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The National Geographic documentaryThe Rescuepulls off something almost as far-fetched as its subject matter.
We thought that no one like,no one would understand the film, Vasarhelyi says.
And yet its a thousand times stranger, scarier and more surprising than I ever expected.
And how much did you know about the Thai cave rescue before you got involved?E.
Chai Vasarhelyi:Like you, we were riveted to the TV.
And then there was this rescue.
We are also the parents of Asian kids, so it was personal.
We just chased the story.
There are a lot of feature films that are set to tackle this.
Like, you dont really own people in nonfiction.
Its not really the ethos.
One studio owned the children and their families.
Another studio owned the life rights of the divers.
Wed been tracking this project, and we knew that National Geographic had the rights.
And we asked them if we could direct.
Also, most of the divers had seenFree Solo,and they related deeply to that film.
So we had some credibility.
And Im like, Oh, isnt this fascinating!
Why would you ever do that?
JC:I was like, I totally get why they did that!
How do you become that generous?Like,Who are these people who do that?
JC:When you have everything to lose.
We thought that was an important reminder of what we are capable of and what we hold in common.
Let me ask you a technical question: There are reenactments featuring the actual cave divers.
How did you shoot those scenes?EV:Ideally, we would have shot in Thailand.
So we did it in a tank.
Because it was only them and the kids.
JC:Gathering the divers for them to demonstrate served multiple purposes.
The gravity of that!
You try as a nonfiction filmmaker to conjure the truth of the situation for audiences.
But we didnt understand until we saw them demonstrate it.
On TV, it was presented as this international rescue initiative using top professionals.
Youre just like,Oh my God!
Its so old looking!We went to visit their homes.
Ricks got a kayak in his living room, literally dive equipment everywhere you look.
And you know: Theyre lifers.
They live and breathe cave diving.
It took a big leap of faith.
JC:I work on both sides of the lens; sometimes Im in front of it.
Most people know the outcome of this story.
What was the trick to building suspense into the narrative?
Not only suspense but nail-biting, hanging-by-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense?EV:I mean, we bled.
It was like blood on the floor.
One, the events transpire over 18 days.
The children are only found on the 11th day.
And then no one really makes a decision for a long time.
And you see the same thing 13 times.
And thats not all the narrative challenges you have.
There are way too many people.
Why are they speaking?
Well, actually, they played a critical role.
JC:Everybody played a critical role!
Maybe we could doShoah.
Or, like,OJ: Made in America:We could do the six hours.
And we uncovered how he died, which wasnt publicly known.
Hard to move through current.
EV: which was clearly a symptom of miscommunication.
All the footage you are seeing, no one else has it.
What do you think it is about the cave rescue that has captured so many filmmakers imaginations?
What has gotten under our collective skin?EV:Its one of the great stories of our time.
So many different types of people came together with huge obstacles in their way to actually achieve the impossible.
It would be a lot safer.
