by Kay Curry
Northwest Asia Weekly
The cast of “Thirteen Lives” at its Los Angeles premiere on July 29. (Photo by Eric Chabono. MGM)
Most of us remember the news from 2018, at least one documentary, and more, about a day when the Thai men’s soccer team and their coach went into the cave and didn’t come out, and an extensive rescue effort to save the caves before they flooded due to the monsoon season. Dare I say, Ron Howard’s latest Oscar-winning film, Thirteen Lives, documents the event in what he describes as “grainy” detail. You won’t believe what happened, but it’s all true.
Let’s talk about the enormous effort that goes into the making of the film, not to mention the rescue itself. In Australia, director Howard and his team recreated the cave system in northern Thailand, as well as the nearby base camp, the diversion work that took place, and all of that. And, diving is real. No stunt doubles. The actors are so engaged that they insist on doing it themselves.
“It was really an intervention,” Howard laughs, recalling the day Viggo Mortensen, who played cave diver Rick Stanton, came up to him and said, “It’s part of our character, and now we understand Now – with Rick, but I think you’ll see we can do it safely – please schedule so we can do all the dives.”
You won’t understand — I don’t understand — what it means until you see this movie. You wouldn’t understand how influential this movie was. No matter how many times someone tells you, you will never realize the feat accomplished by pure human will, intellect, and heart. The actors are so committed to it being part of the whole phenomenon. The cave scene is very real. Stanton, who works as a technical consultant, is on set every day, verifying that everything, the sound, the emotions, the difficulties, is legitimate. If possible, every actor, not just those who play the diver, gets to know their real-life Thai counterparts.
Director Ron Howard is on set with James Tiraden Supappinho, who plays the coach, and the boys who play the football team. (Image credit: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures)
Pattrakorn Tungsupakul or Ploy, who plays the mother of one of the boys and the only parent we’ve ever met formally, talks about how she’s not a mother herself, and how she can focus on the news reels. She also talked about how Howard was so open to the ideas of others, including anything that would make the film more culturally appropriate.
“when [Ron]…ask me, what reminds you of [of being a mother]? Ploy proposes wrist bracelets (like rosary beads) that are blessed in the film and given to boys and divers.
“In Chiang Rai, northern Thailand, we believe [the holy monks] Lots and wrist bracelets.if i give someone a gift it means i bless you [stay safe and it brings luck],” Ploy said at the premiere press conference in Los Angeles.
“As a director, I knew it was going to be an exciting challenge… I also knew a big part of the story was going to be in Thai, and it needed to reflect Thai culture and these characters in a very subtle, very tight way, a modern , in a thoughtful way,” Howard said at the trailer’s global launch. “This story is very, very important to Thai culture…it’s a story they should be proud of.”
During the time the football team was trapped in the cave, thousands of volunteers were mobilized from all over the world. The Thai government sent Thai SEALs and troops. The United States has its Air Force present. Civilians and professionals worked together to design how to make the rescue successful.
“I live in Thailand, so when this happened, I didn’t know until the end that the kids were trapped in the cave and suddenly the kids came out; I think that’s what most people in the world think [know],” said Sahajak “Poo” Boonthanakit, who plays Governor Nalonsak.
Here are some details I will share, but I won’t share them all! The caves are part of a nearby park, and the kids decided to go on an outing. The coach went with him. Usually, the monsoon does not start until July. This is June. They started. The kids and their instructors have gone deep into the cave system, and for the rest of the year, the area you can walk through is flooded and impassable, even for most experts.
The Thai SEALs only reached so-called Chamber 3 at a depth of 800 meters and had to give up temporarily.
Rick Stanton and a group of cave diving enthusiasts enter – “Who knew there was a list?” commented the hostess of the Los Angeles premiere press conference – and the Thai government airlifts in as part of a sort of grab bag, Anyone can think of letting the boys out.
Everyone’s talking about “boys,” but there’s an adult there, the coach, played by popular Thai performer James Teeradon Supapunpinyo. Coaches played an important role in the boys’ survival. Note that they have no food there for more than 10 days. He taught them how to meditate so that their fear and hunger would not overcome them. Of course, the whole world cheers for the boys. In the movie, you especially want to be attracted to “Chai”, whose mother is played by Tungsupakul and is very cute. You can’t help but admit it, although you should note that Chai and his mother are “stateless” – from the Burmese border, as are the coaches.
A lot has happened – a lot has happened. Howard is not shy about it. I’ve been sitting on the edge of my seat and that’s what’s being said when you consider we all know the boys are out – how powerful the art of story-making is! Howard is a magician. The actors also participated, which shows. Your heart will be pounding one second and tense the next. You feel it when they’re in those man-sized tunnels, scraping through their equipment – it makes me sick, I’m not lying to you. This is a special movie.
The filmmakers talked a lot about “teamwork” and “miracles” — but it was much more than that. Teamwork is a very corporate-sounding word. We’re not making PowerPoints here, we’re saving lives. That’s what you understand, everyone in the cave is so serious. Not everyone gets along well, at least not according to the movie. Thais are suspicious of these old white men showing up to help (even Stanton admits they must have looked a little silly), but their fame should come before them. This is not teamwork, but human brotherhood and sisterhood, not only to help those who are trapped, but to help each other. And miracles – no miracles here. This is pure human effort.
“It’s really the superhero movie of the year,” Boonthanakit said. “It’s a superhero movie with lots, lots of heroes… Watch this movie because it lets you know… When people come together to help each other, you make life easier. There’s a lot in it Love.”
Kay can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
