Whether or not you like The 33 may depend upon how familiar you are with the true story of the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped for 69 days following a cave-in in 2010. It would be difficult not to be familiar with the story since it occupied the world’s attention as daily reports from the site became a media sensation. There’s no way any movie could match the live drama as the event actually unfolded.
If you’re a news junkie who’s very familiar with the story, I think you’d be disappointed by The 33. You’d probably want to see it to relive the tragedy and ultimate triumph. However, its emotional ups and downs would be like TV reruns or a superfluous movie remake. It would need to deviate further from the facts and add more fiction to make you happy, because you’d simply want to see more than what you already have.
I’m not a news junkie and don’t get obsessed with Bronco chases or sensationalistic court trials. But somehow, perhaps by osmosis, I knew enough about this story that the movie didn’t provide much education. I took it as disaster movie-lite, with its minimal introduction of fairly stereotypical characters and an obligatory warning to “the corporation” from the concerned foreman, Don Lucho (Lou Diamond Phillips).
The 33 probably best serves an audience that was living in a cave for longer than 69 days around August 5, 2010. If you didn’t know the devotion with which the families camped outside the site of the disaster and demanded answers from the government, you’d find it compelling. If you didn’t know everyone was going to survive, you’d find it suspenseful. If you didn’t know Juliette Binoche was French, you’d be surprised.
Maybe it’s simply too soon; it’s been only five years since the accident. What a dilemma this must have been for Hollywood, to crank out the movie before the expiration of America’s notoriously short attention span yet after a respectful passing of time. I’d say they jumped the gun a bit. The screenplay by several writers is based on the book, “Deep Down Dark,” by Hector Tobar.
The survivors collectively contracted Tobar to write their story so that no one miner would profit from the experience. In a scene from the movie, de facto leader Mario Sepulveda (Antonio Banderas) turns down a book offer to calm the tempers of his friends. This action didn’t seem genuine to me, but it sounds like it might be what really happened.
Or, perhaps more likely, it was a scene written to dramatically represent the ultimate decision of the group, something that may not have happened during their ordeal. That, in turn, would explain the lack of authenticity that emanates from the movie. Directed by Patricia Riggen, I can’t say The 33 is a disappointment for me, but neither is it a surprise. If you’re more or less a news junkie than me, perhaps it will be one of those things for you.
