Summit primes 'The Impossible' for awards season
Juan Antonio Bayona's tsunami drama will open on December 21
Naomi Watts in "The Impossible."
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We've had "The Impossible" -- a true-life survival drama set against the tragedy of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami -- in our Contenders section for a while now, though for whatever reason, it's been languishing in the lower reaches of our category lists. Perhaps it's the question mark of Spanish genre director Juan Antonio Bayona ("The Orphanage") handling his first English-language production. Perhaps it's that Naomi Watts, good actress though she is, has had such a tepid run of recent projects. Perhaps it's that the thought of a film on that tragedy, however indirectly, conjures traumatic memories of Clint Eastwood's "Hereafter."
Or perhaps the film is, as some advance word suggests, is really strong, and could benefit from lying low. Certainly, Summit Entertainment -- who steered "The Hurt Locker" to Oscar glory nearly three years ago -- have high hopes for the Spanish production, and have just positioned it as their prime awards pony with the announcement of a December 21 release date.
Now, as I was just writing, December releases have lately met with mixed fortunes in the Oscar derby, but it's sometimes the relatively unheralded sleepers -- as opposed to the hype-burdened juggernauts -- that benefit most from a late unveiling. If the film can avoid the cod-inspirational pitfalls of its premise -- and Bayona's certainly a counterintuitive name to be handling this premise -- there may be something here. (Less about the "journey to the core of the human heart," please.) Keep an eye on it.
From the press release:
THE IMPOSSIBLE will open on December 21, 2012 in New York and Los Angeles, from Summit Entertainment.
Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland
Director: J.A. Bayona
Screenwriter: Sergio G. Sánchez
Producers: Belén Atienza, Enrique López Lavigne, Álvaro
Production Companies: Apaches Entertainment, Telecinco Cinema
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Country of Origin: Spain
Synopsis:
From Summit Entertainment. A powerful story based on one family's survival of the 2004 tsunami, THE IMPOSSIBLE stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor and is directed by J.A. Bayona (THE ORPHANAGE). Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the center of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her. Based on a true story, THE IMPOSSIBLE is the unforgettable account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time. But the true-life terror is tempered by the unexpected displays of compassion, courage and simple kindness that Maria and her family encounter during the darkest hours of their lives. Both epic and intimate, devastating and uplifting, THE IMPOSSIBLE is a journey to the core of the human heart.
For more views on movies, awards season and other pursuits, follow @GuyLodge on Twitter.
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2012-2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup And Hairstyling
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Foreign Language Film
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Login or create a HitFix account Login Signupred_wine
July 19, 2012 at 1:11PM EST Reply to CommentThe trailer shows very strong imagery, destruction that would make even Roland Emmerich sit up and take note.
Though unfortunately the main tsunami sequence seems to resemble Hareafter's sequence which got an FX nom. But the trailer was promising and looked like a more sober take on the Hollywood destruction movie template.
red_wine *Hereafter
July 19, 2012 at 1:12PM ESTMykill I agree that the trailer indicated an incredible visual and audio design (effects, cinematography, and sound effects) that really makes the film seem like something that will LOOK good on the big screen. If it can maintain an interesting story that doesn't pander to treacly schmaltz then that will be another thing altogether. I'm definitely curious about the film since I loved the director's previous effort and I certainly do like both Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, so I will keep my fingers crossed that this film turns out well.
July 19, 2012 at 1:28PM ESTJonnybon
July 19, 2012 at 4:34PM EST Reply to CommentI would say War Horse and Extremely Loud only made the Best Picture cut because of their December release dates and the hype.
Jonnybon
July 20, 2012 at 5:45AM EST Reply to CommentA friend of mine who worked on this film just said it's one of the best he's ever seen, and he's a film buff and always impartial... so this is going straight into my list of frontrunners.
GlennAU
July 21, 2012 at 10:57PM EST Reply to Comment"Hereafter" is so bad, but this looks like it could be better. I mean, the tsunami sequence *was* the only good part of "Hereafter"...