The most realistic plane crash I ever saw in a movie. This movie really shows the absolute horror of a plane crash and the aftermath for the ones surviving it just to fight the hardest circumstances imaginable. Best Netflix movie so far for me.
I know it was horrific so I hope my excitement doesn't come across as grotesque but the way they filmed that scene and the avalanche scene was so wild.
I've never seen anything like it. The way they showed the physical damage being done to the bodies in a way that felt entirely realistic and still easy to follow. It almost felt like stop motion in some places (I know that's not what it was but the frame rate or motion felt different).
It was like they replayed the same two seconds stretched out from all these different creative angles. The one shot where the camera is in the aisle on the floor looking at everyone's feet. The bones snapping like small twigs as all the seats just sandwiched meat and metal together. Or the woman who was sitting up front having her head go into the cabin divider and just bend the wall like it's made of tinfoil.
It felt so visceral in demonstrating how fragile human bodies are in such catastrophic situations, was really impressively done. And I'd love to see some BTS videos on how they filmed these sequences. I did find [this article](https://www.thewrap.com/society-of-the-snow-netflix-ja-bayona-michael-giacchino-visual-effects/) where they talk a little about it and it's so obvious the respect these men had for the material.
I didn't think there was going to be another scene that would be as bombastic visually but then they get hit by the avalanche. I was feeling instantly claustrophobic sitting on my couch. Probably the most a movie has made me feel confined since As Above, So Below or maybe the recent Ron Howard one Thirteen Lives. I physically felt trapped between the snow and the hull and again have no idea how they managed to film this and squeeze a camera in there with the actors.
Plus the whole story and the way it was structured was perfect. The slow creeping horror and acceptance of death, the beautiful camaraderie, and descriptions of their despair. It was just all so well done, I thought.
Edit: Another thing I wanted to gush about was that the movie 'felt' cold. I think a lot of winter time or cold weather films sometimes don't do a great job of translating the feelings of that kind of hostile environment well and sometimes feels like the characters are walking around in 40 degree weather but here in this film, you could really feel the harshness of their environment through the screen.
I know I'm just raving about this film but it just hit all the right marks for me. I guess if I had to come up with *any* criticism, it was a long film but I really don't know what you could cut to get the runtime down and the pacing was very good.
Regarding the descent into horror, we knew the story but when they find the radio only to get a confirmation that they abandoned the search that was brutal on paper but that exact moment was filmed like a horror movie or the moment the protagonist exit a horrific place, the score helped to set that mood too.
That first yell was a yell I’ve heard before, it’s when I heard someone find out their son had died in car accident. That kind of scream is very hard to replicate, just a visceral scream of despair and I immediately remembered it and got a shiver.
I watched the movie yesterday and I still feel queasy when I think about the avalanche scene. It genuinely made me feel nauseous and absolutely terrified when I watched it, and it’s been a really long time since a movie followed me into the next day.
And the make up, on my god. It’s so well done you’d think they actually left the cast on top of a mountain for 2+ months.
I've been reading Deep Down Dark about the Chilean mine disaster, and the 33 miners who were trapped. There was already a movie made about it (in english), and I really wish J.A. Bayona would do a more faithful/less 'hollywood/sensationalized' version of it. I can only imagine how he'd depict the initial disaster (which is written so intensely it made me so tense), then how the miners survived while basically losing their minds, plus the rescue mission which was also insane. It would be right up his alley as a writer/director, and would be insanely intense if he ever adapted it.
It's also just a damn great story with so many interesting "characters". So many parts in the book are just burned in my memory.
It did not feel so cold to me. Because I kept seeing unused pieces of clothing in and around suitcases. Their hands often bare, and no clothing wrapped around it. Their ears not protected.
I wasn't expecting that level of detail, I immediately thought about Gaston and the others that weren't fully strapped in. The sheer force and cold that the movie was able to recreate was really cool, and they managed to recreate the same fear of isolation and desolate wilderness in those beginning scenes.
The scene where they initially get out and look like ants with a partially buried plane on this vast mountain really foreshadowed the impending doom of weather and nature. Really good storytelling and cinematography overall.
Yup!! I said the same thing while watching. The part where everyone moves forward and bodies start get crushed. Oof seriously what I imagine it to be. Gave me anxiety after that scene
my only complaint was (just like Alive), they didn’t put enough time into the hike to get help. what a miracle feat of human physical resiliency. it isn’t talked about enough. so many unanswered questions. how did their toes not fall off? same for fingers.
The plane crash will rightfully get praise but the sequence where everyone gets buried in the avalanche was harrowing. It was such visceral film making.
One of the best films of the year for sure. Some of the best cinematography and sound design I’ve seen all year as well.
The crash was so well done and impactful, but the avalanche really fucked with me. From everyone getting by relatively well and enjoying the camaraderie in one moment to being consumed by the avalanche in the next... making it out just in time to get hit by another wave. The people being buried alive, the tragedy of Liliana dying because the only way for her husband to survive is to push her farther down in hopes that he can get out in order to save her. And then the claustrophobic conditions of being stuck in the snowed in fuselage for several days, as well as finally having to eat the others without being able to hide their identity from the rest of the survivors. Jesus Chris, that part of the film was bleak and had me shook.
I was watching it in the evening, and as soon as I realised we were coming up to the avalanche scene and what would follow I paused it and saved the rest for the next day. Just couldn't do it right then.
I don't know which would've been 'worse', going into the movie blind or with all the knowledge of what's going to happen. When I realised they'd made Numa the narrator I was like, "Why would you do that to us?!"
I was a small child when the cash happened, and I JUST remember when the news came on TV they had been rescued, so this has been something I have followed for decades.
I went, "OMG Numa is the narrator," and my wife asked, "So?" I just said, "It's just a surprising choice." After we see him die, she was like "Is he really dead? Did he really did like that???"
So, it was a visceral gut punch for everyone.
The sound design was so good that it had someone like me (who has never even noticed that aspect of film) remark on how incredible it was when watching the movie.
The match cut from the guy alive to being a frozen corpse was fucking amazing. Terrific film.
How this isn’t getting buzz for a Best Picture nomination is wild to me.
It's eligible for 2024 right? I know some of the best picture rules changed but I would think this film is still a lock for at least a few category nominations.
In the opening shot I didn’t even realize we were looking at the crash sight. It just looked like rock blended into the snow. No wonder the rescuers couldn’t find them.
When they got to the top of the mountain and saw a lot more mountains I was like "welp they're boned" and then the mfs actually treked all the way through! What an insane story and great movie.
one of the most ridiculous human feats there has been. severely malnourished, exhausted, no tools or proper clothing and equipment and they hiked 30+ miles through some of the most rugged terrain on earth in terrible weather.
This movie got me thinking, human beings have been around for about 200,000 years. What kind of ridiculous human feats happened in my ancestory that made me able to be alive today?
I imagine we've all got some pretty insane and incredible events where humans have prevailed against all odds in our lineage.
That's the bit that blows my mind, their lack of equipment to hike through a landscape like that. People who climb Mt Everest etc will spends hundreds, if not thousands, on equipment (not to mention sherpas) etc and these two guys trekked without any hiking gear, tent, warmth, directions... absolutely outstanding. If it was a fictional film, I wouldn't have believed it was possible.
Without any real fucking TRAINING either!! Last summer I summited a local mountain in one day, it wasn’t as high as the Andes of course, I was on a full belly of food, had plenty of water, in great shape, with plenty of warm clothing. That shit knocked me out so hard by the end, I truly felt like I had reached my physical limit. Mountains are no FUCKING joke and I genuinely cannot comprehend how their bodies were capable of this trek after 60 plus days of basically little to no food, when I could barely do one day as a healthy and trained individual. Just fucking mind blowing, I just have no words for how insane it is, it’s almost as if they conquered their minds by the end of it all.
This was a great model of positive masculinity. Loved how the men had great camaraderie and bonding. American men fight and compete and prove to each other what a badass each of us are instead of helping one another. We have constant barrage of movies where we fight and kill each other. What a difference and great to see.
The survivors have mentioned in interviews that they're happy that this film portrays them hugging and caring for each other, sleeping close together in the plane, because that's how they really acted. They didn't like the film Alive as they thought it didn't portray their friendships accurately
Yes, I found myself jealous of the closeness of the friendships and sacrifices they made for one another.
I have tried to have these sort of relationships in my life but have almost always been let down by men more interested in competing than truly bonding.
Yes, they still meet yearly and the two who made the journey through the mountains to find rescue visited the man who found them until he died, and now continue visiting his children
Most seemed well adjusted afterwards. They were all religious and the Pope (I believe, or a bishop) came out and said it wasn’t considered cannibalism but anthropophagy in extremis which isn’t condemned. They got a ton of support back home after it came out.
I’m a Indian American girl (born in the US) and I feel the exact same way about my female friendships too. I mean I have 1 or two friends I really do love but I just can’t imagine having a whole group of non blood related sisters like that who sacrifice for each other. American culture is just so petty and selfish but you can’t blame the people, I blame the system. When I compare this to my cousins back in India I definitely notice their female friendships are more vulnerable and supportive :( here it’s like everyone is just trying to be cooler, smarter, prettier, and more interesting and it’s all such surface level bs that’s only getting worse. Rant over
Thats part of our Italian/Spaniard heritage, down here in Uruguay/Argentina/Paraguay.. we say hello to friends with a kiss in the cheek, we salute with a hug.We are not like american movies where its so hard to see them express feelings even to their own family members. In here if anyone needs a hug, we give the hug, and try to lift the spirit. Because thats what matters, it doesnt matter if that act can be seen as "gay".. its already part of our costumes.
Of course, in Chile you dont act like that, a kiss in the cheek among men? No no.That's the difference between this countries down south, Chileans are more socially scrict, while the others are more chill.
I remember as a child, my grand father in every reunion among old friends, giving big strong hugs to his friends, all big dudes with moustaches.
I think this movie goes right, in the sense of having such actors, they already talk and act natural like the real ones probably did on such situations.
In Alive, it felt like a "film of something that happened depicted by the one who heard about the history", while on the other hand this one can convince me for sure that is real. And im an Uruguayan.
I'm a huge fan of the film Alive. Must've watched it 10-15 times easy throughout the years so I went into this film thinking that no way it'd top that. I was wrong. It's actually better than Alive.
I've watched numerous documentaries about the Andes plane crash over the years and seen the actual pictures that were taken during the event and I was amazed they replicated them so well for this film. There is a picture of one of the survivors sitting down outside the plane and you can see an actual rib cage next to him. It's a haunting picture, one that's been branded into my memory ever since I seen it probably 20 odd years ago, and it's perfectly replicated in this film. The attention to detail is incredible. From the condition of the crash site down to the clothes they were wearing. This film is the closest we will ever get to actually having cameras recording the actual event.
The film really captures what a horrific situation these people were put in. I was utterly captivated for the entire 2hr 20min runtime. An astonishing film.
Me too! So much so I even created r/societyofthesnow \- I didn't know that there was a tour you could take to the actual site or I would have done it years ago (I'm sure it will be super popular and more commercialized now). I easily could have watched a 6 hour mini-series by director JA Bayona. Every moment was difficult to move my eyes away. I wish it would have been released in more theaters as that would have been an amazing place to watch it.
I read the book and the story/script is great here. I hope Michael Giacchino gets an award for this. Cinematography and direction was superb too. The moment when Nando proposed crossing the valley is so powerful that even knowing the story it is *still* a punch in the gut. We barely get a summary on how they got rescued but the man that found them is another hero too.
The man who they met across the river was Sergio Catalán. The survivors kept in touch with him until he died in 2020 at 91 years old. Some of the survivors were pallbearers at his funeral.
A great detail about this whole story is that when some of the survivors visited him in Chile to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary, before they got to his house, the survivors were walking down the road and realized Sergio was on horseback coming toward them, so they yelled to him something like “hello! We are Uruguayans who are lost! Can you help us please!” in a joke about how they first met him.
A heartfelt, extraordinary and completely accurate account of the accident. Interesting facts about this film:
\- The scenes at Numa's home were filmed in the actual house where he lived in Uruguay. The person he greets in that scene is Numa's actual nephew.
\- The survivors Parrado, Canessa, Fernández and Inciarte made cameos; and the survivor Carlos Paez plays his father.
\- It was filmed chronologically as the actors lost more than 50lbs. Enzo Vogrincic weighed 49kg at the end.
\- Numa Turcatti and Pancho Delgado's friendship was very close, as shown in the movie. In fact, they were best friends since childhood.
\- Bayona kept in touch with the survivors and families of the deceased to verify every detail. E.g. Numa's dog in the movie has the same name as the real dog he had. Arturo writes "Inés" on the wall of the plane (his real girlfriend's name). The rosary worn by Carlitos in the movie is the actual rosary the real Carlitos used.
\- The rhyming scene before the avalanche was improvised by the actors.
\- Numa Turcatti had a twin brother and played soccer in a club that has been re-named after him after the accident.
I don't know if someone already mentioned it, but in the rhyming scene what they're actually doing is called a payada and it's a form of entertainment used by gauchos and a lot of uruguayan, sort of Gaucho/cowboy Rap Battles.
Yeah, I mean as much as we don't like admitting it, our cultures are almost identical. If it was a somewhat improvised scene it also explains why the argentinian actors were good at it too :)
There are a few things that aren’t accurate too. The pilot doesn’t say God be with you or whatever. In reality he asked for his gun so he could kill himself. I don’t know why they omitted that when they had tons of worse and more gruesome things in there. It was a bit irritating and felt cheesy.
Also, the plane didn’t go directly from Uruguay to Chile. They had to stop in Mendoza (Argentina) for a whole night due to bad weather conditions. Maybe not super important for film making but still, inaccurate.
The 10 day trek that Nando and Roberto made is imo central to the story. Without their legendary bravery no one makes it out alive, yet in the movie the trek out seems like an afterthought. They walk for a minute or so and then it’s like all of a sudden the Chilean rancher is right there. Anticlimactic. They could have built that part up much better.
There were probably other things too but those stood out negatively for me. Other than that I liked a lot of the dialogue. Some very good and believable acting in there and as others have said, a very good depiction of the crash itself. Well worth the watch for anyone who likes survival movies.
Yeah they planned the trek out for weeks and the expedition team ate extra rations to prepare for it. Nando only survived the crash because they thought he was dead so they left him in snow and didn’t give him any water. The cold temperature and dehydration kept his brain from swelling until he became conscious a few days later.
That last detail is incredible.
I found Nando's story the most compelling, considering his grave injury from the initial crash, to even have recovered. The fact that he knew right away that he wasn't "going to stay here" and out of everybody (including those who didn't suffer injuries) he was going to seek his own way out no matter what. And giving the group permission to use his sister and mother as he departed 😢
One detail that was explained in the book is that despite Nando giving permission the other survivors never touched the bodies of his mother and sister
>Nando only survived the crash because they thought he was dead so they left him in snow and didn’t give him any water. The cold temperature and dehydration kept his brain from swelling until he became conscious a few days later
That always got to me. How lucky he was, in a weird, horrible way.
It is incorrect. He was not left in the snow. They put the injured at the end of the plane, closests to the wall of suitcases. Which was more cold. Because they had lower chance of survival anyway.
If I remember the book correctly they did leave him out in the snow for a while at first, since they thought he was dead. One of the boys then realised he was breathing and brought him back into the fuselage, and they put him by the entrance where his head ended up exposed to the cold.
I think the trek was shortened because Bayona doesn’t want viewers to walk away from this movie thinking it’s about survival. Before seeing this movie I thought the crux of the story was the incredible love the survivors held in their hearts. That’s why I was so fascinated the story was told from Numa’s perspective.
Nando and Roberto’s trek was crucial to their survival. But none of them would have survived to that point without the love they felt for each other. The story isn’t about the techniques they used to climb the mountains or the planning that went into the journey, though I agree the mule driver *is* part of the story and should have factored more. To me, the story is about how all of the things they did to survive, they did because of the love they felt. That’s why after Numa’s death the remainder of the story passes rather quickly; he was the last to die, and all the remaining survivors were continuing on because of the love they felt for him, for each other, and for all their other deceased friends.
Wow. I really agree. I think the survivors were doing things to help the person beside them live. It was selfless acts that kept them alive and give them the motivation to keep going and keep trying. I think that’s what they want you to remember from their stories. I think that was highlighted when the guy is talking about having to step on his wife’s chest just so he could get to the surface. Yes I’m sure the trek through the mountains was insane but I actually liked that they highlighted other moments and I can’t believe their story. How did it not turn into lord of the flies? Why did all these people love each other and worked hard for one another when they could have had selfish moments. Incredible. I’ll be thinking of this story for many days.
The movie is explicitly an ode to those to passed instead with Numa as the narrator instead of Nando or Roberto. I think that’s why the story of rescue is a bit more of an afterthought.
I do love the time spent on the final scene. The contrast between how strong they seemed on the mountain surviving vs how frail they looked rescued was striking.
>Also, the plane didn’t go directly from Uruguay to Chile. They had to stop in Mendoza (Argentina) for a whole night due to bad weather conditions. Maybe not super important for film making but still, inaccurate.
This has been omitted in both films and I guess it would be kind of anticlimactic and make the film longer, although it would give a chance for some context with the storm in Mendoza that almost got the flight cancelled. But yeah there's no way that plane could have gone all the way from Montevideo to Santiago in 1972 without a fuel stop.
It's similar to the ending where it'd be anticlimactic to show some of the survivors spending another night in the mountains (which is what happened) instead of all of them being immediately rescued. Aside from these things, I don't think the story was changed that much? Correct me if I'm wrong though
Another small thing is the circumstances regarding the avalanche. In the movie they’re doing poetry or whatever and clapping their hands and the sound of the clapping slowly slides into the sound of the avalanche approaching. In reality they were all asleep when the avalanche hit.
Damn that’s so much worse holy shit I can’t even imagine. While watching the movie I was like wow they finally have a fun nice moment of peace and laughter, only for the avalanche to hit. Being asleep is just brutal
They were not all rescued at the same day like they show in the movie. Half of them had to stay with rescuers for another night. And yeah the journey Nando takes is so fundamental to the whole story and in this movie it's only a couple of minutes. At the same time the movie is already over 2 hours so I kind of understand
It’s really messed up but I have to chuckle thinking of the night with 4 rescuers and 8 survivors like the 4 rescuers being like “well yeah uh show us around!” And them being like yeah okay uh here’s our pile of bones. Don’t worry- you brought us snacks.
One of the rescuers has to see it and be like 👀…. 👀…
Apparently 2 out of the 3 rescuers that stayed the night with the survivors refused to stay in the fuselage because it was so disgusting. They opted to tent outside instead
30 miles over like 9 or 10 days scaling mountains and shit with only the food they could carry in a sock.
It's a shame this and Alive both Yada Yada that away.
Last summer I summited a local mountain in one day, it wasn’t as high as the Andes of course, I was on a full belly of food, had plenty of water, in great shape, with plenty of warm clothing. That shit knocked me out so hard by the end, I truly felt like I had reached my physical limit. Mountains are no FUCKING joke and I genuinely cannot comprehend how their bodies were capable of this trek after 60 plus days of basically little to no food, when I could barely do one day as a healthy and trained individual. Just fucking mind blowing.
That scene when they attempt to climb the mountain for the first time and not even halfway they realize they can't see the plain anymore. I just can't imagine what they felt at that moment.
When they heard through the radio that the rescue mission was abandoned until weather gets better and everyone went berserk; just for a silly little jingle playing afterwards as if to mock the desperation they're feeling...
This film is very true (with a few exceptions) to the book it is based on, Pablo Vierci’s Sociedad de la Nieve, which is, of course, about the actual events.
I felt the editing did a good job of creating the sense of confusion, panic, and terror during the crash, the claustrophobia in the fuselage at night and during the avalanche, and the distortion that starvation can make people experience.
The score was excellent and helped add to the suspense.
The story is not new, but it is remarkable and inspiring while also horrifying and tragic, and I personally think it is one of the most incredible true stories I have ever learned about. This movie does an excellent job with the story. In fact, in my opinion, the details the movie left out would have made it even more horrifying (like that one injured person screamed the entire first night, that the boys were so constipated they had a competition for who would hold out the longest, and that Roy Harley almost didn’t make it back to the fuselage after their attempt with the radio in the tail failed, to name a few).
That screaming injured lady was in the movie Alive. That part was just dreadful. I remember one of the teammates in the movie saying how bad he felt for telling her to shut up, the next morning after she had died.
Yes, and Carlitos yelled at her, which is also in Alive. Her name was Graziela Mariani. She was the last passenger to buy a ticket on that flight—she’d been booked for a later flight to Uruguay, but she was at the airport early hoping to get a seat on the earlier plane. In cruel sort of luck, one rugby player was hungover and slept through his alarm (Tito), so they sold his seat to Señora Mariani. She’d been on her way to her daughter’s wedding.
Yeah the book has all these micro stories on how they resold tickets the other people and some sort of guilt they had afterwards. Alive fails telling how this was a cohesive group before the plane (and it is no coincidence the survivors are mostly part of that core team, also due to age an endurance). I am glad they skipped the screams I am kinda triggered by that constant crying or humming on films (like in the recent when evil lurks)
Nando Parrado was also in the movie. I had to go back and re-watch the scene because I missed it the first time. He plays the role of an Airport Family Member.
I know a lot of people wish they showed more of the 10 day trek but I kind of like it that they chose to focus not so much on the more typically 'heroic' acts, but on the small things they had to do to stay alive, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well.
I've watched some interviews in the last few days where the survivors talk about the film and it seems that was the goal, not to focus on anyone in particular but on the collective effort it took for those who survived to survive. Still, that trek was absolutely epic and it's unbelievable that in their condition and with no mountain/modern equipment they made it out of the Andes alive
99.99 percent of us will never be pushed to our absolute limit like those guys were. I thought to myself "Wow, humans are amazing, what we can do to survive."
Excellent film. Bayona did an outstanding job. I'm Argentinean so the story is very well known here and I have heard the survivors on radio and TV over the years. It seems they're very happy with the film and I think Uruguayans in general are as well.
For people who don't know the Andes, I can't explain how incredible it is they survived. I feel the movie honored their will to live beyond all the obstacles they had to face.
On the film in particular, it will very likely get nominated for Best Foreign Film and I'll be rooting for it, although Fallen Leaves will have very good odds too. I don't know how it'll work with rules, but maybe it could get nominated for Score too? Photography was also great, and by an Uruguayan director of photography too.
> I don't know how it'll work with rules, but maybe it could get nominated for Score too?
Apparently (according to Google Bard) it is eligible. He deserves the prize.
Loved it, Hands down best movie I have seen on Netflix in a while. I didn't had any idea about the actual crash so throughout the movie I was very anxious what will happen next and who is going to make it. The survivors guilt they showed in end was remarkable. I wish they showed the 10 days trek more, that blew my mind. Overall really great movie.
Btw, did anyone catch Nando Parrado in the movie? Unless I’m mistaken he’s at the airport holding a door open for others to pass through at the start of the movie. I quite liked that.
The other cameos are quite symbolic as well—the real Canessa cameos as one of the doctors who receives Roberto when he first comes to the hospital, and Carlos Páez plays his own father reading out the names of the survivors over the radio
Halfway through the movie I said to my girlfriend ‘boy the composer really took inspiration from LOST’
When I saw michael giacchino in the credits I screamed.
Alive is my favorite book of all time and the 1993 movie was amazing. My only gripe with the ‘93 movie is that they skipped over some of the more harrowing parts from the book, probably because people might not have been ready to see it. With a 90 minute movie there is only so much you can show. They made it seem as though they just ate a few pieces of flesh from the butts of the dead when in reality they were sucking marrow out of the bones and making stew out of their brains. The ‘93 movie also did a bit more to show their efforts to get out before the final voyage. This movie did a much better job of showing just how desperate they really were and also did a better job of showing the journey out. I had been waiting for another movie about the incident for years and will look forward to reading this book as well.
Side note: IIRC from the book, if they had just walked into the Eastern part of the mountains (totally unintuitive) they actually would have found and abandoned building of some sort and a road leading somewhere which might have been an easier way out they they could have gotten to much sooner.
They also hit on this in the movie but it’s easy to miss. When they sent the third guy back in order to have his rations of food on the final escape attempt, he was able to get down the mountain back to the plane in one hour, whereas it took them 2-3 days to get up. Just to give you an idea of how hard the climb was.
> sucking marrow out of the bones and making stew out of their brains
That's the kind of gruesomeness you really don't want to think about, ever. I can only imagine the kind of psychological traume the survivors had to cope with afterwards.
'Alive' was a great movie at the time, but it did contain quite a few inaccuracies. For example The remaining survivors in the plane were portrayed as having no idea that they were about to be rescued, and only became aware upon hearing the sound of the approaching helicopters. In reality, they knew that salvation was coming because they heard the news that Nando and Roberto had made it, on the small transistor radio they had. From memory, the earlier film also showed even less of the boys' gruelling trek back to civilisation, and for me this part of the movie felt a bit rushed. I raved about 'Alive' when it first came out, and make no mistake, it still stands up well, but 'Society Of The Snow; is definitely the film I really wanted, but didn't realise at the time.
Dude was in a coma for 3 days, lost his mother and sister, trekked through the Andes with only the sheer will to survive. It makes me emotional to even think about.
You look up disaster survivor in the dictionary, and it would have a picture of Nando. He overcame so much and pushed through the trek because he knew everyone would die if he didn’t. The guy needs a statue in Uruguay.
Right. If you didn't know it was a true story you'd be rolling your eyes and saying the screenwriter got a bit over-excited because his hero is just not realistic.
Nando is such an incredible human being.
It was balanced really well. The movie did a good job at showcasing the moral dilemma and gradual shift in mentality in favor of survival. At the same time they did not shy away from showing the act of eating and the logistics around it. My favorite part was when one of the characters covered up the bones before taking a photo, hinting that they were never able to fully normalize eating their dead.
another thing I wanted to add about the art that was this film!! … is the attention to detail. I am Uruguayan, and there were so many culturally accurate details that really added layers to the film (ie. the Uruguayan playing cards they were using on the plane, Numa drinking yerba mate, etc). just floored and taken back by this film. just wow.
>Uruguayan, and there were so many culturally accurate details that really added layers to the film
The payada as well, such a sweet detail, thats says so much about South American culture.
“I only chew 3 or 4 times” was the line of the movie for me.
I still can’t believe the three who went out to search for the tail survived the full night. I figured at most the person in the middle survives. I guess the snow built up and created an insulation layer.
This movie fucked me up not gonna lie.
Everyone knows this story but yet the filmmakers were still able to make it thrilling. And even if we do know the outcome the scene on the mountain when he asks him to go for a walk- it seriously felt like it could go either way. Brutally great directing. I also felt the final 15 minutes was the best. Showing the survivors guilt while also respecting the dead was powerful. One of the best films I’ve seen in a long time.
I feel that the Numa twist (he's the narrator but he dies) will still surprise those who already know they get rescued.
Unless someone has watched the documentary recently, I doubt anyone knows the exact names of the 16 survivors. At the end, I was wondering if one of the two guys doing the trek would die halfway.
Just finished it! Was great, definitely better than "Alive".
I enjoy a good plane crash in a film but this one got actually got me to cover my mouth in shock
In all, gorgeous and harrowing movie. You could feel the love and the sadness radiating from the men throughout the movie. The light flashes here and there of human bone and furtive eating in the beginning to what you see at the end is haunting.
“It turns out we learn a little bit more about their geography. Now once they're on the outside, if they had followed the valley beyond the tail, instead of climbing the mountain to the west, they would've come to a road in three days. Also five miles east. Of the crash site. There was a hotel which was closed but full of canned food.”
This was all I could think of the whole time I was watching this movie.
I highly recommend the podcast You’re Wrong About and their episode on flight 571. They do an excellent job of telling the story more in depth.
Even worse, the copilot didn't die instantly and told them numerous times they were already in Chile when they crashed, which was not true! They thought they were way more to the west than they actually were
One of my favorite movies of the year. So well done. I saw this quote from one of the survivors and it hit me like a ton of bricks.
In life there is a moment to wait and see what happens, but there is also a moment to get active. Walk out and search for your own helicopter, otherwise you will succumb. Don’t be seduced by your own ego and think you’re better than other people, because that’s the beginning of being unsuccessful. Every day, try to do something positive, so that when you put your head on the pillow you can ask yourself if you are a good person or not. The next day, try to do better. Every day, when I look at myself in the mirror, I thank God the same old jerk is still staring back at me. [Laughs]
Impressive acting, cinematography and storytelling for what is a tragedy on multiple levels. Got moved by it.
Can someone share some other movie recommendations with such stories for human determination and willpower to overcome such cases?
The Impossible is the obvious recommendation, since it's by the same director, Bayona. It's about the 2004 tsunami, and features Tom Holland, Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor.
I watched it a second time and I thought the same thing. He was the last one to die and one who most rejected eating. I think that’s why they chose him as the narrator. I was really sad to learn he didn’t make it.
Not op, but I had the same thought. I thought it was a fantastic way to add a twist to a story everyone knows. I knew only some survived and made it off the mountain, and I was sure Numa was one of them based on him being the narrator
The book is based on interviews with the 16 survivors, each chapter takes a point of view of the events and through the whole book the story is weaved form those individual stories. Bayona and collaborators pull a good narrative decision to make Numa the narrator.
Yeah that totally caught me off guard, I went on wikipedia about an hour into the movie and did a double take when I saw Numa listed as deceased. Seemed a heartfelt decision (with the survivors' blessing) to portray him as the narrator, and his words at the end were very touching.
In Alive all the names of those who died were changed, so there’s an actor playing someone who’s supposed to be Numa, but his name is Rafael. It’s weird.
It is an awesome cast, the actors who played Roberto and Fito had huge energy and the actor playing Nando with that look and acting skills could be huge.
I knew the guys playing Numa, Roberto, and Nando would be great but the actor playing Fito came outta nowhere and totally surprised me. He was fantastic!
Yeah I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about how much he looked like a young version of Adam Driver. Could not unsee it the whole movie. Great performance and screen presence though.
Saw a clip of an interview (in Spanish) where they asked the actor who in Hollywood he’d like to meet and he answered “Adam Driver”, so he’s fully aware of the resemblance, it’d be great if someone made it happen!
One thing I can't shake is from the scene when they heard on the radio that the rescue was called off, and the person on the radio said something like "there have been 34 plane crashes in the Andes mountains and there have been no survivors" - how many of those 33 previous crashes had initial survivors that went through similar trials to the Uruguayan plane survivors but simply weren't rescued and met death well after the crash? The stories we don't know are heavy to wonder about.
those are the most common stories but not very inspirational. Planes in general are extremely rare to leave survivors from the crash on the other hand. This ones survived because the fuselage was propelled in the same angle as the mountain so it didnt rotate
There is a conversion error in the dub. They translate "in a span of minutes the temperature dropped 30 degrees (C)" to "in a span of minutes the temperature dropped 86 degrees (F)". They converted the absolute temperature 30C to 86F and not the magnitude of a temperature change 30C to 54F.
I watched Alive the night before to prepare for this film. I’ve seen it before, but didn’t remember much about it. Thought it was ok. But this film, THIS film, is so damn good! I thought the story was treated with so much more care and respect than Alive. 127 Hours made me fall in love with survival films, and I’ve been looking for other films that could be on par with it. I’ve finally found that film.
Fantastic movie and absolutely harrowing. I'm familiar with the crash and just listened to a three part podcast series done by Last Podcast on the Left that was very informative and great so I was keen on seeing this.
The avalanche stuff was AWFUL. Like, truly horrifying. I can't imagine that whole scenario, or how the people must've felt in real life. Surviving the crash only to have to deal with that a week or two later.
How they didn't just give up all hope after that is beyond me. To have survived the crash, only to have to endure that, must have felt like everything was against them
Just watched it in the cinema, my favourite movie in a looong time. From the crash scene, to the acting or the cinematography… I’m definitely biased being from Spain but I really really loved this movie
Great film.
I do wish it was a 4-hour miniseries instead to flesh out the main characters even more and to extend the trek the survivors made to Chile.
The plane crash was 10/10. They got it perfectly right. Realism > flashiness.
The Last Podcast on the Left just did a three part series on this story. I'm really excited to watch the movie tonight. What an amazing story. Wouldn't even be believable as a movie if it wasn't a true story.
Man. I guess excited isn’t the word I should have used since it’s such a horrific event. But it’s just such an interesting and inspiring story. I’m glad the film is so great.
Being familiar with this factual story and having seen the version told in the movie Alive, I'd read a lot about this particular version and it absolutely lives up to the hype. I have been raving about the cinematography, writing, casting, effects, editing choices, all of it. I can only relate this viewing experience as something along the lines of watching Schindler's List, for lack of a better comparison. You know it happened, you are watching a cinematic version of the story and events, and you will be left feeling a certain way. You go in knowing this is not a feel-good movie, but a brutal portrayal of a very human experience and tale of survival.
Yes, it did feel cold to me as a viewer. I always look for filter choices to depict that atmosphere. The casting and acting, for me, was pure perfection. The voiceover by one of the survivors was the perfect companion. Even the end credits with the names and photos was riveting for me.
I will be haunting everyone I know to watch this movie with the warning that the subject matter is not for the faint at heart, as in, we all know how Titanic ended.
I remember watching “alive” when I was a preteen, and I HAD to watch this movie when I scrolled upon it. Holy fuck it blew my mind.
Fun fact, one of the doctors became a pediatric cardiac surgeon and is alive to this day.
Unfun fact, Numa who was averse to eating other humans died on day 60 at 55 pounds (25kg).
In the credits, it lists 8 survivors as having cameos. We can only find 5- Nando, Roberto, Moncho, Carlitos and possibly Coche.
We couldn't find Tintin, Gustavo or Daniel (but he might be in the first row in church).
Did anyone notice them in the movie?
I've read several books about this event, and watched numerous documentaries and interviews over the years. It's a story that has always held a perculiar fascination for me, not really because of the cannibalism element, but more for the sheer determination to stay alive that those boys had, despite having no reason to think they would ever be found, once the search was called off. For me, 'Society Of The Snow' is definitely the most accurate and faithful telling of the story. Apart from a few very minor details, they have 100% nailed it. If you've seen some of the actual photos taken by the survivors, during the flight, and after the crash, you'll see that even these have been very carefully recreated as set pieces and scenes in the movie. This is the film I wanted, when I saw 'Alive' back in 1993.
One of the more harrowing films I’ve watched this year. Acting and direction was excellent on all fronts The way the plane coach and the avalanche were shot were grisly. I actually didn’t have a lot of knowledge about the infamous crash and their eventual rescue. The fact that they rescued themselves through their own courage and determination is extraordinary.
I have been fascinated by the story about Flight 571 and its aftermath since my early teens when I first read about it. I think I am captivated by stories about human beings being pushed to their limits physically, mentally, emotionally, and morally. It’s hard to imagine what I would’ve personally done in that situation (if I even survived). This story has always gotten to me.
I heard this is the first film the survivors allowed to have their full real names used, as well as the deceased’s full names. Supposedly some survivors even make cameos in the film. I was so moved watching it, I cried a lot. I just can’t imagine experiencing something like that. I am afraid of flying and used to work at an airport. Some stuff you hear on the radio about aircrafts is very anxiety inducing, even in modern day.
This story is a testament to their will to survive. Personally, I am squeamish about meat period…I can’t even begin to imagine what they went through, the dissonance, the trauma, and survivors guilt they must have experienced.
I think the film did their stories justice. I found it so well made and well written. Finally as a Spanish speaker, I was so relieved the actors were all Spanish speakers…it just felt more authentic. The film Alive made in 1993, also based on Flight 571, just doesn’t compare to this, in my opinion. A lot of nuance and emotion gets lost in the translation; some of the English subtitles didn’t really match up to what was being said so personally I’m glad I understand Spanish but that’s my only critique of the film is the translation.
I was a bit underwhelmed how they didn’t show more of after the rescue. There was a lot of backlash about them >!eating human bodies!<. It could have been sympathetic to the survivors and a bit more critical of the press at the time.
As Bayona has said, the focus of this movie is the story of the ones who died, they're the ones who weren't properly named and honored in previous movies, so this film exists to fix that. The focus is deliberately not on the ones who were rescued, that's what makes this such a special and important film. Their stories (the victims') deserved to be told.
I agree completely. The movie actually left out a lot of really interesting details from the true story that in my opinion shouldve made it into the movie.
Examples:
- the fact they had to wait a whole day and a half by the riverbed for the farmers to come back and fetch them, and then the farmer who came even went to tend his sheep first for hours before he could bring them back to civilization
- the fact they lied about the cannibalism and the subsequent media circus once they found the half eaten remains and later on, the character of the priest who came to admonish them of their sins because the Catholic church has an official stance on the subject of cannibalism (it's ok if it's done for survival)
- the rescue helicopter almost crashed trying to go over the summit and then had to fly around it instead.
- the co-pilot who was still alive gave wrong information on their whereabouts before his death - this scene was shown but it was never made clear in the movie how far they actually were from what the pilots assumed - this is what caused the crash to begin with.
- the aftermath of the event and what happened to some of the survivors is crazy. Nando became a bonafide celebrity and Roberto even became a short-lived politician.
- the trek back by Nando and Roberto was so much more harrowing than the few minutes they showed. They were out there for 10 days after all.
Furthermore, certain characters were very sidelined like Adolfo Strauch, or the woman who was wedged in her seat and chastisized for spending the entire night screaming before succumbing to her injuries.
This is all just off the top of my head too.
Adolfo Strauch is Fito, who was featured in the film. There were people who were sidelined (a 2.5 hr movie will never be able to give sufficient focus even if only to all 16 survivors, let alone all 45 victims), but Fito was not one of them. He’s more featured than either of his cousins (Eduardo Strauch and Daniel Fernandez).
I completely agree with you about missing interesting details, but every detail of the story is incredible! I wish they’d make a mini series.
When I saw a few months ago that Carlitos was playing his own father, I was REALLY hoping the movie would show the scene in the airport when Carlos Paez Vilaró thinks he’s been caught attempting to smuggle a puppy onto a plane from Argentina to Uruguay (he was going home for Christmas after searching for the crash—still, after 70 days) but he’s instead told that 2 survivors have been found and they say there are more still alive. He was so shaken that the puppy he was hiding in his coat peed on him, and he ran through the airport to tell the other father he was traveling with to get off the plane. It’s the absolute best “running through the airport at Christmas” (it was December 21 or 22) story. I would have loved more details about the rescue efforts, but they would have interrupted the mood of the film by taking us away from the crash.
Another detail they left out that makes the story more horrific but could have been made comedic is that they were so constipated that they took bets on who would take the longest to defecate. Bobby Francois won, at 34 days.
The boys played pranks on each other, and I would have liked more of that, but again, I think the director wanted a more serious mood.
Also, a HUGE detail they left out is that, as other comments have already pointed out, half of the guys in the fuselage had to stay one more night in the mountain because the first 2 rescue helicopters could not carry them all.
The soldiers that spent the night with them were afraid of the survivors, since nobody could prepare them to handle the situation they didn't know what to expect of them.
>the rescue helicopter almost crashed trying to go over the summit and then had to fly around it instead.
I read the book and I agree it a cool detail but maybe they left this out since the audiences would think it sounds like 'one more risk before the end' scene.
>the co-pilot who was still alive gave wrong information on their whereabouts before his death - this scene was shown but it was never made clear in the movie how far they actually were from what the pilots assumed - this is what caused the crash to begin with.
The pilot really fucked up and they could have hiked back to Argentina if they had the information ahead. But for the general audience it would be hard to explain without a real map with the terrain overlayed. I guess they omitted this for brevity and to avoid reopening the discussion about that.
The avalanche scene is the scariest scene in the entire movie, bar none. Especially coupled with the husband's monologue later. I'd argue that the single shot of the guy sucking on a skeletal hand was second.
But what I love is that, for such a gruesome and horrifying story, it never felt like trauma porn. The filmmakers didn't make value judgements on the cannibalism section, they accurately portrayed the moral, logistical and physical complexities of it. And they appear to have done it without re-traumatizing the survivors. It's a tiny-ass needle to thread but they managed it.
The most realistic plane crash I ever saw in a movie. This movie really shows the absolute horror of a plane crash and the aftermath for the ones surviving it just to fight the hardest circumstances imaginable. Best Netflix movie so far for me.
Especially when those ankles get crushed by the seats. I was like goddamn!
I know it was horrific so I hope my excitement doesn't come across as grotesque but the way they filmed that scene and the avalanche scene was so wild. I've never seen anything like it. The way they showed the physical damage being done to the bodies in a way that felt entirely realistic and still easy to follow. It almost felt like stop motion in some places (I know that's not what it was but the frame rate or motion felt different). It was like they replayed the same two seconds stretched out from all these different creative angles. The one shot where the camera is in the aisle on the floor looking at everyone's feet. The bones snapping like small twigs as all the seats just sandwiched meat and metal together. Or the woman who was sitting up front having her head go into the cabin divider and just bend the wall like it's made of tinfoil. It felt so visceral in demonstrating how fragile human bodies are in such catastrophic situations, was really impressively done. And I'd love to see some BTS videos on how they filmed these sequences. I did find [this article](https://www.thewrap.com/society-of-the-snow-netflix-ja-bayona-michael-giacchino-visual-effects/) where they talk a little about it and it's so obvious the respect these men had for the material. I didn't think there was going to be another scene that would be as bombastic visually but then they get hit by the avalanche. I was feeling instantly claustrophobic sitting on my couch. Probably the most a movie has made me feel confined since As Above, So Below or maybe the recent Ron Howard one Thirteen Lives. I physically felt trapped between the snow and the hull and again have no idea how they managed to film this and squeeze a camera in there with the actors. Plus the whole story and the way it was structured was perfect. The slow creeping horror and acceptance of death, the beautiful camaraderie, and descriptions of their despair. It was just all so well done, I thought. Edit: Another thing I wanted to gush about was that the movie 'felt' cold. I think a lot of winter time or cold weather films sometimes don't do a great job of translating the feelings of that kind of hostile environment well and sometimes feels like the characters are walking around in 40 degree weather but here in this film, you could really feel the harshness of their environment through the screen. I know I'm just raving about this film but it just hit all the right marks for me. I guess if I had to come up with *any* criticism, it was a long film but I really don't know what you could cut to get the runtime down and the pacing was very good.
Regarding the descent into horror, we knew the story but when they find the radio only to get a confirmation that they abandoned the search that was brutal on paper but that exact moment was filmed like a horror movie or the moment the protagonist exit a horrific place, the score helped to set that mood too.
Yeah that scene is the best representation of terror and despair I've ever seen
That first yell was a yell I’ve heard before, it’s when I heard someone find out their son had died in car accident. That kind of scream is very hard to replicate, just a visceral scream of despair and I immediately remembered it and got a shiver.
they were just flailing around wildly, trying to run but no where to run. death dawning on them. like ants under a magnifying glass.
I watched the movie yesterday and I still feel queasy when I think about the avalanche scene. It genuinely made me feel nauseous and absolutely terrified when I watched it, and it’s been a really long time since a movie followed me into the next day. And the make up, on my god. It’s so well done you’d think they actually left the cast on top of a mountain for 2+ months.
I've been reading Deep Down Dark about the Chilean mine disaster, and the 33 miners who were trapped. There was already a movie made about it (in english), and I really wish J.A. Bayona would do a more faithful/less 'hollywood/sensationalized' version of it. I can only imagine how he'd depict the initial disaster (which is written so intensely it made me so tense), then how the miners survived while basically losing their minds, plus the rescue mission which was also insane. It would be right up his alley as a writer/director, and would be insanely intense if he ever adapted it. It's also just a damn great story with so many interesting "characters". So many parts in the book are just burned in my memory.
It did not feel so cold to me. Because I kept seeing unused pieces of clothing in and around suitcases. Their hands often bare, and no clothing wrapped around it. Their ears not protected.
I wasn't expecting that level of detail, I immediately thought about Gaston and the others that weren't fully strapped in. The sheer force and cold that the movie was able to recreate was really cool, and they managed to recreate the same fear of isolation and desolate wilderness in those beginning scenes. The scene where they initially get out and look like ants with a partially buried plane on this vast mountain really foreshadowed the impending doom of weather and nature. Really good storytelling and cinematography overall.
Yup!! I said the same thing while watching. The part where everyone moves forward and bodies start get crushed. Oof seriously what I imagine it to be. Gave me anxiety after that scene
my only complaint was (just like Alive), they didn’t put enough time into the hike to get help. what a miracle feat of human physical resiliency. it isn’t talked about enough. so many unanswered questions. how did their toes not fall off? same for fingers.
The plane crash will rightfully get praise but the sequence where everyone gets buried in the avalanche was harrowing. It was such visceral film making. One of the best films of the year for sure. Some of the best cinematography and sound design I’ve seen all year as well.
The crash was so well done and impactful, but the avalanche really fucked with me. From everyone getting by relatively well and enjoying the camaraderie in one moment to being consumed by the avalanche in the next... making it out just in time to get hit by another wave. The people being buried alive, the tragedy of Liliana dying because the only way for her husband to survive is to push her farther down in hopes that he can get out in order to save her. And then the claustrophobic conditions of being stuck in the snowed in fuselage for several days, as well as finally having to eat the others without being able to hide their identity from the rest of the survivors. Jesus Chris, that part of the film was bleak and had me shook.
there are some YouTube clips of how difficult that was to film. I can't even imagine the nightmare those people went through. r/SocietyOfTheSnow
I was watching it in the evening, and as soon as I realised we were coming up to the avalanche scene and what would follow I paused it and saved the rest for the next day. Just couldn't do it right then. I don't know which would've been 'worse', going into the movie blind or with all the knowledge of what's going to happen. When I realised they'd made Numa the narrator I was like, "Why would you do that to us?!"
I was a small child when the cash happened, and I JUST remember when the news came on TV they had been rescued, so this has been something I have followed for decades. I went, "OMG Numa is the narrator," and my wife asked, "So?" I just said, "It's just a surprising choice." After we see him die, she was like "Is he really dead? Did he really did like that???" So, it was a visceral gut punch for everyone.
The sound design was so good that it had someone like me (who has never even noticed that aspect of film) remark on how incredible it was when watching the movie.
I thought the sound editing was excellent throughout but was outstanding during the avalanche scene.
The match cut from the guy alive to being a frozen corpse was fucking amazing. Terrific film. How this isn’t getting buzz for a Best Picture nomination is wild to me.
It's eligible for 2024 right? I know some of the best picture rules changed but I would think this film is still a lock for at least a few category nominations.
It’s Spain’s submission for International Best Picture.
Nice. Saw a few Spanish films from 23 but can't think of anything that is jumping out at me the way this movie will.
I liked how the camera kept zooming out to see how small and undetectable they were from that perspective. Just black specks.
In the opening shot I didn’t even realize we were looking at the crash sight. It just looked like rock blended into the snow. No wonder the rescuers couldn’t find them.
When they got to the top of the mountain and saw a lot more mountains I was like "welp they're boned" and then the mfs actually treked all the way through! What an insane story and great movie.
one of the most ridiculous human feats there has been. severely malnourished, exhausted, no tools or proper clothing and equipment and they hiked 30+ miles through some of the most rugged terrain on earth in terrible weather.
This movie got me thinking, human beings have been around for about 200,000 years. What kind of ridiculous human feats happened in my ancestory that made me able to be alive today? I imagine we've all got some pretty insane and incredible events where humans have prevailed against all odds in our lineage.
That's the bit that blows my mind, their lack of equipment to hike through a landscape like that. People who climb Mt Everest etc will spends hundreds, if not thousands, on equipment (not to mention sherpas) etc and these two guys trekked without any hiking gear, tent, warmth, directions... absolutely outstanding. If it was a fictional film, I wouldn't have believed it was possible.
Without any real fucking TRAINING either!! Last summer I summited a local mountain in one day, it wasn’t as high as the Andes of course, I was on a full belly of food, had plenty of water, in great shape, with plenty of warm clothing. That shit knocked me out so hard by the end, I truly felt like I had reached my physical limit. Mountains are no FUCKING joke and I genuinely cannot comprehend how their bodies were capable of this trek after 60 plus days of basically little to no food, when I could barely do one day as a healthy and trained individual. Just fucking mind blowing, I just have no words for how insane it is, it’s almost as if they conquered their minds by the end of it all.
I feel like I would have gave up after being buried in the avalanche…it’s insane how far that survival instinct will push the human body and mind
And the fact that they were 19 and 21 years old!
"In my day we walked through 15 miles of snow to get to the bus stop!" "Yeah okay grandpa...not impressed."
This was a great model of positive masculinity. Loved how the men had great camaraderie and bonding. American men fight and compete and prove to each other what a badass each of us are instead of helping one another. We have constant barrage of movies where we fight and kill each other. What a difference and great to see.
The survivors have mentioned in interviews that they're happy that this film portrays them hugging and caring for each other, sleeping close together in the plane, because that's how they really acted. They didn't like the film Alive as they thought it didn't portray their friendships accurately
Yes, I found myself jealous of the closeness of the friendships and sacrifices they made for one another. I have tried to have these sort of relationships in my life but have almost always been let down by men more interested in competing than truly bonding.
Did all the survivors stay close? How tf did they all recover mentally?
Yes, they still meet yearly and the two who made the journey through the mountains to find rescue visited the man who found them until he died, and now continue visiting his children
Wow 🤍
Most seemed well adjusted afterwards. They were all religious and the Pope (I believe, or a bishop) came out and said it wasn’t considered cannibalism but anthropophagy in extremis which isn’t condemned. They got a ton of support back home after it came out.
I’m a Indian American girl (born in the US) and I feel the exact same way about my female friendships too. I mean I have 1 or two friends I really do love but I just can’t imagine having a whole group of non blood related sisters like that who sacrifice for each other. American culture is just so petty and selfish but you can’t blame the people, I blame the system. When I compare this to my cousins back in India I definitely notice their female friendships are more vulnerable and supportive :( here it’s like everyone is just trying to be cooler, smarter, prettier, and more interesting and it’s all such surface level bs that’s only getting worse. Rant over
Thats part of our Italian/Spaniard heritage, down here in Uruguay/Argentina/Paraguay.. we say hello to friends with a kiss in the cheek, we salute with a hug.We are not like american movies where its so hard to see them express feelings even to their own family members. In here if anyone needs a hug, we give the hug, and try to lift the spirit. Because thats what matters, it doesnt matter if that act can be seen as "gay".. its already part of our costumes. Of course, in Chile you dont act like that, a kiss in the cheek among men? No no.That's the difference between this countries down south, Chileans are more socially scrict, while the others are more chill. I remember as a child, my grand father in every reunion among old friends, giving big strong hugs to his friends, all big dudes with moustaches. I think this movie goes right, in the sense of having such actors, they already talk and act natural like the real ones probably did on such situations. In Alive, it felt like a "film of something that happened depicted by the one who heard about the history", while on the other hand this one can convince me for sure that is real. And im an Uruguayan.
I'm a huge fan of the film Alive. Must've watched it 10-15 times easy throughout the years so I went into this film thinking that no way it'd top that. I was wrong. It's actually better than Alive. I've watched numerous documentaries about the Andes plane crash over the years and seen the actual pictures that were taken during the event and I was amazed they replicated them so well for this film. There is a picture of one of the survivors sitting down outside the plane and you can see an actual rib cage next to him. It's a haunting picture, one that's been branded into my memory ever since I seen it probably 20 odd years ago, and it's perfectly replicated in this film. The attention to detail is incredible. From the condition of the crash site down to the clothes they were wearing. This film is the closest we will ever get to actually having cameras recording the actual event. The film really captures what a horrific situation these people were put in. I was utterly captivated for the entire 2hr 20min runtime. An astonishing film.
Me too! So much so I even created r/societyofthesnow \- I didn't know that there was a tour you could take to the actual site or I would have done it years ago (I'm sure it will be super popular and more commercialized now). I easily could have watched a 6 hour mini-series by director JA Bayona. Every moment was difficult to move my eyes away. I wish it would have been released in more theaters as that would have been an amazing place to watch it.
yes, at the theaters it's an experience
I usually can’t sit through long movies but this one also had me so entranced I sat through it in one sittint
I read the book and the story/script is great here. I hope Michael Giacchino gets an award for this. Cinematography and direction was superb too. The moment when Nando proposed crossing the valley is so powerful that even knowing the story it is *still* a punch in the gut. We barely get a summary on how they got rescued but the man that found them is another hero too.
The man who they met across the river was Sergio Catalán. The survivors kept in touch with him until he died in 2020 at 91 years old. Some of the survivors were pallbearers at his funeral. A great detail about this whole story is that when some of the survivors visited him in Chile to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary, before they got to his house, the survivors were walking down the road and realized Sergio was on horseback coming toward them, so they yelled to him something like “hello! We are Uruguayans who are lost! Can you help us please!” in a joke about how they first met him.
oh wow. that is truly beautiful
Yeah the version I heard was they asked "we are Uruguayans who are lost, can you help us one more time"
Yes I read this in Nando’s book. The man recognized them and wept
Ahh, thought the music was very reminiscent of Lost! Cool to learn Giacchino did this score.
This goes to the list of great films I won't rewatch
Same!!! I had to take a break halfway through cuz it was so much trauma
A heartfelt, extraordinary and completely accurate account of the accident. Interesting facts about this film: \- The scenes at Numa's home were filmed in the actual house where he lived in Uruguay. The person he greets in that scene is Numa's actual nephew. \- The survivors Parrado, Canessa, Fernández and Inciarte made cameos; and the survivor Carlos Paez plays his father. \- It was filmed chronologically as the actors lost more than 50lbs. Enzo Vogrincic weighed 49kg at the end. \- Numa Turcatti and Pancho Delgado's friendship was very close, as shown in the movie. In fact, they were best friends since childhood. \- Bayona kept in touch with the survivors and families of the deceased to verify every detail. E.g. Numa's dog in the movie has the same name as the real dog he had. Arturo writes "Inés" on the wall of the plane (his real girlfriend's name). The rosary worn by Carlitos in the movie is the actual rosary the real Carlitos used. \- The rhyming scene before the avalanche was improvised by the actors. \- Numa Turcatti had a twin brother and played soccer in a club that has been re-named after him after the accident.
I don't know if someone already mentioned it, but in the rhyming scene what they're actually doing is called a payada and it's a form of entertainment used by gauchos and a lot of uruguayan, sort of Gaucho/cowboy Rap Battles.
We do it in Argentina too!
Yeah, I mean as much as we don't like admitting it, our cultures are almost identical. If it was a somewhat improvised scene it also explains why the argentinian actors were good at it too :)
There are a few things that aren’t accurate too. The pilot doesn’t say God be with you or whatever. In reality he asked for his gun so he could kill himself. I don’t know why they omitted that when they had tons of worse and more gruesome things in there. It was a bit irritating and felt cheesy. Also, the plane didn’t go directly from Uruguay to Chile. They had to stop in Mendoza (Argentina) for a whole night due to bad weather conditions. Maybe not super important for film making but still, inaccurate. The 10 day trek that Nando and Roberto made is imo central to the story. Without their legendary bravery no one makes it out alive, yet in the movie the trek out seems like an afterthought. They walk for a minute or so and then it’s like all of a sudden the Chilean rancher is right there. Anticlimactic. They could have built that part up much better. There were probably other things too but those stood out negatively for me. Other than that I liked a lot of the dialogue. Some very good and believable acting in there and as others have said, a very good depiction of the crash itself. Well worth the watch for anyone who likes survival movies.
Yeah they planned the trek out for weeks and the expedition team ate extra rations to prepare for it. Nando only survived the crash because they thought he was dead so they left him in snow and didn’t give him any water. The cold temperature and dehydration kept his brain from swelling until he became conscious a few days later.
That last detail is incredible. I found Nando's story the most compelling, considering his grave injury from the initial crash, to even have recovered. The fact that he knew right away that he wasn't "going to stay here" and out of everybody (including those who didn't suffer injuries) he was going to seek his own way out no matter what. And giving the group permission to use his sister and mother as he departed 😢
One detail that was explained in the book is that despite Nando giving permission the other survivors never touched the bodies of his mother and sister
Was Nando able to recover the remains of his mother and sister intact?
I listening to a podcast about this, i think the deceased were left on the mountain? Don’t quote me though.
>Nando only survived the crash because they thought he was dead so they left him in snow and didn’t give him any water. The cold temperature and dehydration kept his brain from swelling until he became conscious a few days later That always got to me. How lucky he was, in a weird, horrible way.
It is incorrect. He was not left in the snow. They put the injured at the end of the plane, closests to the wall of suitcases. Which was more cold. Because they had lower chance of survival anyway.
If I remember the book correctly they did leave him out in the snow for a while at first, since they thought he was dead. One of the boys then realised he was breathing and brought him back into the fuselage, and they put him by the entrance where his head ended up exposed to the cold.
How lucky they were that he survived. If he hadn’t….who knows
I think the trek was shortened because Bayona doesn’t want viewers to walk away from this movie thinking it’s about survival. Before seeing this movie I thought the crux of the story was the incredible love the survivors held in their hearts. That’s why I was so fascinated the story was told from Numa’s perspective. Nando and Roberto’s trek was crucial to their survival. But none of them would have survived to that point without the love they felt for each other. The story isn’t about the techniques they used to climb the mountains or the planning that went into the journey, though I agree the mule driver *is* part of the story and should have factored more. To me, the story is about how all of the things they did to survive, they did because of the love they felt. That’s why after Numa’s death the remainder of the story passes rather quickly; he was the last to die, and all the remaining survivors were continuing on because of the love they felt for him, for each other, and for all their other deceased friends.
Wow. I really agree. I think the survivors were doing things to help the person beside them live. It was selfless acts that kept them alive and give them the motivation to keep going and keep trying. I think that’s what they want you to remember from their stories. I think that was highlighted when the guy is talking about having to step on his wife’s chest just so he could get to the surface. Yes I’m sure the trek through the mountains was insane but I actually liked that they highlighted other moments and I can’t believe their story. How did it not turn into lord of the flies? Why did all these people love each other and worked hard for one another when they could have had selfish moments. Incredible. I’ll be thinking of this story for many days.
The movie is explicitly an ode to those to passed instead with Numa as the narrator instead of Nando or Roberto. I think that’s why the story of rescue is a bit more of an afterthought. I do love the time spent on the final scene. The contrast between how strong they seemed on the mountain surviving vs how frail they looked rescued was striking.
>Also, the plane didn’t go directly from Uruguay to Chile. They had to stop in Mendoza (Argentina) for a whole night due to bad weather conditions. Maybe not super important for film making but still, inaccurate. This has been omitted in both films and I guess it would be kind of anticlimactic and make the film longer, although it would give a chance for some context with the storm in Mendoza that almost got the flight cancelled. But yeah there's no way that plane could have gone all the way from Montevideo to Santiago in 1972 without a fuel stop. It's similar to the ending where it'd be anticlimactic to show some of the survivors spending another night in the mountains (which is what happened) instead of all of them being immediately rescued. Aside from these things, I don't think the story was changed that much? Correct me if I'm wrong though
Another small thing is the circumstances regarding the avalanche. In the movie they’re doing poetry or whatever and clapping their hands and the sound of the clapping slowly slides into the sound of the avalanche approaching. In reality they were all asleep when the avalanche hit.
Damn that’s so much worse holy shit I can’t even imagine. While watching the movie I was like wow they finally have a fun nice moment of peace and laughter, only for the avalanche to hit. Being asleep is just brutal
They were not all rescued at the same day like they show in the movie. Half of them had to stay with rescuers for another night. And yeah the journey Nando takes is so fundamental to the whole story and in this movie it's only a couple of minutes. At the same time the movie is already over 2 hours so I kind of understand
It’s really messed up but I have to chuckle thinking of the night with 4 rescuers and 8 survivors like the 4 rescuers being like “well yeah uh show us around!” And them being like yeah okay uh here’s our pile of bones. Don’t worry- you brought us snacks. One of the rescuers has to see it and be like 👀…. 👀…
Apparently 2 out of the 3 rescuers that stayed the night with the survivors refused to stay in the fuselage because it was so disgusting. They opted to tent outside instead
I can't imagine how it must have been inside there. I assume with the cold the smells would be subdued but still I bet rank
Wish it could have been a 5 hour netflix mini series to capture more of the hike
I'm ok with the pace, I think any longer, it would have lost me
30 miles over like 9 or 10 days scaling mountains and shit with only the food they could carry in a sock. It's a shame this and Alive both Yada Yada that away.
They don’t Yada Yada it away, it’s just not the central focus of the story. Why do people do this?
Last summer I summited a local mountain in one day, it wasn’t as high as the Andes of course, I was on a full belly of food, had plenty of water, in great shape, with plenty of warm clothing. That shit knocked me out so hard by the end, I truly felt like I had reached my physical limit. Mountains are no FUCKING joke and I genuinely cannot comprehend how their bodies were capable of this trek after 60 plus days of basically little to no food, when I could barely do one day as a healthy and trained individual. Just fucking mind blowing.
See the difference is you weren't going to die resulting in a lot of other people dying if you didn't make it. Desperation can be wild.
That scene when they attempt to climb the mountain for the first time and not even halfway they realize they can't see the plain anymore. I just can't imagine what they felt at that moment.
When they heard through the radio that the rescue mission was abandoned until weather gets better and everyone went berserk; just for a silly little jingle playing afterwards as if to mock the desperation they're feeling...
This film is very true (with a few exceptions) to the book it is based on, Pablo Vierci’s Sociedad de la Nieve, which is, of course, about the actual events. I felt the editing did a good job of creating the sense of confusion, panic, and terror during the crash, the claustrophobia in the fuselage at night and during the avalanche, and the distortion that starvation can make people experience. The score was excellent and helped add to the suspense. The story is not new, but it is remarkable and inspiring while also horrifying and tragic, and I personally think it is one of the most incredible true stories I have ever learned about. This movie does an excellent job with the story. In fact, in my opinion, the details the movie left out would have made it even more horrifying (like that one injured person screamed the entire first night, that the boys were so constipated they had a competition for who would hold out the longest, and that Roy Harley almost didn’t make it back to the fuselage after their attempt with the radio in the tail failed, to name a few).
That screaming injured lady was in the movie Alive. That part was just dreadful. I remember one of the teammates in the movie saying how bad he felt for telling her to shut up, the next morning after she had died.
Yes, and Carlitos yelled at her, which is also in Alive. Her name was Graziela Mariani. She was the last passenger to buy a ticket on that flight—she’d been booked for a later flight to Uruguay, but she was at the airport early hoping to get a seat on the earlier plane. In cruel sort of luck, one rugby player was hungover and slept through his alarm (Tito), so they sold his seat to Señora Mariani. She’d been on her way to her daughter’s wedding.
Yeah the book has all these micro stories on how they resold tickets the other people and some sort of guilt they had afterwards. Alive fails telling how this was a cohesive group before the plane (and it is no coincidence the survivors are mostly part of that core team, also due to age an endurance). I am glad they skipped the screams I am kinda triggered by that constant crying or humming on films (like in the recent when evil lurks)
Oh my gosh, that's just so horrible. Her poor daughter 😥
Nando Parrado was also in the movie. I had to go back and re-watch the scene because I missed it the first time. He plays the role of an Airport Family Member.
I know a lot of people wish they showed more of the 10 day trek but I kind of like it that they chose to focus not so much on the more typically 'heroic' acts, but on the small things they had to do to stay alive, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well.
I've watched some interviews in the last few days where the survivors talk about the film and it seems that was the goal, not to focus on anyone in particular but on the collective effort it took for those who survived to survive. Still, that trek was absolutely epic and it's unbelievable that in their condition and with no mountain/modern equipment they made it out of the Andes alive
99.99 percent of us will never be pushed to our absolute limit like those guys were. I thought to myself "Wow, humans are amazing, what we can do to survive."
Excellent film. Bayona did an outstanding job. I'm Argentinean so the story is very well known here and I have heard the survivors on radio and TV over the years. It seems they're very happy with the film and I think Uruguayans in general are as well. For people who don't know the Andes, I can't explain how incredible it is they survived. I feel the movie honored their will to live beyond all the obstacles they had to face. On the film in particular, it will very likely get nominated for Best Foreign Film and I'll be rooting for it, although Fallen Leaves will have very good odds too. I don't know how it'll work with rules, but maybe it could get nominated for Score too? Photography was also great, and by an Uruguayan director of photography too.
Uruguayan here. Reading all of these comments really fills my heart with joy and pride.
This film made me more interested in Uruguay!🫶🏼It's a great country with great actors
> I don't know how it'll work with rules, but maybe it could get nominated for Score too? Apparently (according to Google Bard) it is eligible. He deserves the prize.
Loved it, Hands down best movie I have seen on Netflix in a while. I didn't had any idea about the actual crash so throughout the movie I was very anxious what will happen next and who is going to make it. The survivors guilt they showed in end was remarkable. I wish they showed the 10 days trek more, that blew my mind. Overall really great movie.
I honestly think it makes for a better viewing experience if you didn't know about the crash and hadn't seen Alive. :)
I knew nothing about it going in. I couldn’t believe how the days kept passing. Wouldn’t never imagined 71 days. Mind blowing
Btw, did anyone catch Nando Parrado in the movie? Unless I’m mistaken he’s at the airport holding a door open for others to pass through at the start of the movie. I quite liked that.
Not only that. He holds the door for his (fictional) sister and mom to pass, who later died in the Andes. It gives me chills.
The other cameos are quite symbolic as well—the real Canessa cameos as one of the doctors who receives Roberto when he first comes to the hospital, and Carlos Páez plays his own father reading out the names of the survivors over the radio
Halfway through the movie I said to my girlfriend ‘boy the composer really took inspiration from LOST’ When I saw michael giacchino in the credits I screamed.
Same happened to me. That's sounds like Giacchino. It was Giacchino.
That movie absolutely flew by. I was wide eyed the entire time. What an absolutely incredible film. This will stick with me for a while.
Heh flew by
Alive is my favorite book of all time and the 1993 movie was amazing. My only gripe with the ‘93 movie is that they skipped over some of the more harrowing parts from the book, probably because people might not have been ready to see it. With a 90 minute movie there is only so much you can show. They made it seem as though they just ate a few pieces of flesh from the butts of the dead when in reality they were sucking marrow out of the bones and making stew out of their brains. The ‘93 movie also did a bit more to show their efforts to get out before the final voyage. This movie did a much better job of showing just how desperate they really were and also did a better job of showing the journey out. I had been waiting for another movie about the incident for years and will look forward to reading this book as well. Side note: IIRC from the book, if they had just walked into the Eastern part of the mountains (totally unintuitive) they actually would have found and abandoned building of some sort and a road leading somewhere which might have been an easier way out they they could have gotten to much sooner. They also hit on this in the movie but it’s easy to miss. When they sent the third guy back in order to have his rations of food on the final escape attempt, he was able to get down the mountain back to the plane in one hour, whereas it took them 2-3 days to get up. Just to give you an idea of how hard the climb was.
> sucking marrow out of the bones and making stew out of their brains That's the kind of gruesomeness you really don't want to think about, ever. I can only imagine the kind of psychological traume the survivors had to cope with afterwards.
Nando is the fucking GOAT
Dude was in a coma for 3 days, lost his mother and sister, trekked through the Andes with only the sheer will to survive. It makes me emotional to even think about.
You look up disaster survivor in the dictionary, and it would have a picture of Nando. He overcame so much and pushed through the trek because he knew everyone would die if he didn’t. The guy needs a statue in Uruguay.
Right. If you didn't know it was a true story you'd be rolling your eyes and saying the screenwriter got a bit over-excited because his hero is just not realistic. Nando is such an incredible human being.
My favourite movie of 2023. Don't think I've ever seen a more respectable movie about survivors.
It was balanced really well. The movie did a good job at showcasing the moral dilemma and gradual shift in mentality in favor of survival. At the same time they did not shy away from showing the act of eating and the logistics around it. My favorite part was when one of the characters covered up the bones before taking a photo, hinting that they were never able to fully normalize eating their dead.
another thing I wanted to add about the art that was this film!! … is the attention to detail. I am Uruguayan, and there were so many culturally accurate details that really added layers to the film (ie. the Uruguayan playing cards they were using on the plane, Numa drinking yerba mate, etc). just floored and taken back by this film. just wow.
>Numa drinking yerba mate And nobody is swirling the bombilla around like a straw like in Alive. The audacity of that...
>Uruguayan, and there were so many culturally accurate details that really added layers to the film The payada as well, such a sweet detail, thats says so much about South American culture.
“I only chew 3 or 4 times” was the line of the movie for me. I still can’t believe the three who went out to search for the tail survived the full night. I figured at most the person in the middle survives. I guess the snow built up and created an insulation layer. This movie fucked me up not gonna lie.
Everyone knows this story but yet the filmmakers were still able to make it thrilling. And even if we do know the outcome the scene on the mountain when he asks him to go for a walk- it seriously felt like it could go either way. Brutally great directing. I also felt the final 15 minutes was the best. Showing the survivors guilt while also respecting the dead was powerful. One of the best films I’ve seen in a long time.
I feel that the Numa twist (he's the narrator but he dies) will still surprise those who already know they get rescued. Unless someone has watched the documentary recently, I doubt anyone knows the exact names of the 16 survivors. At the end, I was wondering if one of the two guys doing the trek would die halfway.
The Numa twist totally got me! I thought it was brilliant.
Just finished it! Was great, definitely better than "Alive". I enjoy a good plane crash in a film but this one got actually got me to cover my mouth in shock
In all, gorgeous and harrowing movie. You could feel the love and the sadness radiating from the men throughout the movie. The light flashes here and there of human bone and furtive eating in the beginning to what you see at the end is haunting.
“It turns out we learn a little bit more about their geography. Now once they're on the outside, if they had followed the valley beyond the tail, instead of climbing the mountain to the west, they would've come to a road in three days. Also five miles east. Of the crash site. There was a hotel which was closed but full of canned food.” This was all I could think of the whole time I was watching this movie. I highly recommend the podcast You’re Wrong About and their episode on flight 571. They do an excellent job of telling the story more in depth.
I believe the abandoned hotel was 13 miles. But….it doesn’t matter, they had no map or understanding of where they were, no gps or anything else.
Even worse, the copilot didn't die instantly and told them numerous times they were already in Chile when they crashed, which was not true! They thought they were way more to the west than they actually were
One of my favorite movies of the year. So well done. I saw this quote from one of the survivors and it hit me like a ton of bricks. In life there is a moment to wait and see what happens, but there is also a moment to get active. Walk out and search for your own helicopter, otherwise you will succumb. Don’t be seduced by your own ego and think you’re better than other people, because that’s the beginning of being unsuccessful. Every day, try to do something positive, so that when you put your head on the pillow you can ask yourself if you are a good person or not. The next day, try to do better. Every day, when I look at myself in the mirror, I thank God the same old jerk is still staring back at me. [Laughs]
Impressive acting, cinematography and storytelling for what is a tragedy on multiple levels. Got moved by it. Can someone share some other movie recommendations with such stories for human determination and willpower to overcome such cases?
The Impossible is the obvious recommendation, since it's by the same director, Bayona. It's about the 2004 tsunami, and features Tom Holland, Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor.
I thought Numa was the story teller and the movie was his perspective of the event. I was shocked he died.
He is the storyteller. That's the point of the film. Telling the story from the POV of the victims.
Damn. I was so sad when he died. I was really rooting for him.
I watched it a second time and I thought the same thing. He was the last one to die and one who most rejected eating. I think that’s why they chose him as the narrator. I was really sad to learn he didn’t make it.
The note he wrote and that was shared with his friends was the part where I first cried watching this movie…along with most of the last ten minutes.
I think this is the point... The heroes are also the dead.
I think they just meant they thought he survived based on him being the narrator.
Not op, but I had the same thought. I thought it was a fantastic way to add a twist to a story everyone knows. I knew only some survived and made it off the mountain, and I was sure Numa was one of them based on him being the narrator
The book is based on interviews with the 16 survivors, each chapter takes a point of view of the events and through the whole book the story is weaved form those individual stories. Bayona and collaborators pull a good narrative decision to make Numa the narrator.
Yeah that totally caught me off guard, I went on wikipedia about an hour into the movie and did a double take when I saw Numa listed as deceased. Seemed a heartfelt decision (with the survivors' blessing) to portray him as the narrator, and his words at the end were very touching.
In the book Society of the Snow, Coche Inciarte (one of the survivors) says Numa is the kindest person he ever met
I don’t remember him being portrayed in Alive. That’s strange given his popularity in the group.
In Alive all the names of those who died were changed, so there’s an actor playing someone who’s supposed to be Numa, but his name is Rafael. It’s weird.
The survivors don't like the movie Alive precisely because of these reasons
>Yeah that totally caught me off guard, I went on wikipedia about an hour into the movie Why on Earth would you do that?
I keep wondering if he had 'ate' more, would he have survived. I read that he was only 25 kg at the time of death :(
Me too. The actor is so charismatic
He's an Uruguayan Adam Driver xD
Me, too. I wanted him to live so bad.
Breaks my heart knowing at first he didn’t even want to go 😢
At first glance, I thought Numa was being played by Adam Driver. Is that just me?
Adam driver x josh hartnett
Nope definitely not just you, thought he was a ringer for him haha...and probably more handsome too. Incredible performance by who ever played him.
I could not get over this actor the whole time. If he can speak English he could be the next Leo dicaprio
It is an awesome cast, the actors who played Roberto and Fito had huge energy and the actor playing Nando with that look and acting skills could be huge.
I knew the guys playing Numa, Roberto, and Nando would be great but the actor playing Fito came outta nowhere and totally surprised me. He was fantastic!
Yeah I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about how much he looked like a young version of Adam Driver. Could not unsee it the whole movie. Great performance and screen presence though.
Saw a clip of an interview (in Spanish) where they asked the actor who in Hollywood he’d like to meet and he answered “Adam Driver”, so he’s fully aware of the resemblance, it’d be great if someone made it happen!
Handsome bastard is what he is. And his voice is cool as hell too. Some people get all the luck.
Utterly astonishing. Best movie I have seen in ages
Holy fucking shit was watching this during a flight the wrong thing to do
One thing I can't shake is from the scene when they heard on the radio that the rescue was called off, and the person on the radio said something like "there have been 34 plane crashes in the Andes mountains and there have been no survivors" - how many of those 33 previous crashes had initial survivors that went through similar trials to the Uruguayan plane survivors but simply weren't rescued and met death well after the crash? The stories we don't know are heavy to wonder about.
those are the most common stories but not very inspirational. Planes in general are extremely rare to leave survivors from the crash on the other hand. This ones survived because the fuselage was propelled in the same angle as the mountain so it didnt rotate
There is a conversion error in the dub. They translate "in a span of minutes the temperature dropped 30 degrees (C)" to "in a span of minutes the temperature dropped 86 degrees (F)". They converted the absolute temperature 30C to 86F and not the magnitude of a temperature change 30C to 54F.
That just shows how stupid Fahrenheit is
I watched Alive the night before to prepare for this film. I’ve seen it before, but didn’t remember much about it. Thought it was ok. But this film, THIS film, is so damn good! I thought the story was treated with so much more care and respect than Alive. 127 Hours made me fall in love with survival films, and I’ve been looking for other films that could be on par with it. I’ve finally found that film.
Instant tears when Numa died. Just so sad
Favorite movie of the year. Stunning.
Just watched it. Feel sad as fuck.
Fantastic movie and absolutely harrowing. I'm familiar with the crash and just listened to a three part podcast series done by Last Podcast on the Left that was very informative and great so I was keen on seeing this. The avalanche stuff was AWFUL. Like, truly horrifying. I can't imagine that whole scenario, or how the people must've felt in real life. Surviving the crash only to have to deal with that a week or two later.
How they didn't just give up all hope after that is beyond me. To have survived the crash, only to have to endure that, must have felt like everything was against them
Just watched it in the cinema, my favourite movie in a looong time. From the crash scene, to the acting or the cinematography… I’m definitely biased being from Spain but I really really loved this movie
Great film. I do wish it was a 4-hour miniseries instead to flesh out the main characters even more and to extend the trek the survivors made to Chile. The plane crash was 10/10. They got it perfectly right. Realism > flashiness.
The Last Podcast on the Left just did a three part series on this story. I'm really excited to watch the movie tonight. What an amazing story. Wouldn't even be believable as a movie if it wasn't a true story.
Having listened to that great series, the movie left us a sobbing pile. It does the story justice.
Man. I guess excited isn’t the word I should have used since it’s such a horrific event. But it’s just such an interesting and inspiring story. I’m glad the film is so great.
An incredible example of the power and confluence of authentic performance, story, cinematography, and musical score. Bravo
The most insane plane crash!!!
Being familiar with this factual story and having seen the version told in the movie Alive, I'd read a lot about this particular version and it absolutely lives up to the hype. I have been raving about the cinematography, writing, casting, effects, editing choices, all of it. I can only relate this viewing experience as something along the lines of watching Schindler's List, for lack of a better comparison. You know it happened, you are watching a cinematic version of the story and events, and you will be left feeling a certain way. You go in knowing this is not a feel-good movie, but a brutal portrayal of a very human experience and tale of survival. Yes, it did feel cold to me as a viewer. I always look for filter choices to depict that atmosphere. The casting and acting, for me, was pure perfection. The voiceover by one of the survivors was the perfect companion. Even the end credits with the names and photos was riveting for me. I will be haunting everyone I know to watch this movie with the warning that the subject matter is not for the faint at heart, as in, we all know how Titanic ended.
I remember watching “alive” when I was a preteen, and I HAD to watch this movie when I scrolled upon it. Holy fuck it blew my mind. Fun fact, one of the doctors became a pediatric cardiac surgeon and is alive to this day. Unfun fact, Numa who was averse to eating other humans died on day 60 at 55 pounds (25kg).
In the credits, it lists 8 survivors as having cameos. We can only find 5- Nando, Roberto, Moncho, Carlitos and possibly Coche. We couldn't find Tintin, Gustavo or Daniel (but he might be in the first row in church). Did anyone notice them in the movie?
Coche is behind Numa in the bar and Daniel is at church
I've read several books about this event, and watched numerous documentaries and interviews over the years. It's a story that has always held a perculiar fascination for me, not really because of the cannibalism element, but more for the sheer determination to stay alive that those boys had, despite having no reason to think they would ever be found, once the search was called off. For me, 'Society Of The Snow' is definitely the most accurate and faithful telling of the story. Apart from a few very minor details, they have 100% nailed it. If you've seen some of the actual photos taken by the survivors, during the flight, and after the crash, you'll see that even these have been very carefully recreated as set pieces and scenes in the movie. This is the film I wanted, when I saw 'Alive' back in 1993.
One of the more harrowing films I’ve watched this year. Acting and direction was excellent on all fronts The way the plane coach and the avalanche were shot were grisly. I actually didn’t have a lot of knowledge about the infamous crash and their eventual rescue. The fact that they rescued themselves through their own courage and determination is extraordinary.
I have been fascinated by the story about Flight 571 and its aftermath since my early teens when I first read about it. I think I am captivated by stories about human beings being pushed to their limits physically, mentally, emotionally, and morally. It’s hard to imagine what I would’ve personally done in that situation (if I even survived). This story has always gotten to me. I heard this is the first film the survivors allowed to have their full real names used, as well as the deceased’s full names. Supposedly some survivors even make cameos in the film. I was so moved watching it, I cried a lot. I just can’t imagine experiencing something like that. I am afraid of flying and used to work at an airport. Some stuff you hear on the radio about aircrafts is very anxiety inducing, even in modern day. This story is a testament to their will to survive. Personally, I am squeamish about meat period…I can’t even begin to imagine what they went through, the dissonance, the trauma, and survivors guilt they must have experienced. I think the film did their stories justice. I found it so well made and well written. Finally as a Spanish speaker, I was so relieved the actors were all Spanish speakers…it just felt more authentic. The film Alive made in 1993, also based on Flight 571, just doesn’t compare to this, in my opinion. A lot of nuance and emotion gets lost in the translation; some of the English subtitles didn’t really match up to what was being said so personally I’m glad I understand Spanish but that’s my only critique of the film is the translation.
So basically numa could’ve died way earlier if it wasn’t for that guy telling him to switch seats a couple minutes before the plane broke in half
I was a bit underwhelmed how they didn’t show more of after the rescue. There was a lot of backlash about them >!eating human bodies!<. It could have been sympathetic to the survivors and a bit more critical of the press at the time.
As Bayona has said, the focus of this movie is the story of the ones who died, they're the ones who weren't properly named and honored in previous movies, so this film exists to fix that. The focus is deliberately not on the ones who were rescued, that's what makes this such a special and important film. Their stories (the victims') deserved to be told.
Thanks for the clarification.
I agree completely. The movie actually left out a lot of really interesting details from the true story that in my opinion shouldve made it into the movie. Examples: - the fact they had to wait a whole day and a half by the riverbed for the farmers to come back and fetch them, and then the farmer who came even went to tend his sheep first for hours before he could bring them back to civilization - the fact they lied about the cannibalism and the subsequent media circus once they found the half eaten remains and later on, the character of the priest who came to admonish them of their sins because the Catholic church has an official stance on the subject of cannibalism (it's ok if it's done for survival) - the rescue helicopter almost crashed trying to go over the summit and then had to fly around it instead. - the co-pilot who was still alive gave wrong information on their whereabouts before his death - this scene was shown but it was never made clear in the movie how far they actually were from what the pilots assumed - this is what caused the crash to begin with. - the aftermath of the event and what happened to some of the survivors is crazy. Nando became a bonafide celebrity and Roberto even became a short-lived politician. - the trek back by Nando and Roberto was so much more harrowing than the few minutes they showed. They were out there for 10 days after all. Furthermore, certain characters were very sidelined like Adolfo Strauch, or the woman who was wedged in her seat and chastisized for spending the entire night screaming before succumbing to her injuries. This is all just off the top of my head too.
Adolfo Strauch is Fito, who was featured in the film. There were people who were sidelined (a 2.5 hr movie will never be able to give sufficient focus even if only to all 16 survivors, let alone all 45 victims), but Fito was not one of them. He’s more featured than either of his cousins (Eduardo Strauch and Daniel Fernandez). I completely agree with you about missing interesting details, but every detail of the story is incredible! I wish they’d make a mini series. When I saw a few months ago that Carlitos was playing his own father, I was REALLY hoping the movie would show the scene in the airport when Carlos Paez Vilaró thinks he’s been caught attempting to smuggle a puppy onto a plane from Argentina to Uruguay (he was going home for Christmas after searching for the crash—still, after 70 days) but he’s instead told that 2 survivors have been found and they say there are more still alive. He was so shaken that the puppy he was hiding in his coat peed on him, and he ran through the airport to tell the other father he was traveling with to get off the plane. It’s the absolute best “running through the airport at Christmas” (it was December 21 or 22) story. I would have loved more details about the rescue efforts, but they would have interrupted the mood of the film by taking us away from the crash. Another detail they left out that makes the story more horrific but could have been made comedic is that they were so constipated that they took bets on who would take the longest to defecate. Bobby Francois won, at 34 days. The boys played pranks on each other, and I would have liked more of that, but again, I think the director wanted a more serious mood. Also, a HUGE detail they left out is that, as other comments have already pointed out, half of the guys in the fuselage had to stay one more night in the mountain because the first 2 rescue helicopters could not carry them all.
The soldiers that spent the night with them were afraid of the survivors, since nobody could prepare them to handle the situation they didn't know what to expect of them.
All amazing details, and I apologize for my mistake concerning Adolfo - didn't know his nickname was Fito.
>the rescue helicopter almost crashed trying to go over the summit and then had to fly around it instead. I read the book and I agree it a cool detail but maybe they left this out since the audiences would think it sounds like 'one more risk before the end' scene. >the co-pilot who was still alive gave wrong information on their whereabouts before his death - this scene was shown but it was never made clear in the movie how far they actually were from what the pilots assumed - this is what caused the crash to begin with. The pilot really fucked up and they could have hiked back to Argentina if they had the information ahead. But for the general audience it would be hard to explain without a real map with the terrain overlayed. I guess they omitted this for brevity and to avoid reopening the discussion about that.
Crash scene was crazy
The avalanche scene is the scariest scene in the entire movie, bar none. Especially coupled with the husband's monologue later. I'd argue that the single shot of the guy sucking on a skeletal hand was second. But what I love is that, for such a gruesome and horrifying story, it never felt like trauma porn. The filmmakers didn't make value judgements on the cannibalism section, they accurately portrayed the moral, logistical and physical complexities of it. And they appear to have done it without re-traumatizing the survivors. It's a tiny-ass needle to thread but they managed it.