The Impossible is 'beautifully accurate', writes tsunami survivor

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2013/jan/04/the-impossible-beautifully-accurate-film

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<em>Simon Jenkins, 24, is from Portsmouth, works as a social media specialist at Red Rocket Media, and posts on Twitter as @simonjenkins09. He was present in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, his experiences mirroring those portrayed in the film The Impossible. When the Guardian's David Cox wrote about the film this week, highlighting its "whitewashing" of events (as did Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History blog), Simon took issue with some of the points raised, posting them in this comment. We asked him to expand.</em>

I must admit that when I heard a film about the Asian tsunami was being made, I was hesitant about going to see it.

I was on holiday in Khao Lak, Thailand, in 2004 with a group of friends and their families staying in some shoreline villas. When the first wave struck on Boxing Day, I was little more than 20 metres from the sea and was rapidly swept inland, propelled by the force and strength of the water.

My girlfriend and I decided to go and see the film on its release date. Since the tsunami, I've never been hesitant to talk about it, or describe it to someone who asks, and was not therefore worried that it would unearth some suppressed memories. I had no real expectations about the film, but walked out of the cinema with an overriding sense of satisfaction.

I was so pleased that The Impossible had been made. The story depicted in the movie was incredibly similar to my own. Both myself and the characters in The Impossible (based on Maria Belon and her family) were on the same beach and ended up in the same hospital (alongside many other, smaller similarities that I won't go into now). Furthermore, the detail portrayed throughout the entire film was simply mind-blowing, even down to the chairs used in the hospital scenes.

Those close to me will know that I've never been one to reflect or reminisce over the events of 2004. Not for any emotional reasons – purely because for me (and this is very personal) nothing can be achieved from clinging on to these thoughts.

I immediately took to social networking sites and began engaging with the film's director, JA Bayona, and various members of his crew. I just wanted to give thanks. Had I seen the film and thought: "It wasn't like that at all," I wouldn't have acted. As a result of these conversations, I began reading various reviews and opinion pieces online.

As I must reiterate, I've never been the sort of person to revisit and analyse events of the past, but some of these articles frustrated me. Had this film been purely about the tale of a western middle-class family's "ruined" holiday then I would have agreed. For me, it was the exact opposite. Rather than concentrating on the "privileged white visitors", the film portrayed the profound sense of community and unity that I experienced in Thailand, with this family at the centre of it.

Both for my (then) 16-year-old self and the Belon family, it was the Thai people who waded through the settled water after the first wave had struck to help individuals and families. There is immense subtext that goes with this. The Thai people had just lost everything – homes, businesses, families – yet their instinct was to help the tourists. This sentiment was also shown in the hospital, wherein about 60% of the film is based. The portrayal of the medical staff at Takua Pa hospital was also amazingly accurate. Their reactions to the event saved thousands of lives, including several of my friends' and my own.

Aside from the native people of Thailand, The Impossible also showed how other communities came together in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. There are several wonderfully poignant instances throughout. I won't ruin these precious moments of the film.

To put it bluntly, my parents (back in the UK) began to assume I was dead after footage emerging from south-east Asia began to show the true devastation of the natural disaster. It was not until I asked a man from Belgium if I could borrow his phone that my parents realised I was OK. These gestures, both in real life and in the film, may appear small to the viewer – but they should not be overlooked. Indeed, Bayona and his crew realised the true significance of these seemingly small gestures.

I emailed the cast and crew of The Impossible earlier this week, thanking them for making such a beautifully accurate film. This should never be a case of race; it is a case of sensitively retelling one story from a disaster.