Trzynastu

Frost/Nixon was no accident. When the formula (not Formula) suits Howard, he is able to evoke extraordinary emotion and, in this case and by his standards, pull dry-eyed out realism out of that formula. Strangely, he doesn’t violate the real story, which was brilliantly handled in the documentary The Rescue; on the contrary, he brings his film into harmony with it by likably incorporating the metaphysics of folk superstitions and the glorification of heroes whose partial autism becomes their greatest strength at a certain point. I found the motif of loneliness and isolation to be touching. In the end, the deepest cavern is Rick Stanton, played phenomenally by Viggo Mortensen. Give that man an Oscar already! (02.01.2023)

Factual, incisive and free from cheap pathos in the tense moments. Ron Howard looks at the event through an almost documentary form. You have a bunch of guys, specialist divers, who just do their job as best they can and you won't hear any affective shouting or see them grabbing their heads and shedding crocodile tears. I guess that's how real pros behave, and I like this filmmaker's non-Hollywood approach. Moreover, the film looks beautiful, with the camera playing with all the colours, the believable Thai realities, the ubiquitous rain and mud, the hundreds of tents, the people around the scene and the locals actually speaking Thai. The cave scenes will make claustrophobics wet themselves at night for six months after watching it, you won't be able to tell what is a studio, a substitute and what is a real cave, simply excellent. And in the second half it's exciting as hell, even if you know beforehand how it's going to turn out. This should have been in the cinemas. (17.09.2022)

Another big hit from Ron Howard (Rush, In the Heart of the Sea, Solo). He chose a very strong subject that deserved to be made without question. I wanted to watch the documentary a week ago and I'm glad the time didn't work out as the experience wouldn't have been as intense. The film is set in Thailand and describes one crazy rescue mission where 12 boys and their teacher get stuck in a cave that is slowly flooding due to torrential rains. The best divers from around the world are called in to come to the rescue, and they are Colln Farrell and Viggo Mortensen, both of whom are great as always. The film has a decent pace, it speeds up practically from the beginning and doesn't let the viewer breathe until the end. There is one complication after another, time is running out and the fact that it really happened only accentuates the whole crazy situation. The underwater shots in the cave with the divers are excellent, they are very suspenseful, and the claustrophobic atmosphere in the cramped cave space works perfectly, An intense survival drama based on true events that has all the ingredients to be a quality film. Howard gambled on a sure thing and it paid off. In many moments the film evoked the series Chernobyl for me. Story 5/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 2/5, Fun 4/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 5/5, Suspense 5/5, Emotion 4/5, Actors 4/5. 8/10 (08.08.2022)

Last year's The Rescue is more about uncertainty, risks, unknowns, motivations and characters. This, paradoxically for a documentary, makes it work better in terms of tension and emotion than the feature film. But it’s not about which one’s better, on the contrary, both films complement each other brilliantly and it’s worth watching both, even if you already know the what and the how. Not that Howard’s film suffers from a lack of tension. The aforementioned does not mean in the least that it is not a claustrophobic blast with perfect technical aspects. Fortunately, it doesn't slip into a Hollywood fairy tale, and there would be room for it, which, considering who is behind it, is a hell of an achievement in itself. (16.08.2022)

So minimalist in its emotional filmmaking tricks, and yet so riveting and powerful! For the entire two-and-a-half-hour runtime... Ron Howard capitalizes on the seriousness of the situation and builds on the detailed perception of the psychological state of those involved. The responsibility that weighs on them to an almost unbearable extent. And the breathtaking rescue process itself. This is a very different experience from reading about it in the newspaper. Viggo Mortensen is perfect and Colin Farrell is great. There is no manipulative music, pathos or movie heroism here. Thirteen Lives is “just” a precisely filmed account of the professionally done, extremely difficult and dangerous work of a few courageous men. It is a low-key film that will only grow over time. (08.09.2022)