Society of the Snow

This isn't just a movie; it’s a beautifully raw, historically accurate tribute to one of the greatest survival stories in human history. Everything here actually happened in 1972 when a Uruguayan rugby team crashed in the Andes for 72 days. The way the director shows their bond, the crushing reality of what they had to do to survive, and the absolute heroism of Roberto and Nando walking across the mountains for help is unforgettable. It didn't just get nominated for 2 Oscars and win 12 Goya awards for its visuals—it won because it shows the true depth of human resilience. If you think the beginning is slow, keep watching. The emotional payoff at the end will break you. A certified masterpiece."  

Recounts the famous story of an Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes, killing many, with many others dying of starvation, injury afterwards, but how 27 went on to survive for 72 days against all the odds, but which required them to resort to cannibalism. It's difficult when you watch a film that has been so highly praised and it doesn't really do it for you. I'd seen 'Alive' years ago and quite liked it but was prepared for a better film telling a less Hollywood version of events. Whilst I thought there was much to admire here - good acting, you felt their isolation, it looked tremendous and reflected well an amazing story, I did get rather bored. What dragged me down was that the bulk of the film - snow / fuselage / cannibalism / slow death / undernourishment etc just seemed never ending and it all felt the same and blurred into one long snowy depression. The last 20 minutes certainly compensated for this and was certainly moving - it just took too long to get there. Sorry.

The story itself is extremely powerful. The fact that it's very real makes it so much better, I honestly would think the whole thing is too much to maintain my suspension of disbelief, but IT DID really happen. There's a lot of emphasis on a particular concern that made this whole accident famous worldwide, but I think they linger a bit too much on it. In general, the issue is that this movie is incredibly sluggish and boring. I think they could have easily trimmed away 30 minutes and it would have worked much much better. The ending is definitely the best part of the movie, but the rest just refuses to get to the point.

STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful The true life story of a Uraguyan rugby team, who in October 1972, crash landed by plane in the Andes mountains on their way to play a rival team in Chile. With no sign of any rescue coming, and forced to go days without food and water, the 29 who survived out of the 45 on the plane, find themselves forced to resort to cannibalism, which leaves a horrific stain on their hearts and souls, before embarking on a desperate quest for survival. Although I never saw it (I was too young and my mom wouldn't let me), I do still remember the film Alive from 1992, which depicted the same incredibly true life tale that has now been dramatised by writer/director J. A. Bayona in this epic foreign language effort. It's such an astonishing true life tale that it does warrant a second big screen re-telling, especially after such a large passage of time, and Bayona has certainly pulled the cat out of the bag, and delivered a marvellous, full scale drama, that gives a wonderfully human touch to its subjects. With a two and a half hour runtime to work through, Bayona doesn't take too much time establishing the characters, or developing them much, other than enforcing that they're all great friends, but quickly creating a sense of isolation and claustrophobia, with a group of ordinary people plunged into a terrifying situation that nobody could imagine. The survivors, even with the desperation of their situation, and their own fate on the line, remain genuinely torn between their sense of morality and survival, when the proposition of cannibalism is posed. While the length does cause it to drag in places, this actually adds a further degree of realism, as this must have been the case for the survivors in reality. It's the simple things, like a scene where a rhyming game is used for humourous effects, that gives it this simple realism that separates it from the theatricality of a Hollywood production. In a tale of such desperation and hopelessness, it's nice to have some sense of respite, and there is some beautiful, sweeping cinematography of the snow soaked Andes mountains, awesome beauty in the face of a living Hell. This is a riveting tale, of a true life tragedy that claimed a number of innocent lives, and no doubt led to change so that nothing like it could happen again. But also, that survival can be a truly viable real life option. ****