Written by Ali Grutchfield, Photo courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment
In the final fleeting days of summer, kids are filled with the deep desire to make the most of any time they have left. They’re in pursuit of any adventure they have yet to pursue, no stone left unturned. That’s exactly the story that directors Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin examined in their newly released documentary “The Rescue”.
It was the last few weeks before Thailand’s monsoon season would close the local caves due to flood risks. Twelve boys, aged 11 to 16, and their soccer coach were suddenly trapped in the Tham Luang Nang Non underwater caves for eighteen days.
Co-director Vasarhelyi said they were drawn to the story the moment it broke on local news. Like most of the world, they were constantly watching and enthralled in discovering what the future held for the 13 young boys. However, she also said she felt that as Asian parents to Asian children living in the United States, she and her husband had a unique understanding of both the Asian and Western perspectives on how to best save the boys.
The documentary highlights cultural conflicts that arose throughout the mission. For example, much of the Thai government and public believed in an ancient tale about the caves being ruled by a deity who had long before killed herself after losing the love of her life at the hands of her father. Therefore, a famous monk was called to come and pray over the caves in hopes of enabling the deity to reconcile with her father and release the boys. However, the Americans and British involved felt that their time and resources would be better spent on taking actionable steps to make the caves easier to access.
Vasarhelyi and Chin felt that they could adequately capture both sides of this story without adding unnecessary cultural bias. They understood that while the means were different, everyone involved just wanted the boys to emerge from the cave as quickly and safely as possible.
An unexpected, yet beautiful and necessary perspective included in this documentary was that of the scruffy British and Australian men who pursued cave diving as a hobby. They quickly became a pivotal part of this story, but it was their common struggles and background that truly touched the audience. Once it was all over, the boys had been rescued, the divers reflected on how this helped them find their purpose as individuals. All their lives, these men had been outcasts. They liked being alone, found themselves emotionally distant and had always been told that they were wrong for acting like that. However, it was only because of these traits that they were able to dive for so long in such alien conditions. They came to learn that they needed to be saved by the Thai boys just as deeply as the boys needed to be saved by them.
It’s rare that a true story, especially a recent one, surprises an audience. However, this documentary touched everyone who saw it, revealed by the frequent gasps and cries throughout the theater. What was originally thought to be a documentary about boys trapped in a cave developed into so much more. “The Rescue” became a story about people helping people and the most human of qualities that bind every person together.
