The story revolves around an incident in 1972, when a rugby team made up of Uruguayan university students crashed in the Andes of South America, and here, braving ice, frost and starvation, 16 of them miraculously survived the 72-day ordeal. . The film's director, J. A. Bayona, put ten years of work into properly treating the story of the survivors and commemorating the deceased at the same time, which is why he conducted in-depth interviews with those involved in the case, went out to the exact location of the shoot with his crew, and used the book on which it is based, Pablo Versi, on which He talked about this whole hellish journey from a literary point of view, but with the same precision.
The plane crash of Uruguayan youth was previously filmed by Hollywood, but in 1993 They survived Alive was never able to grow into a cult piece, thanks in part to the fact that actors like Ethan Hawke and Josh Hamilton were hired to play Latin American youth, who didn't appear to actually be from there. Therefore, the authenticity of this old movie was always in doubt, and there were many people who made fun of it as a “Disney” adaptation.
After his disastrous The Impossible and Jurassic World: Fallen Empire in 2012, which also worked with great set pieces despite their story flaws, JA Bayona has once again proven that he knows how to shock with spectacle. At the beginning of The Society of Snow, we see a plane crash that is so normal that, in retrospect, the plane crash that appears so many times in Lost seems like an evening fairy tale. In a snow society, bones are broken, people are crushed together, limbs are torn off, and then the survivors blink, bloodshot eyes, as they lie in the snow in a way that makes us believe them so unconditionally that they don't even know where they are.
The Snow Society works best when Bayona shows the suffering of the boys and the couple of relatives with them, new and new traumas: as they die one by one, succumbing to the bitter cold, but an avalanche falls on them and the realization that alone, cannibalism can keep them alive, and Peaks that in themselves break the human spirit. Not to mention together.
It's unfortunate that the writers fail miserably when it comes to character building, even though three other people worked on the script in addition to JA Bayona, the creators simply couldn't find the focus. In other words, a character who can be the protagonist. Furthermore, in over two hours of playtime, the creators were unable to give the characters a strong personality and backstory, and the large cast proved to be too much for them. We understand, in principle, that Noma (Enzo Vogrincic Roldan), who narrates the film, will be the central character, as well as Roberto (Matthias Reckalt) and Nando (Agustín Bardella), but they all remain very mysterious. It is impossible to identify them. This can make us feel like we are among them, a dizzying survivor drifting with the flow, trying to keep up with the others, but unfortunately, this is not a creative concept. It's almost a miracle that despite the lameness of the screenwriters, we can immerse ourselves in the snow community.
Considering that this is a film that tells the tragedy of an entire society rather than focusing on individuals, it is more defensible – but it is precisely because of the elusiveness of the heroes that the plot settles for about three-quarters of the film. game time. This is the point where the creator runs out of cocoa, there is nothing to shock us, but the dialogues don't work because individual destinies don't touch us.
No matter what, Netflix's new disaster movie hits the mark in terms of its emotionality. When the prospect of saving the men arises, we feel comfortable with them, shedding a few tears as we sit in front of the TV. What's more, the brilliant camera work, the action-packed scenes all put the finishing touches on the i, and thanks to Michael Giacchino's music, we get a pathetic film in a good sense, a hasty but earnest spiritual reminder that people clinging to each other can even survive. Impossible.
As for the previously mentioned cannibalism, JA Bayonas are surprisingly isolated from cannibalism. While the falls and successive deaths are shown in a harshly realistic manner, the camera is more coy about the cannibalism. Obviously this is out of respect for the survivors and the deceased, because real former rugby players were involved in the production, but in terms of the shock factor, the snow community suffers somewhat because the people of Bayona are not. Visually involved in the matter, they cover the chewed-up skeletons, as they say in a couple of passing sentences that religious young men suddenly break their faith and begin destroying the dead.
Among the role-playing games, one can't stand out due to the already mentioned poor writing. In fact, Bayona recruited new actors from South America, but none of them could show their artistic qualities, because they all remained mere paper mache.
Despite its glaring flaws, The Snow Society isn't a bad movie, and the plane crash scene alone is worth a shot. The moments of naturalness and survival are also amazing, and despite the fact that the writers are unable to draw the characters on TV in a complex way, what they see gives them an emotional boost. What's truly amazing is that the ending is comforting, and yet the Netflix movie comes together emotionally in the end. Usually, productions like this deteriorate into mediocrity due to the writers' faults, but here Bayona is such a good director that he makes up for it with the film's disastrous scenes, which he spoils. This is also an achievement in itself. Even if this is not an Oscar worthy work.
7/10
Snow Society is available on Netflix with Hungarian dubbing and subtitles.
