Saturday, March 26, 2011

‘Sanctum’: The Psychology Of Survival

Sanctum 3d review

Several years ago, while scuba diving in cold and murky waters, I came up against a circumstance that I had been prepared for and yet did not imagine was a legitimate possibility: my respirator failed. After multiple attempts at a correction, I did the one thing you should never do in that circumstance — I panicked, and tried to swim to the surface.

Just as I was launching myself up, I felt a firm grip on my arm stopping me in my ascent. A master diver had come over to me to prevent me from either making a dangerously rapid rise, or from taking in a lungful of water in an attempt to catch a breath.

He forced me to look at him and make my climb at an advisable pace, and buddy breath with him so that I was able to do so.

He was what a master diver should be — calm, assured, steadfast to ruthless in terms of what he knows to be right and safe. He was also a grain-fed, grade a, A-hole. He was gruff, and rude, and arrogant, but this A-hole had just prevented me from doing something incredibly stupid and dangerous.

He was a man not unlike actor Richard Roxburgh’s character, Frank, in the 3D underwater, cave-diving thriller Sanctum. In describing his character, Roxburgh says that:

Frank is characteristic of the guys that do this stuff. There is almost a military quality to them, a steely quality. It requires a zen self-discipline, and also the ability, which you kind of see Frank doing, to let practical reality be the terms that dictate things – so if someone is going to weigh you down, then you have to let them go.

The aforementioned “stuff” that Roxburgh is referring to is one of the most dangerous leisure activities a person can engage in: cave diving. Cave divers use specialized scuba equipment to explore cave systems that are, at least in part, submerged underwater. The restrictions, specialized equipment, and the element of the unknown make this an especially perilous pursuit.

Sanctum, the film, is based on an experience that producer/co-writer Andrew Wight had when he was leading a cave diving expedition in Australia when, as he explains, “on the last day a storm flooded the entrance, and fifteen of us were trapped below ground. It took nearly two days to get everyone out, myself included. So, it was in the course of those events, and really staring death in the face and watching how everyone responded that inspired what came to be the ‘Sanctum’ story.”

Take a look at the behind-the-scenes feature below in which Wight describes his harrowing ordeal:

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In Wight’s real-world experience all fifteen were, thankfully, able to make it through alive. The film, however, heightens the stakes both for the sake of the drama, as well as to impart the sense of life’s true fragility. In keeping with a sense of reality, executive producer James Cameron assures viewers that “Everything you see (in the film) happened to somebody, somewhere, (though) not all in the same expedition.”

Cameron is no stranger to both high-risk adventuring (he and Wight have done a series of deep sea expeditions together, including exploring both the Titanic and Bismarck ship wrecks) and envelope pushing, and he wanted to accomplish two things with the creation of Sanctum: One, to illustrate that it is possible to shoot 3D effectively and on a reasonable budget; and two, to explore “the psychology of survival.”

How do we react in a life or death situations, what would we do, and what do our responses say about who we are as people?

According to actress Alice Parkinson, who plays Victoria, a character who makes consistently ill-advised choices in the film: “I think often what we think we would do, is not necessarily what we would do…all kinds of decisions are made in high stress situations.”

sanctum trailer james cameron

In speaking with the press about the film, Cameron stressed that the filmmakers:

Wanted to get into that thing that happens inside people where they have to adjust to a situation where it appears completely hopeless. Some people are able to make that adjustment, others aren’t, some people become more heroic than they could have imagined was possible for themselves, while other people who you think of as leaders can become quite cowardly or could implode. Everyone reacts differently. And I think the appeal of this kind of a movie for audiences in general is to test themselves against the circumstances of the film and think: ‘Wow, what would I do if I was in that situation, I can barely breath watching this, let alone actually doing it. Could I hold my breath that long?’ I think that’s why we have nightmares. Our brain is running simulations to put us in jeopardy – to see what we’ll do. Or to acclimatize us to that idea that something bad could happen.

Following my brief moment of breathless claustrophobia while scuba diving, I had a series of nightmares over a period of several days. The dreams were likely an attempt on the part of my subconscious to come to terms with the sense of powerlessness that is inherent in being physically trapped, and confronted with one’s own limitations.

Each of the dreams brought me face to face with another potential outcome, another aspect of my fear, and another facet of my inner life, my nature, which is perhaps the most challenging thing to confront.

Sanctum The Pshycology of Survival

There were a kaleidoscope of alternating scenarios. In some, I was left alone, unable to breathe, far below the surface and left with no option but to rush towards an exterior that was too far away to reach. Alternatively, I would be literally bound, as if something was holding me down, forcing me to remain immobile, submerged in my own fear.

Each of these visions was an attempt for my mind to surrender – to reconcile itself to the reality of succumbing to something larger than myself, as all of us ultimately will.

Continue reading about the nature of sacrifice and survival…

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