FilmSnobReviews

Title: Society of the Snow
Director: J.A. Bayona
Starring: Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Agustin Pardella, Esteban Bigliardi
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 2 hr 24 mins

What It Is: In 1972, a Uruguayan flight crashes in the remote heart of the Andes, forcing survivors to become each other’s best hope.

What We Think: “What happens when you’re abandoned by the world?” A disturbing and existential question that is answered through a cinematic feat of awesome, pure and adrenalized human nature. The real-life event itself is brutal enough, but translated to the screen through Bayona’s visual language it is the closest one could ever get to seeing this tragedy firsthand and understanding those who experienced it.

Many will claim it takes beats from other survival films (among those being The Grey, Buried or Bayona’s own The Impossible), but beyond its structure there is an outstanding quality that has no comparison – the cast. Such raw emotion is elusive to find, yet this ensemble is what gives this film dimension. It’s not just Enzo Vogrincic with his unbreakable, stoic portrayal of Numa Turcatti, or Agustin Pardella stepping into the determined shoes of Nando Parrado; every member of the group is a vital piece in this story. Their unification, carrying on from their sportsmanship team-like mentality to survival instinct, is what makes Society of the Snow such an enthralling watch – the fact that they are all Uruguayan or Argentine actors (some actual rugby players, like Simon Hempe) is also an undeniably genius casting move. There is no other way it could have been done.

That being said, there are phenomenal technical feats present here. The visual effects are brilliant melding of both practical and digital – this carries on to how the film was shot, between real-life frigid mountainscapes and soundstages. The result is indistinguishable and immerses you in the hellish environments presented in the film; one that comes to mind is the incredibly terrifying plane crash sequence, a complete mastery of editing, performance and practicality on all fronts. Never have I felt howling winds and deathly snowstorms this strongly in a theater – unrelenting sonorous landscape of a frozen nightmare. The score of Michael Giacchino comes in perfectly here, capturing horror and hope through scorching strings, the hymns of lost voices and the pounding of indigenous drums native to the mountains themselves, and elements of Uruguayan candombe adding an extra dimension to the characterization of the survivor’s struggle; a struggle that resonates as strongly as any orchestra.

Our Grade: A+; Society of the Snow will stand the test of time as the ultimate cinematic echo of unbelievable human survival, companionship and will; even when hope’s shadow dissolves into the ghostly white peaks. Tengo fé que esto cambiará o fortalecerá los pensamientos de muchos acerca de esta tragedia, ya que es un triunfo espectacular de dirección y actuación que reconoce los amigos eternos que se dieron la vida para que los demás podrán seguir viviendo. If you get the chance, see this one in a theater before it arrives on Netflix January 4th. Your eyes, ears and soul will thank you for it.