The person who answered the phone seemed really casual. I mean if I called my mother a few days after she knew I was involved in a tsunami, she would be screaming or crying upon hearing my voice. Heck, I live about 650km/400 miles from where the Japan tsunami happened and even then my mom was calling me off the hook.
shareDepends on the family I guess... My Grandad is from Yorkshire and I'm pretty sure he would react in a similar way. He doesn't show emotion easily. I think it's important to remember that the family are in shock too and could explain unusual behaviour.
Take me as I am, or leave me the way you found me
If I'd phoned my family after I was involved in a devastating tsunami like that, they'd probably be saying "don't forget to bring back my duty free cigarettes, ok?"
share[deleted]
My first reaction was the same as yours.
But the tsunami hit Thailand at around 10am (i think) and in the movie it is dark outside when he makes the call. So the call could have been made maybe 8-15 hours after the tsunami hit. It is possible that the person he called had not heard about the tsunami yet due to time differences, not watching the news yet etc.
I think first time i heard about the tsunami was maybe 15-20 hours after it happened. I was sleeping when it happened and then went straight to work without watching or reading any news until later.
When he tells the person on the phone that Maria & Lucas are not there, the person replies something like "-not there? what do you mean not there?" and then he says that everyone was washed away and while telling that he breaks down. So that kind of gives a vague hint that they haven't heard about it yet.
From this scene I took that he was calling his father in law (Lucas tells the woman at the hospital that his grandfather's name is Brian and that's what the guy on the phone is called - by name, not as 'dad'). It MAY be a cultural thing but if it is I guess it's not JUST Brits (as this family was based on a real Spanish family and I'm sure they had some input to make this scene authentic as well as all the others) but I think the people 'at home' who know that you're in some kind of trouble be it a tsunami or a missing bank card (as happened to me once on holiday in Spain - not comparable 'peril' at ALL I realize but still), make every effort to 'be ready' for that 'emergency phone call'. I'm sure granddad was waiting for that call, he was ready with the answers "no, you're the first to call." etc. and realized and understood that the conversation HAD to be quick and get across maximum info & usefulness in minimum time.
My dad was drunk as a lord when the nice Spanish man with very little English called the 'home' listed in my address book, to tell him that he'd found my purse (wallet if you're American). By the time I realized I'd lost it, exhausted the powers of the hotel & the police & had resorted to an 'emergency call' (seems laughable in the face of THIS emergency call) home my dad was ready with a hazy but as it turned out, accurate account of what the man had said and I was able to piece it together and find him and get my purse back. The guy in the film was like my dad and that's exactly how I would have expected my dad to react if I'd been in the tsunami (I thank my lucky stars I wasn't). I'd defo call my dad. My mum would've been a blubbering wreck - she'd 'try' to be useful but she'd be incoherent and NOT quick.
I thought that the father-in-law's reactions were quite realistic. When he first picks up the phone, he says, "Thank God", or something like that, which means that he's clearly been worried about hearing from his daughter's family. He then asks whether everyone in the family is all right, which is also reasonable. He might have shown more anxiety about Maria and Lucas being missing, but by that time he was trying to calm Henry down in order to get a full picture of what had happened.
Given that the father-in-law knew that the phone call would have to be very short, he would have kept his responses to a minimum and just tried to get as much information from Henry as possible. Besides, I think there is a cultural factor. The father-in-law comes across as a traditional middle-class Englishman, who tend to be less demonstrative than many other cultures.
I agree. The man on the other end didn't show much emotion, but I figured he was trying to figure out what was going on, was probably confused and shocked himself and besides - Henry wouldn't let him get a word in edgewise.
He didn't want to panic or try to over talk Henry, who it seemed was having his first breakdown over the situation. So he just stayed calm and kept it short.
I've had that same phone they used.
shareThe demeanor of the person on the phone is much ado about nothing. Some people are just very stoic in the face of extreme stress and tragedy.
Listen to all the calls on 9/11, especially the mother of one of the men who died on Flight 93.
When she's leaving the message on his voicemail, telling him about the other attacks, and that the hijackers are on a suicide mission, and that he should try to do something to over power them, she's very calm, even though she knows he's probably going to die.