Somebody help me, I’m so lost. The only thing I’m sure of is that this is Chile in 2010. A 121 year old copper-gold mine has just collapsed. There are about 33 people trapped in the mine and I’m pretty sure that Spanish is their preferred language. Yet everybody is speaking perfect English albeit with accents. Even worse, it’s not a dub. Everybody is literally speaking English and it matches the movement of their lips. This is the trailer for The 33.
Based on the 2010 Copiapó mining accident, this film is directed by Patricia Riggen. It stars Antonio Banderas and Lou Diamond Philips as two of the miners you may actually notice. It’s a band of brothers sensationalist piece. 33 miners get trapped together and go through a myriad of emotions. The outside world, moved to action, starts a worldwide collaboration to save these men. All this happens while the families pray and wish for their safe return. By the end, you’ll probably get a huge sign that reads “Misión cumplida Chile”.
Alright, let’s just get at the heart of why it’ll be hard to view this movie as genuine. They speak English when they should be speaking Spanish. From a marketplace standpoint, this makes sense because it would want to sell tickets in the U.S. On the other side, it completely takes away any integrity or credibility I would have for it. It’s telling you, the audience, that you are a child that needs their hand held. They’re accommodating you and sacrificing integrity because there is no faith that you will enjoy the film based on its own merits. And that says very much about its worth as a film.
I think a key detail many people lack perception in is that a film should tell a good story. The most memorable stories never relied on accommodating audiences. Instead, the best films always sought to challenge people by not giving ‘a damn.’ It’s not even that foreign movies are box office poison either. Just look at the success of Spanish speaking films like Pan’s Labyrinth with its Oscar wins and high metacritic score. Even worse is that it dishonors the miners by offering a lazy imitation of their ordeal. It’s 2015, watching a film in Spanish shouldn’t be a big deal especially with subtitles available. Additionally, everyone should read more.
Another thing that bugs me are the options they refused to use like creating a U.S. version of the events. The whole accident had a worldwide collaboration which included NASA offering their expertise. The movie could go worldwide with a strong tether to the U.S., but then again this is all conjecture. I feel that there were multiple ways to go about making this kind of movie but they made a bad choice. Still, I must admit this is my opinion and would love to hear more thoughts other than my own.
You can expect this movie to come out 2015. There are no hard dates yet.
Tell us what you think! We want to know!
(top image source: Warner Bros.)
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.