In 2010 the world was struck when 33 miners got stuck in a mine in Chile. The media reported daily on the events and what began as a national crisis became an international story. Five years later, director Patricia Riggen and her international cast brought together "The 33," a compelling if somewhat misguided take on the untold story of the miners and their families.

The film tells the story of the 33 miners who get stuck in the underground for 69 days when a gold and copper mine collapses. Alongside their storyline, the film focuses on the families of the miners and the politicians and their heroic journey to get the miners out.

Where the film succeeds is in perfectly creating the environment where the miners were stuck. Having filmed in the mines of Zipaquira and Nemocon, Colombia, Riggen and her cinematographer Checco Varese were able to perfectly to visualize the restricted and dirty environments the 33 men had to stay in. With the use of handheld camera, Varese perfectly creates a claustrophobic and dark environment that is also ominous and unstable.

James Horner's score is also a wonder. Where most expect a score with many Western tones, Horner and Riggen created music that perfectly embodies the Latino flavor using many typical instruments such as the guitar, flutes and charangoes.

Riggen noted that she wanted to make her film universal for all and not just make it about Latin America. In a way, the event was a global phenomenon and casting an international cast of Latinos and Europeans seemed adequate.

Additionally the choice to make it in English is adequate. Some may note that Juliette Binoche and Gabriel Byrne are miscast as Chileans. Neither actor looks Latino and their accents are completely off from the rest of the cast. Yet in many ways it is totally fine because they give their performances gravitas.

Binoche's Maria Segovia is among the most memorable as she brings the strength to this character who is suffering for the miners but at the same time suffering about never seeing her brother again. Byrne is also strong in his role as Andre Sougarret.

However, this is Antonio Banderas' and Lou Diamond Phillips' film. The actors play two of the miners, and they are the characters that Riggen focuses on.

Banderas' Mario Sepulveda is among the best the actor has done in a while. The actor gives his character strength and from the beginning it is obvious that he is a leader. However, as the movie develops, the character becomes vulnerable in his circumstance. Yet Sepulveda never gives into the demands of the other miners. Banderas is able to maintain the strength in front of the miners even though he is suffering.

Phillips' Don Lucho is conflicted throughout the film. After finding out that the mine is unstable, Don Lucho never says anything. It is only until the mine collapses that he reveals the danger. Phillips' take on the character shows the inverse of the Banderas' characterization, establishing a passive character and eventually transforming him into a more active one. It's great that Don Lucho gets the final moments in the film because his character is able to go full circle.

Other stand out work of note comes from Colombian actor Juan Pablo Raba who plays the conflicted brother to Binoche's Maria. Raba rounds out his character from being a desperate alcoholic to a heroic figure. This is an actor that one hopes to see more of.

Meanwhile Adriana Barraza gives the film comedy as Marta Salinas while Kate del Castillo adds some dramatic weight as Katty, Mario's wife. Cote de Pablo gets a great solo song that is among the most memorable moments in the film and Marco Trevino has a good cameo as Jose Henriquez, one of the minors.

While the cast brings their A game, it is always questionable why Spanglish and subtitles ever come to the forefront in this film. Riggen begins her film in all English and in many ways it allows the audience suspend their disbelief. However, at many moments certain characters start speaking Spanish. For example the famous Chilean presenter Don Francisco appears on TV and starts to speaking in his native tongue. At this point one questions the whole reality of this film. Why does Don Francisco get to speak Spanish and not the rest of the cast that is capable of speaking the language. Then Adriana Barraza's character gets some moments of Spanish and the mother of one of the miners starts to speak in Spanish. Cote de Pablo also sings in Spanish, adding a bit of confusion to the overall aim.

On one level, one might understand the idea to universalize the film, but considering modern filmmaking and expectations, audiences expect an all or nothing approach. The globalization of the world cinema has made audiences adapt and learn to read subtitles. Either you go for full authenticity and have everyone speak Spanish, or you ask your audience to suspend disbelief and accept this as a universal story spoken in English. Having Spanish sprinkled in there could be a means of reminding the audience about where the story takes place, but then the audience starts to wonder the motivations for some inclusions and the overall exclusions making for a film that on some level lacks a strong identity. One gets the sense that this is not on Riggen, but on the larger studio executives catering to a mass public.

Warner Bros. has promoted this film as the untold true story of the 33 miners. Yet one point in the film becomes a news reel. Clips of Anderson Cooper on CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC and other recognizable networks are shown and the story no longer becomes about the 33 or their families. This montage may show the families and the miners interacting but it sidelines them to show famous news anchors instead, thus making this more about the story everyone knows and heard on the news, rather than the untold story experienced in the mines.

The other issue with this shift in focus is that by sidelining the principal players, the audience loses the opportunity to learn more about them. There are 33 of them after all and while there are never expectations that all the miners will get a moment in the spotlight (though it would certainly make for an experimental narrative), more time in the mines and less time showcasing news reels we all saw would have likely added to an overall more fulfilling experience.

While Riggen's intentions are honest, "The 33" misses on a few angles. Although the final moments of the film are some of the most tense and riveting, it might not be the fulfilling experience of the recent event as some might hope.

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