{"id":1590368,"date":"2022-08-05T07:48:27","date_gmt":"2022-08-05T11:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1590368"},"modified":"2022-08-05T07:48:33","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T11:48:33","slug":"how-the-lead-diver-behind-the-thai-cave-rescue-made-thirteen-lives-realistic-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-lead-diver-behind-the-thai-cave-rescue-made-thirteen-lives-realistic-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How The Lead Diver Behind The Thai Cave Rescue Made \u2018Thirteen Lives\u2019 Realistic"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-the-lead-diver-behind-the-thai-cave-rescue-made-thirteen-lives-realistic-2%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1590368&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In summer 2018, when a youth soccer team was trapped for 18 days deep within a treacherous cave system, the world became transfixed as events unfolded in real time through news reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In a phone interview from Los Angeles, British cave diver Rick Stanton related critical moments from four years ago \u2014 after hours underwater within the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we swam where no one had searched before, we were expecting to find 13 drowned bodies,\u201d Stanton told me. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t see, and we might literally bump into lifeless children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If he sounds blunt, the 60-something former firefighter isn\u2019t much for pleasantries. In director Ron Howard\u2019s latest true-life drama \u201cThirteen Lives,\u201d which premieres Friday worldwide on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.primevideo.com\/detail\/Thirteen-Lives\/0N4FTQ4SLZT4K8KO6HFP7XSI1D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Prime Video<\/a>, lead diver Stanton is portrayed by Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn from \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d trilogy). And, in a statement, the actor describes his real-life counterpart as \u201cgruff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRick calls it the way he sees it [which] can be a bit shocking,\u201d said Mortensen, who spent significant time getting to know Stanton prior to and during filming. \u201cHe says in the film, \u2018That\u2019s <em>not<\/em> going to work, they\u2019re going to die if we do <em>this<\/em>.\u2019 He\u2019s not social in the way most people are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Millions have since seen some version of the story told in various documentaries, notably National Geographic\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.disneyplus.com\/movies\/the-rescue\/6u1VV7RFRiRz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Rescue<\/a>,\u201d which first aired last fall. Some have become amateur experts on the crisis news event, evidenced by a Wikipedia <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tham_Luang_cave_rescue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">entry<\/a> that runs over 7,500 words.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Can a Hollywood treatment of the Thai cave rescue \u2014 with Mortensen as Stanton, Colin Farrell as diving partner John Volanthen, and an ensemble cast of Thai actors \u2014 reveal something new?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"A8bvs9xG6XfY2CMPjJu3nahoBESO7wKQyDerVziIH4pqt\"><\/p>\n[embedded content]\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Howard, known for based-on-true-story hits such as \u201cApollo 13\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/12\/04\/hillbilly-elegy-author-j-d-vance-responds-to-critics-of-the-netflix-adaptation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hillbilly Elegy<\/a>,\u201d worked to bring forward previously unknown details and amplify the human drama. \u201cAnytime you\u2019re doing a story that\u2019s based on real events, it\u2019s vital that you have people who truly understand it,\u201d said Howard in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s too much to assume that any researcher can get everything right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The director subsequently hired Stanton and another diver at the scene, Jason Mallinson, as on-set consultants for diving scenes. Even with a 147-minute runtime, \u201cThirteen Lives\u201d speeds through early set-up scenes and then ratchets up the stakes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Like the divers themselves, viewers experience a roller-coaster of emotions. \u201cImagine when we found them all alive in a dry chamber,\u201d said Stanton. \u201cWe felt relief, but it was very short-lived. Our joy at them being alive was tempered by: Now what are we going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Perilous Situation, Risky Plan<\/h2>\n<p>Even while promoting a movie he consulted on, Stanton doesn\u2019t stick with the PR script when asked about one of their first cave dives that plays out on-screen like an avalanche.<\/p>\n<p>In the film, massive chunks of rock are seen falling on the British divers. \u201cI\u2019d say that\u2019s not accurate,\u201d Stanton told me. \u201cWe did encounter a flood pulse at one point, where there\u2019s a wall of water coming towards you because of an increase in flow. But it wasn\u2019t caused by a cave wall breaking apart.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Yet, on the essential details and personality dynamics at play, he says the filmmakers got it right. Prior to arriving in Thailand, when first discussing the crisis over the phone with diving partner Volanthen, Stanton breaks the tension when he mutters: \u201cI don\u2019t even like kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked about the line, he replied: \u201cThat\u2019s true! What I say is I\u2019ve structured my whole life to avoid children.\u201d On-screen, as in real life, Volanthen is a family man whose social and emotional intelligence complements Stanton\u2019s outside-the-box strategic intellect.<\/p>\n<p>Later, once the trapped boys were found, it became a race against two ticking clocks \u2014 their oxygen in the cave chamber getting thinner by the hour, and monsoon season on the horizon.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Dozens of Thai Navy SEALs led by Captain Arnont Sureewong (Tui Thiraphat Sajakul in the film) were mobilized. One of them, Saman Kunan, age 38, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2018\/jul\/06\/thai-navy-seals-pay-tribute-diver-died-cave-rescue\">died<\/a> while attempting to shuttle supplies deep into the cave. The military halted any of their further dives past chamber three, yet their manpower later proved vital.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the scruffy-looking middle-aged British divers sought to do more than sit on the sidelines. Similar to a first responder, Stanton\u2019s capacity to have emotional distance sparked an \u201cinsane\u201d idea: to sedate the boys and dive them out.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His friend, Australian anesthetist Richard \u201cHarry\u201d Harris (played by Aussie actor Joel Edgerton), initially rejects the risky and borderline unethical plan. Gradually he realizes it\u2019s the only way and trains his fellow \u201camateur expert\u201d cave divers on sedating a submerged child wearing a wetsuit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarris called it the Stanton Inert Package Plan,\u201d said Stanton. \u201cMentally, we did have to treat them as packages. However, the moment you pick up your \u2018package,\u2019 you realize it\u2019s a living person. And that\u2019s a different kettle of fish.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Life-Saving Heroism\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>While some critics <a href=\"https:\/\/www.catholicworldreport.com\/2022\/07\/30\/too-good-not-to-be-true-two-movies-about-the-thailand-cave-rescue\/\">prefer<\/a> the documentary version, \u201cThirteen Lives\u201d draws viewers into several plot threads at once. It underlines the stakes of more than 5,000 people from 17 countries working together \u2014 with the peril made more visceral through cinematic techniques.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of locals worked in tandem with a water flow expert, who helped divert 100 million gallons of rainfall to keep the caves from flooding further. The provincial governor had to trust the divers\u2019 technical expertise in agreeing to their plan. And the film also respectfully depicts the nation\u2019s prevalent Buddhist religion, as distraught Thai parents are seen in fervent prayer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For the lead diver, who often states that <em>panic is death<\/em> in caving \u2014 particularly white-water caving with no visibility \u2014 he says don\u2019t overlook smaller heroes. \u201cThe boys were hugely responsible for their own survival by being calm in this situation,\u201d said Stanton. \u201cAs tough hill tribe children from that northern part of Thailand, they held it together for nine days in the dark with no food.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Building up breathless pressure reminiscent of 2013 sci-fi drama \u201cGravity,\u201d this drama packs an emotional wallop by sticking to the facts. As vulnerable lives are nearly lost at critical moments, \u201cThirteen Lives\u201d will rip your heart out, and it might make you hug your kids a bit tighter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a story about people being selfless and pulling together,\u201d said actor Mortensen in a statement. \u201cEverybody [involved] wanted to get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Rated PG-13 for strong language and unsettling images, \u201cThirteen Lives\u201d is now <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.primevideo.com\/detail\/Thirteen-Lives\/0N4FTQ4SLZT4K8KO6HFP7XSI1D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>streaming worldwide<\/em><\/a><em> on Prime Video.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Josh Shepherd covers culture, faith, and public policy for several media outlets including The Stream. His articles have appeared in Christianity Today, Religion &#038; Politics, Faithfully Magazine, Religion News Service, and Providence Magazine. A graduate of the University of Colorado, he previously worked on staff at The Heritage Foundation and Focus on the Family. Josh and his wife live in the Washington, D.C. area with their two children.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In summer 2018, when a youth soccer team was trapped for 18 days deep within a treacherous cave system, the world became transfixed as events unfolded in real time through<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":626,"featured_media":1897895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1590368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_finder_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/05\/how-the-lead-diver-behind-the-thai-cave-rescue-made-thirteen-lives-realistic\/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-the-lead-diver-behind-the-thai-cave-rescue-made-thirteen-lives-realistic","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1590368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/626"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1590368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1590368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1897895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1590368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1590368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1590368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}