Movie Review for The 33

The 33 Movie Poster

Proof I was there. With Ariel Ticona and Greg Hall.

This week my husband and I had the opportunity of previewing a movie coming out in six weeks: The 33. The film is a true story of the miraculous survival of 33 miners for 69 days underground after a mine collapsed in Chile in 2010, an event that captivated the entire world. We also had the privilege of participating in a short Q and A with one of the miners, Ariel Ticona, and a rescuer, Greg Hall.

Introduced as miner #32, Ariel Ticona worked to establish the underground communication system. His wife gave birth to their second daughter while he was awaiting rescue. They named the girl "Hope." Greg Hall, from Houston Texas, was part of the international community that came together to rescue the men. His company, Driller's Supply, was/is based in Chile and was part of Plan B, the drill that eventually was successful in breaking through for the rescue. Hall said he had done lots of drilling for money but had never drilled for people before.

I had the advantage of having read the book, Deep Down Dark, by Pulitzer-prize journalist, Hector Tobar, that was used as the basis for the movie. The book helped fill in the gaps my husband found in some of the movie plot line. I had also traveled to the region. I spent last March in the Atacama Desert, visiting my son and family while on his temporary work assignment for the mining industry. The screen shots of the endless brown landscape and the colorful Chilean people brought me back to the time I spent there. (Not to mention a scene with delicious homemade empanadas.)

Read an excerpt from the book, Deep Down Dark, here.

I thought the scene after the collapse, when the trapped men gazed up at the huge rock that blocked their only exit was powerful. "That is not a rock," actor Antonio Banderas said. "That is the heart of the mountain."

Author Tobar wrote, "After 121 years in which men and machines [had] emptied and hollowed the mountain, the San José Mine [was] still intact thanks to the hard, gray diorite stone that makes up most of the mountain's mass." That rock, larger than the Empire State Building, made rescue almost impossible.

In several scenes, the jostling of the "home-movie-style" filming made it difficult for my eyes to adjust. Extremely sensitive to motion sickness, I had to close my eyes until those scenes ended. Thankfully that was not the case for the entire movie.

I enjoyed the Q and A afterwards, with Hall and Ticona. Both emphasized the movie's message of hope and faith. When questioned, Greg spoke extensively on the miracle of the operation. He mentioned a time when their company's drill became stuck and there was no logical reason for it to begin working again. Yet it did.

Ticona talked about the daily prayer meetings they had in the mine, coinciding with their families' prayers above ground. "The 34th miner was the presence of God," Ticona said.

If you are looking for a feel-good story about a miracle, hope and faith, I recommend the movie, The 33.

*movie contains some profanity.