Society Of The Snow - Movie Review

Critics Score - 9 of 10

General Audience Score - 8 of 10

Rugby isn’t a sport we get much of here in America, but in other countries, it’s one of the primary sports people enjoy watching. Back in the early 1970’s, a group of players from Uruguay boarded a plane headed from Montevideo, Uruguay to Santiago, Chile for a rugby match. In the middle of Oct., which was the start of their springtime, the plane carrying the team crashed in the Andes mountains and this true story is covered in the new Netflix film, Society Of The Snow. What transpired is the incredible account of how the survivors of the crash struggled to survive in one of the harshest environments imaginable for almost two and a half months before being rescued. This foreign film is in spoken Spanish and it comes from J.A. Bayona, the director that made The Impossible, a story about the tsunami that resulted from the 2004 earthquake in the Indian Ocean. Like Impossible, his new film is brutally realistic, both in its depiction of the initial plane crash and the desperate conditions that the surviving passengers had to endure. Despite pushing towards an almost two and a half hour runtime, the taut screenplay and incredible events that unfold will keep both general audiences and critics riveted. Don’t mind The Snow this winter and join this Society, it’s not just one of the best International films of 2023, it’s one of the best films of any kind.

SYNOPSIS - We get a sweeping camera shot of the snow covered mountains and valleys of the Andes mountains and we hear Spanish words as the voice of Numa (Enzo Vogrincic) speaks. He explains that he was one of the forty-five that boarded the plane that fateful day in 1972. As the camera continues to glide along some streams of ice cold water slicing through the snow covered mountains, Numa’s voice continues, “Some say it was a tragedy. Others call it a miracle.” Then he poses some questions to the audience about what happens when the world abandons you, you’re faced with death and starvation and it’s only you and the mountains. The scene cuts and we’re suddenly under a group of players in a rugby match, we get a couple quick shots of their faces as they struggle to push the pile. This group of men is comprised of two sides, each pushing the others directions, to get control of the ball. Once the ball makes it way outside the pile, it ends up in the hands of one of the team’s stars, Roberto (Matías Recalt), who despite the others calling for him to pass it, selfishly makes a run towards the goal line before getting tackled before he can score. Later in the locker room while the men are cutting it up, Nando (Agustín Pardella) gives Roberto a hard time for hogging the ball before asking for all the players for the fees they need to pay for the trip to their next match in Chile.

We’re next taken to a church service, we watch Numa sitting silently as the preacher reads from the Bible, speaking he says, “Man must live, not on bread alone . . . ”. One of the players, Pancho (Valentino Alonso), walks in late and makes his way up between the church isles as the sermon continues. He has a piece of paper in his hand which he has passed up though the rows to Numa, who we heard speaking to us during the intro. The note is a request for Numa to join the players on the flight to Chile, we discover that Numa is not one of the rugby players, but in one of the ensuing scenes, we watch him studying, he’s trying to become a lawyer. Some of his friends from the team meet with him over lunch and plead to get him to come meet the Chilean girls they know in Santiago. The next day we watch as the various young men arrive at the airport and step out of their various rides before boarding the aircraft on Oct. 12, 1972. But midway through the first act we watch as the flight transpires before our eyes, they begin to hit some turbulence and the plane struggles to climb up from one of the valleys between the mountain peaks. When I say this crash is a visceral experience, I mean it doesn’t pull any punches in how brutal it displays the insanely traumatic experience. The metal frame of the airplane crunches and crumples like aluminum foil, the bones in the legs and arms of passengers are snapped like twigs, the sounds of screaming from pain and terror are eclipsed by the aircraft being shredded by the force of the impact into thousands of pieces. The ensuing fight for survival by those that walk out of the wreckage are some of the most powerful and engaging sequences of cinema I’ve witnessed this year.

I really love movies based on real life events. But there are plenty of films that cover real life disasters, survival stories and tragedies that aren’t nearly as effective as Society Of The Snow. This film works so well because of the brilliant writing from J.A. Bayona. It structures this story out with moments of intense struggles for survival with quieter moments of connection and comradery between these men. Every time someone from the crash dies we’re given some onscreen text alerting us, we see their name and how old they were. Most of these young men were in their twenties, it’s truly heartbreaking their lives were cut short so young in life. Both the writing and direction from Bayona were very solid, it’s clear from his previous disaster film that he got a handle for how to construct this type of story on paper and then execute it onto the screen. Michael Giacchino’s score for the film, with its guitar, violin and piano work to flow with the film’s intense highs and delicate lows only added depth to the impact of it’s emotional moments. On the acting front, an excellent ensemble cast was lead by a truly fantastic performance from Enzo Vogrincic, his characters plight as the film gets into the second act was heartbreaking. Although it was more subtle, it was also a very emotionally raw performance and it was a highlight for me that I still find hard to shake from my mind. Along with so many of the film’s technicals, the makeup work as well was extremely well done. The chapping of the lips and mouths, dark eyes and sunken faces from the exposure to these extreme temperatures as well as the hunger made an indelible impression on me. With so many aspects of the film working at such an elevated level, it’s undeniably one of the best true stories that’s been put on screen that I’ve seen in quite some time.

SUMMARY -  The life and death conditions and starvation the survivors of the fateful Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 had to stare down is something that would make anyone consider the time they’re given a little closer. So don’t wait around for the Snow to melt this winter before you queue up and catch the utterly fantastic Society Of The Snow, coming in early January on Netflix.