lou Diamond Phillips, Juliette Binoche, James Brolin and Gabriel Byrne. Screenplay by Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten and Michael Thomas. Directed by Patricia Riggen. Rated “PG-13”

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Writer, Editorial Coordinator
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2015 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

User Login

Free Giveaway Mailing

TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • Manhunt

    CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

Advertisement



HollywoodChicago.com on Twitter

archive

HollywoodChicago.com Top Ten Discussions
referendum
tracker