This story is also based on truth but then dramatised. The true story is that a friend of my parents went to Thailand at the time of the Tsunami and realising that the waves were about to come in had to grab both of his young children and took one in each arm and raced to safety. He later confessed to my Dad that he shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if he'd had another child to pick up. He's not sure he could have and safely escaped.
And so the story is based on the Tsunami. And putting it to where it was at its most devastating: Aceh. I imagine a man, a stepfather to three children. A good man. Taking on the responsibility of looking after a woman with three young children. They have their difficulties and they live in a horribly stressful place, divided by civil war. But on Boxing Day 2004 he is happily playing in the surf with his three step children. When it comes he has to act instinctively. He takes the two smallest and tells the eldest to run. But the eldest tries and tries but lags behind and can't get high enough to safety. He looks for him for days but there's no sign of him. And his wife can't forgive him. Eventually he has to leave and that is where we find him. Shuttling boats to and from Komodo. Broken. Quiet. Scared of children. We get an insight into his biography as the boat travels. See Y Tu Mama Tambien for the style. I can't decide whether it should be filmed or just narrated.
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