Society of the Snow

A Heart-Wrenching Story of Survival

Spanish filmmaker J. A. Bayona delivers yet another astonishing tale of human survival, Society of the Snow (La Sociedad de la nieve), based on the emotional and tragic true events of the 1972 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, chartered to take a rugby team to Chile. Everything, however, went wrong when the plane crashed in the heart of the ruthless Andes, remarkably depicted within this film first for their beauty, and later for their danger.

We all remember Lost. We’re all familiar with William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Tales of what ordinary people do when facing the direst circumstances; stranded, starving, and desperate. Whilst some will be destroyed either by themselves, each other, or the elements, these stories are inevitably about sacrifice, friendship, and teamwork, something captured so inspirationally in this film. However, these examples are fiction, what makes this story so captivating, is its truth: we follow characters based on real people, a story inspired by true events, and an aftermath that shocked the world.

The film opens on a rugby game: the players are placed within their natural habitat, giving us an insight into how they work under pressure, and also together. We are introduced to Numa, a likeable and kind young man who seems to be well-regarded on the team, as well as several other team members such as Marcelo, the team Captain, and “Nando”, one of the most remarkable survivors of this tale. As the players prepare for their flight to Chile, we are struck with a sense of heartache for these boys, a dramatic irony of sorts, knowing the worst is coming, yet somehow still hoping it won’t happen.

This brings me to possibly one of the most horrific sequences I have ever seen: the crash itself. We all know Bayona isn’t a stranger to portraying gut-wrenching disasters since The Impossible (2012) which left us all sobbing hysterically, however the sheer shock produced from this scene was enough to make you squeeze your eyes shut. This and the later scenes of cannibalism do make the film difficult to watch in places but leaves you appreciating the strength of their survival, albeit hard to swallow.

However, what Society of the Snow does so magnificently, is to yes, expose the horrors these people endured, but to then focus on that very fact, that they endured it. The film consistently squeezes our hearts with a tight fist, showing scenes of these boys laughing together, making jokes, working as a team, and mourning those they lose along the way. Every death hurt, and a visual title of the persons name and age solidifies their memory and transforms a movie that could have been sensationalised into a humane tale of human perseverance and loss.

Society of the Snow ultimately is a film about friendship. Whether it was forged before this tragedy, or during, these boys remain a team until the very end. Whilst sometimes disturbing and difficult to watch, this inspirational story delivers a powerful and inspirational message of what we can achieve even in the darkest of times.