Ron Howard, who I consider to be a sort of clearance-sale-Steven Spielberg both in execution and talent, is a filmmaker who passably turns good stories into good movies. You can’t expect him to turn trash like Hillbilly Elegy into anything worth spending your time on, but for films like Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon, Willow, and Rush, he’s a streamlined choice who follows all the golden rules of Hollywood filmmaking. This comes to fruition yet again in Thirteen Lives, a movie about the recent Thai cave rescue of a soccer team from in Chang Mai. A story that captured national news attention and has pre-baked stakes in its story arc is the perfect type of low-risk endeavor that Hollywood can turn to Ron Howard to make movie magic out of.
Cultural Conflict
The film begins with a soccer match after which the team ends up going into Tham Luang cave, underneath the Doi Nang Non-mountains which are supposed to, by legend, be the natural manifestation of a legendary princess. The spiritual connection of Thai Buddhism, ancient folklore, and cultural beliefs are a thread throughout the film that comes into conflict with the steadfast “practicality” of the divers who attempt to save the soccer team. One of the key issues of the whole ordeal that the film tends to get right, and serves as an illuminating counter to the by-the-numbers rescue plot-line (which is also lacking in suspense because if you read the news, you know what happened), is that the rescuers predominantly come from the Western world. The cultural clash inherent in the story aptly highlights the ways in which different cultures shape narratives differently.
Stunning Camerawork and Emotionally Rich Acting
Richard Stanton and Johnathan Volanten feel like fish out of water in Thailand, being called in as “amateur” (but not really amateur) cave divers to help with the rescue. Stanton is automatically suspicious and dismissive of Thai cultural beliefs – the Buddhist monk blessings, the sacred threads, the holy princess, the spiritual fatalism of the soccer team’s predicament. He is there for the practical purpose of figuring out the best way to rescue the kids and the soccer coach. Viggo Mortensen is great in the role of Stanton. He’s stoic, rigid, and comes off with a strong mix of distant empathy and pragmatism. Colin Ferrell serves as his counter in the role of Volanten, contemplative, affectionate, and emotional. Among the Thai actors, Pattarakorn Tangsupakul is wonderful as Buahom, the grieving mother of Chai, one of the younger soccer players. Teerapat Sajakul as Captain Anand also gives a great performance, mediating between the British rescuers and his Thai divers.
As many have already noted, one of the stars of the show in this film are the kids on the soccer team, who display a perfect balance of hope and fear, their presence in the film perfectly encapsulating the unimaginable misfortune befalling them. When it’s determined the only way to get them out would be to sedate them, things really start kicking into high-gear. The film’s cave sequences are carried on the incredible shots by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom captured in 4K digital with great textures, and a keep sense of geography within the cave but also keeping things disorienting to increase tension. The rescue sequences keep the tension high, keeping the camera at water-level and close-up on the characters, focusing on the mouth and eyes – breathing and consciousness are constantly dangling in the balance.
Conclusion:
Mukdeeprom is a fascinating partner for Ron Howard as a DP. Their work on this film mirrors the spirituality and practicality that are at odds with each in the movie’s narrative. Howard’s direction is akin to a mechanic, making sure everything is working properly but not pushing for any bells and whistles. He isn’t a filmmaker who really has any signature, he’s just there to get the story told in the most practical way possible. Mukdeeprom, a cinematographer who has worked almost exclusively with Apichatpong Weerasethakul, one of the foremost cinematic visionaries of this century, adds the sort of flair that Howard usually shies away from. Together, Mukdeeprom and Howard make Thirteen Lives an entertaining and emotional translation of a major news event that captured the world.
Thirteen Lives was released in theaters and for streaming on Amazon Prime on July 29th, 2022.
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