23 000 Lives is a frustratingly uneven look at moral idealism
Watch 23 000 Lives if you’re prepared for a helpful guide rather than a story. The movie relies on oversimplified political didactism at the expense of its characters. The movies premise involves navigating the difficult and chaotic nature of law and ethics in the Mediterranean Sea, and it informs the audience that it will attempt to do so, but will easy its way out in favor of simplistic scaffolding.
The weight of the mission
The film works best when it takes viewers into the heart of the search and rescue operations. Frankie DeMarco’s photography captures the vastness of the empty ocean to add a crucial layer to the script. When the camera focuses on the ocean, the audience can feel the ever present danger and how important the mission is to the characters. The film tends to lose focus when it leaves the action of the search operations to show us the legal tactical operations in the courtroom or to focus internally on the crew members. The film tries to balance the high seas action with the division of the legal argument, which ultimately fails.
The film is at its best when it’s in the harsh reality of the operations and at its worst when it interrupts that reality. The jump from the physical operation of life saving to the harsh and ugly reality of red tape and the legal maze is abrupt and choppy. The audience is left to figure out how two movies have been spliced together in a poorly executed attempt at two separate story arcs.
The limits of the ensemble
Louis Hofmann and Mala Emde should be recognized for their hard work showing the emotional side of the characters in the film. They showcase the humanity of characters that are usually just stand-ins for different political views. The audience will probably lose interest in the long conversations that occur throughout the film, so the audience basically has to rely on some chemistry that the actors pull out.
Unfortunately, the actors in the supporting roles usually just get to be in the background. They don’t add anything to the main proceedings in the courtcase. Both Frederick Lau and Maria Dragus are fine actors, but neither of them get much to do beyond reacting to what the story Oliver Hermanutz gets to do. There could have been more conflict showed among the characters in the story by showing more diverse motivations among the characters instead of showing just the main external courtcase that is happening.
Who should commit to the voyage
This film is perfect for social issue drama fans looking to ignore a slightly on-the-nose script for a timely and relevant storyline for the evening. If you want something more substantial for a deeper look at the contemporary quandaries of refugee crises, this will give you something to work with and talk about. It has lofty goals, as is clear to many with the 2 hour runtime. This is more than enough to win over the audience. For those looking for a character-centric drama, avoid this film. For audiences that value good plot construction, this movie loses most of the audience with poor plot structure and隐 libro dialogue. It has good intentions, but still falls short.
