Cinemazlowski 'The 33' highlights the power of prayer in Chilean miners' tale

There are harrowing moments when the entire world's attention is riveted upon a tragedy, such as 9/11 or this past Friday's terror attacks in Paris. Thankfully, there are also uplifting moments that unite the planet, and the rescue of 33 Chilean miners in 2010 after 69 days trapped in a mine after its collapse is a prime example of that kind of magic.

 

The fact that the men, by any normal standard of science, should have been dead weeks before they were rescued was considered a modern-day miracle – especially because the men relied on the power of prayer to keep their spirits up and their minds and bodies whole. Now, the new movie "The 33" brings their incredible experience to life in a way that puts viewers smack in the heart of it all.

 

Directed by Patricia Riggen, and based on the book "Deep Down Dark" by Hector Tobar, "The 33" manages to make a few of the miners stand out from the crowd and thus give viewers a few specific brave figures to hold onto throughout the depicted ordeal. Antonio Banderas and Lou Diamond Phillips of "La Bamba" fame should both be writing thank you notes to Warner Brothers studio and their agents, because these are the best roles they've had in a very long time.

 

They make the most of the opportunity, bringing to life the normally mundane daily lives of these average, working-class men in Chile, most with families and all just wanting to make a living from the gold buried deep in the core of a desert mountain far outside their town. They trusted their bosses to keep them safe, but the mining chiefs were more concerned with making money than they were in investing in maintaining the infrastructure, and the resulting mine collapse showed that the only figures they could really trust were God Himself, their devoted wives and families, and each other.

 

"The 33" sets the stage well for the drama that follows the collapse, as some men want to find any means of escape they can, another grabs too much of the emergency food for himself, and others draw strong battle lines between whether they are going to engage in hope or despair.  But it also brings vibrant life to the strong and spirited women who gave unflagging support in the form of prayer, building a tent city with a school to keep themselves and their children near the collapse, and humanizing the daring government minister who, time and again, instructed teams of drillers and scientists to try every possible angle to save the men.

 

Sure, the world knows that they survived, but everyone involved here does a masterful job of creating and maintaining suspense throughout. "The 33" is a superb mix of humor and hope, but and one that stands several steps above the recent crowd of other faith-based movies at the box office.