Film review: National Geographic's 'Rescue,' highly recommended.

You know the ending, but do you know how they got there?

It's a chilling and scary story, told in an excellent National Geographic documentary, The Rescue, about the 2018 saga of 12 boys and their assistant soccer coach who scurried inside a Northern Thailand cave which flooded, trapping them for more than two weeks.

Cave divers from around the world joined members of the Royal Thai Navy Seals and the U.S. Air Force Special Tactics in attempts to save the team.

Manmade forces juggled with Mother Nature and certain forecast monsoon rains in the breathtaking rescue race.

Experts on the ground doubted the know-how of two "old men" in flip flops and shorts, skilled underwater astronauts, who began to doubt their own abilities to rescue the team.

Forced by persistence and beliefs of the Thai people who believed the boys could be saved, 10,000 persons ultimately aided in the recovery efforts. 

The rescuers contacted a doctor friend in Australia to request that he consider administering sedatives to the boys to get them out, but the doctor resisted. He couldn't do it; the possibility was crazy.

But like the Thai people who would not give up believing in miracles, the cave divers would not give up asking the doctor until he agreed and journeyed to Thailand.

Cave divers Rick Stanton and John Volanthen from The Rescue/National Geographic

Splices of tape show the 24/7 actions underwater which become a horror show, ultimately ending in death.

Each of the star rescuers is interviewed at length; they describe their backgrounds growing up, when some were bullied, and many were loners, like the nerds at my high school who became the biggest achievers.

What is missing in this tale is why and how the boys went into the cave, why they went so far and why their coach led them.

Since Netflix retained rights to the boys' stories, no first-person accounts by any of them are included in the National Geographic film, an unnoticed absence, save the reasons for their entering the cave in the first place.

That the boys and their coach survived underground for up to 17 days is astonishing and shows what can happen if you "believe" and do not give up.

The film fulfills National Geographic's goals: To "support a diverse, international community of changemakers ...who use the power of science, exploration, education, and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world."

Take a hanky (or more than one). I figured I'd cry in the show. I did.

Husband and wife team, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, directed and produced the film with producers John Battsek, PJ van Sandwijk, Bob Eisenhardt (also, editor).

Daniel Pemberton's music is out of this world.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Titanic exhibition at National Geographic ends September 9

The bow of the Titanic, photographed

by Hercules, a remotely controlled vehicle, in June, 2004/U.S.National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Institute for Exploration/University of Rhode Island and Wikimedia Commons

The most fascinating part of the Titanic exhibition at National Geographic comes near the end where descriptions of its discovery and depictions of the shipwreck reveal what it looks like now, more than two miles below the surface of the sea.

A constructed model of the present appearance of the ship suggests a tombstone on a remote and uninhabitable planet where 1,496 persons died.

A scale model of the Titanic's sunken bow which was used for the movie, Titanic, and by James Cameron for planning archaeological expeditions to the ship.  Access points help determine where remotely controlled vehicles (ROVs) may enter and exit the ship. 20th Century Fox Film Corporation/Patricia Leslie

At National Geographic visitors can see "Elwood," one of the actual little remotes used to weave in and out of the wreck.

 

"Elwood," an "ROV," weighs about 100 lbs. above water, and was developed and built by James Cameron's brother to maneuver inside the ship.  Two ROVs were operated simultaneously:  one to light the ship and one to film/Patricia Leslie

For anyone with the slightest knowledge of the Titanic’s voyage and tragedy, however, there is little new in the first half of the exhibition which chiefly features props from the 1997 movie, Titanic. 

A cherub light fixture from the film, Titanic. 20th Century Fox Film Corporation/Patricia Leslie

National Geographic's Titanic exhibition is certainly better for the admission value ($8 vs. $22, converted) than the disappointing, new and much larger museum in Belfast, Ireland which is practically nothing more than a tame indoor amusement ride and visuals upon walls. (Unless you are in the construction business.) More about it later.


"Explorer-in-residence" and the director of the movie who has made more than 30 dives to the shipwreck, James Cameron, tells a fascinating story about investigating the Titanic's remains in "Ghostwalking in Titanic."  Robert Ballard discovered the shipwreck in 1985. 

For excellent photos and present-day interior scenes of the sunken ship, visit  National Geographic's website.

Children play on a lighted recreation of a silhouette's ruins/Patricia Leslie

What: Titanic:  100 Year Obsession

When: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily through September 9, 2012

Where:  National Geographic, 17th and M streets, NW, Washington, D.C.

Admission: Adults: $8; seniors, military, students: $6; children ages 5-12, $4; school and youth groups, under age 18,  no charge. Purchase tickets here.

Closest Metro station:  Farragut West or Farragut North

For more information:  800-647-5463

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

Titanic exhibit is free this weekend at National Geographic

The RMS Titanic on April 11, 1912, in Cobh Harbour/Wikimedia Commons and Cobh Heritage Center

The cost of adult admission is usually $8, but this weekend at the National Geographic Museum, there will be no charge to see the Titanic and the Samurai Warrior exhibitions which both close July 8.  (Update:  The Titanic exhibit closes September 9, 2012.)

NG Studio

National Geographic is part of the Dupont Kalorama Museums Corsortium's annual walking tour when other "off the Mall" museums will have "free days" this weekend, too.  (Some always have "free days.")

This is the first year for National Geographic to participate, and a spokesperson said 100 persons will be admitted every 30 minutes to the Titanic exhibition.  (There will be a $5 charge for adults and $2 fee for children to see Save the Titanic with Bob Ballard to be screened Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m.  Ballard is the "explorer-in-residence who discovered the sunken Titanic in 1985.)


Visiting all the museums would normally would cost $43.

Participating are Anderson House, home of the Society of the Cincinnati, the Woodrow Wilson House where admission is usually $10, the Textile Museum ($8), the Phillips Collection where Jasper Johns and Antony Gormley exhibitions open Saturday ($12), Dumbarton House, a “federal period historic house museum” in Georgetown ($5), Fondo del Sol Visual Art Center, the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House, and the National Museum of American Jewish Military History (not open Saturday).

Also, the area's Firehook Bakery, Teaism, and Looped Yarn Works will have discounts this weekend upon presentation of the Walk Weekend brochure, available at any of the locations.

What:  Dupont Kalorama Museums Annual Walk

When:  June 2 and 3, 10 a.m. until 4, 5, or 6 p.m. (Check this link for closing times.) 

Where:  Here's a map, alas without National Geographic which is located at the corner of 17th and M streets, NW.  (See link below.)

How much:  No charge

Metro station:  Dupont or Farragut North or West

For more information: DKMuseums@gmail.com or 202-857-7588 for National Geographic

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

State Presents Jazz and "Appalachia" at National Geographic

Lorin Cohen, the bassist, is obscured by Geof Bradfield, the saxophonist


By The Queen of Free

Only the State Department would pick a group from Brooklyn, New York to play music from Appalachia on a world tour.

True, the Appalachian Mountains string (!) from the Mississippi to Canada, but come on now: Does New York come to mind when you hear "Appalachia"? Mine, neither. The folks down South play fiddle and bluegrass a whole heckuva lot better than what we heard at the Grosvenor Auditorium Thursday night.

The Hoppin' John String Band was one of two groups who performed at the National Geographic auditorium at 1600 M Street, courtesy of State which hires musicians to perform for us all over the world trying to win friends and influence enemies as part of its "Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad" program.

First up was the dynamic, impressive Ryan Cohan Jazz Quartet from Chicago who started off the evening with Thelonius Monk's "Around Midnight." They played Victor Feldman's "Joshua," but the most memorable, haunting selections were composed by Ryan Cohan, the pianist. Geof Bradfield played saxophone, Lorin Cohen, bass; and Kobie Watkins, drums and percussion.

The group answered questions from the audience afterwards causing Hoppin' John to start 30 minutes late, or maybe Hoppin' John was late and Ryan Cohan was filling time. No one directing the program seemed to be in much of a hurry.

The auditorium was about 75% full with listeners ranging in age from low 20s to senior citizens.

The Hoppin' John musicians (Alicia Jo Rabins, Sarah Alden, Sean Condron, and Taylor Bergren-Chrisman)were good, but as vocalists? No. No authentic mountain music was heard. None of the vocalists showed much depth or style. They lacked that special somethin'.The program stated the band "performs and teaches music deeply rooted in the ballads, fiddle tunes and traditions of the Appalachian Mountains." They ain't hill people! (But maybe the Hill People think they are.)

I hope listeners knew it was not bluegrass like you hear in the South. But if you've never heard bluegrass in the South (the State Department?), how would you know? I missed the mountain twang and sound that Nashville residents hear every day listening to musicians play on the sidewalk hoping to "break in."

Perhaps there is a State Department-New York connection (Jazz at Lincoln Center). Perhaps the State Department in its showcase to the world needs to venture outside the confines of the Beltway and New York City, and head in a different direction for variety and diversity. Like maybe the hills of Tennessee or Kentucky or West Virginia.