The 33

One of the most difficult tasks for a filmmaker is to take a story where everyone knows the ending (or at least should know the ending) and retell it in a way that puts the resolution in doubt again. Steven Spielberg did exactly that in the fact-based Cold War film “Bridge of Spies,” and now Mexican director Patricia Riggen does something similar with a fact-based story from rather recently.

Glenn Kenny said in his review, ““The 33” is a technically impressive simulation of the mine collapse and rescue in Chile in 2010, a cataclysmic event that saw 33 miners trapped underground for a stupefying-seeming 69 days. Their plight became an international cause during that period, and their incredibly improbable rescue was a “whole world is watching” moment on a par with the first moon landing. The movie throws together an international cast that may on first glance strike the movie-savvy viewer as improbable as well: while the English-language production features Antonio Banderas and Lou Diamond Phillips, two actors with obvious Latino bonafides in several departments, in key leading roles, it also has French actor Juliette Binoche and Irish actor Gabriel Byrne in prominent parts, both playing Chileans. It’s a testament to director Riggen’s skill with actors that she makes the ensemble a seamless one. Unless your objections to casting against conventional type are violent ones, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

A little problem comes at the start of the film, as the main characters are introduced in a party scene. One is an elderly miner who’s retiring. Another is an experienced fellow who’s asking his friend and boss for an extra shift on a day he’s supposed to have off. Another is a younger miner who’s about to become a father and who’s looking into getting out of the mining job because of that. Kenny noted, “All three of these cases, of course, add to the “what incredible irony” quotient when a chunk of rock two times the mass of the Empire State Building trap them almost 2,000 feet underground, with only three days’ worth of food and water rations in the refuge area where the miners roost.”

It's in the end result of the disaster that the movie builds up the suspense and claustrophobia. The story pulls between the mine and surface land. Below, the miners judge their situation and determine how desperate they are to get out. Kenny said, “Above, miners’ families—including Binoche’s Maria, the guilt-ridden sister of a drunkard miner, one pregnant wife, and the competing wife and mistress of one sheepishly rakish worker—demand answers and action.” The Chilean government, in the person of a green and serious minister played by Rodrigo Santoro steps in. Gabriel Byrne’s tough mining engineer thinks the miners are all but dead, and his interactions with Santoro’s character do a good job with explaining just why the chances for a rescue were at first around one percent.

The resulting action shows how the odds increased. Kenny said, “There are a lot of characterizations, and a few character arcs, that the movie takes on, and Riggen doesn’t mind having to do sketches—a more thorough movie would have been, well a mini-series.” However, it’s a real success that she keeps the action clear throughout, and show shows likable daring at times. The awaiting starvation of the miners results in a hallucination dinner scene that’s very daring, and actually funny. Leading the underground moments are the performances of Banderas and Phillips. Banderas is reliably fascinating, while Phillips gives so many reminders of what a delicate and effective actor he can be. Kenny said, “This unabashedly crowd-pleasing movie gets to its uplifting but also somewhat disquieting conclusion and coda (which, as is the custom these days, introduces the audience to the real-life miners) with its integrity intact.” As such, “The 33,” released in 2015, is a really nice surprise, and in more than one way.

In all honesty, I had no idea about this news of the miners trapped in Chile until this movie came out. I don’t really watch or read news, unless I’m watching comedy news, but this was a really nice movie about something I never knew before. Thank you to this film for bringing it to my attention because I think this was really nice. Check it out and see for yourself how nice of a film was made.

Thank you everyone for joining in on “Lou Diamond Phillips Month.” I hope all of you enjoyed it, as I mostly did films that were about real events. Maybe he does that a lot, but I don’t know, since I have not seen a lot of his films. Hopefully people have seen his films that I have recommended.

Look out next month to see what I will end this year off with.