The 33

November 10, 20156 min

“That’s not a rock, that’s the heart of the mountain, she finally broke.”
In 2010 the world’s attention turned to the nation of Chile after a mining accident. Whenever there is a great disaster, the world always seems to come together. Five years later the event is coming to a theater near you, but how will it make you feel now?

When it comes to these stories of survival, it is not about one emotion you are going to feel, but many. It’s just another August day for the miners going deep in the bottom of the earth. The signs are there that the mountain is shifting, but work calls and the men must do their job. It doesn’t take long after they arrive at their destination some 2,300 feet below ground, for things to go wrong. Soon the heart of the mountain is caving in on them, and thanks to some smart thinking, they go down, down deeper into the mountain to escape the disaster. The men find themselves in the mine’s refuge, all who were able to make it, an amount that totals to Thirty-Three. It doesn’t take long for the direness of their situation to set in, as the men have to figure out how to make three weeks worth of food last until they are rescued. At first panic sets in, but it as it sometimes does it takes one man to lead, and when others doubted their rescues, he must also keep moral high. Soon the world is watching and helping as everyone wants to see the thirty-three make it out alive, something that takes sixty-nine days to happen.

Some stories just make for a good movie, and this story is one of those. With a roller coaster of emotion, and the knot you get in your stomach as you watch the events unfold before your eyes. A trio of writers, Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten, and Michael Thomas wrote the script, which was adapted from the novel “Deep Dark Down” by Hector Tobar. While the story wrote itself from the events that happened, the writers added that “Hollywood” factor that they think movies like these need. I am of course referring to that heightened sense of human emotion, so that you slightly more manipulated into feeling as you watch the film.

The cast is lead by Antonio Banderas, who gives a moving performance as the man who is put in the position to be the leader of the group while they are trapped. He is joined by Rodrigo Santoro, Lou Diamond Phillips, Juliette Binoche, and James Brolin, who are among the countless others who bring those miners to life for you. Director Patricia Riggen (Girl in Progress) does what is required in a true-life tale and lets the story be the star of the film. “The 33” is a moving film that shows the power of human survival and that we are capable of some pretty incredible things. It’s hard not to feel something as you watch the events of those sixty-nine days unfold. This story was everywhere five years ago, so you might know it, but the feeling you will get while watching this, an albeit glossy glimpse into the terror miners and their families can be faced with everyday, there is also the reminder of the will of the human spirit.

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