From natural disasters to catastrophic human negligence, these works of the seventh art immerse us in extreme stories of survival. (Source: Andrea Meneses)
The line between reality and fiction is often thin, especially when cinema dares to explore stories that surpass any script imagined. In the world of the seventh art there are films that capture the essence of true stories in which their protagonists face extreme circumstances that put life itself at risk and connect us with the fragility of the human condition.
From Infobae
Given the recent excitement caused by the Spanish film “The Snow Society” by JA Bayona, based on the plane crash in the Andes, in this recount we present seven shocking Hollywood films that not only show the fight against despair and death , but also the struggle against despair and death, are distinguished by their faithfulness to the events that inspired them, and have won multiple awards for their production, direction and performances.
From devastating natural disasters like the Indian Ocean earthquake to careless man-made disasters like Aaron Ralston's Odyssey, these are the tragedies that have influenced human history and been adapted for the screen.
1. “The Impossible” (2012)
The Impossible (Netflix)
One of the most catastrophic natural disasters in human history was the one that inspired this moving film: the Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004, which triggered a tsunami that killed more than 250,000 people in 14 countries as the intensity exceeded 9 degrees. surpasses the 2011 Japan earthquake.
Directed by The Snow Society and Jurassic World director JA Bayona and written by the survivor herself, it tells the true story of the horrors of Dr. María Belón during her vacation in Thailand. On December 26, Belón (Naomi Watts) and her eldest son (Tom Holland) were swept away by huge waves, separating her from her husband (Ewan McGregor) and her two youngest children, who managed to seek refuge.
The emotional film, which earned Naomi Watts an Oscar nomination, was praised by the survivors themselves for the accuracy with which it depicts the agony of adversity they endured to find each other, even when they didn't know if they would would make it alive.
This impossible survival story, which grossed more than $180 million at the box office, is available on Netflix.
2. “127 Hours” (2010)
127 hours (star+)
April 26, 2003. A young and intrepid American mountaineer, as always, gave free rein to his hiking spirit when he decided to climb the mountain trails of Blue John Canyon in Colorado. Since he knew himself to be a hiking expert and knowledgeable about the area, it was just another walk for the engineer. What he didn't know was that going alone and not telling anyone where he was going and coming back meant signing his death warrant.
Based on the autobiographical book Between a Rock and a Hard Place (2004), 127 Hours tells the shocking true story of adventurer Aaron Ralston, played by James Franco, who ends up in Robbers Roost National Park after hiking in the mountains of Utah on a gigantic, 350 kilogram, shaking boulder that falls from the mountain and tragically falls onto his arm, leaving him trapped in the narrow gorge.
Staying alive thanks to his own urine, he spent five days and seven hours of terror and torment in detention, during which he recorded a video diary with a video camera that Franco also used, in which he said goodbye when he knew that he would die in the film. The hero of the story? Himself because his will to survive led him to amputate his arm with a knife and the stone itself in order to get out and be saved.
This film gave James Franco his first and only Oscar nomination.
3. The 33 (2015)
The 33 (Warner Bros.)
The great danger that the world's miners face is a testament to the courageous work in which they risk their lives every day. Despite existing safety measures, the violence of nature is sometimes unavoidable. Proof of this was the tragic collapse of the San José mine in Chile.
“The 33” is a film that recounts one of the most dramatic episodes in contemporary mining, which occurred on August 5, 2010. The story is based on the book “In the Dark” (2015) by Héctor Tobar and immerses the viewer in the experience of “33” In this mine in Copiapó, northern Chile, Chilean miners trapped 720 meters underground for 69 days.
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