This is probably one of the most famous plane crashes in history. More than 50 years after the fatal crash of Flight 571 carrying a team of Uruguayan rugby players to Santiago, Chile in 1972, his legend is still being told. Since January 4th, Netflix has been offering a new moving adaptation of the “Drama of the Andes” with Le Cercle des Neiges. Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona (“The Orphanage,” “The Impossible”), this chilling, dramatic film answers the question without judgment: How far is man capable of going when his own life is threatened? The survivors, who were forced to live on one of the highest peaks in the Andes at 3,500 meters and practice cannibalism in order to survive, continue to speak courageously about the disaster and convey their memories of the most traumatic days of their existence.
The Circle of Snow: One of the survivors took part in the Netflix film
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It was Friday the 13th in 1972 when the Fairchild F-227 carrying the Old Christians rugby team from Montevideo crashed in the Andes due to pilot error. Of the 45 people on board, only 16 made it out alive. We had to survive the crippling cold, the hell of the high mountains, serious injuries, but also the battle against a lack of food. Until he committed the unthinkable: eating the flesh of his comrades so as not to end up among the corpses. To transcribe this extraordinary story with the greatest possible realism, director Juan Antonio Bayona was assisted by Fernando Parado, one of the 16 survivors of the crash. The now 74-year-old gives lectures on the subject of motivation. In 2008, the man, who also lost his mother and sister in the accident, presented his own version of the facts with feeling and courage for the first time in the book “The Miracle of the Andes”.
Three survivors who led brilliant careers
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In an interview with HuffPost, Fernando Parado returned to the reasons that led him to take part in the Netflix film “The Circle of Snows.” “I don't feel the need to share my story, but I keep getting asked. It's imprinted in my flesh, I am a survivor. You only live once and because of this tragedy I chose the second part.” “A part of my life would be unforgettable. And being part of this project was exciting,” he said. At the 2023 Venice Film Festival, the former rugby player walked the red carpet for the film “Circle of Snow” alongside Carlos Paez Rodriguez and Roberto Canessa, two other survivors of the accident. Together we support this film, which shows a wonderful lesson in resilience and defends victims rather than condemning them for their actions.
Today Carlos Paez Rodriguez, who was only 18 at the time of the crash, is a brilliant businessman, while Roberto Canessa practices pediatric cardiology in Montevideo. After resigning themselves to subsisting on the hut's victims, the two survivors explored the mountain range for ten days, a final expedition that allowed them to find help and rescue some of their comrades after 72 days of nightmare. Among the survivors, Roy Harley, then 20 years old, weighed only 38 kilos on December 22, 1972, compared to 85 kilos before the accident. Among the other survivors we can mention José Pedro Algorta, a 72-year-old economist who also published his own version of the facts in 2016 in “Into the Mountains”. There are also Álvaro Mangino, Ramón Sabella and Adolfo “Fito” Strauch, who, unlike the others, do not want to be in the light.
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The ghosts of Flight 571 receive absolution from Pope Paul VI
When the acts of cannibalism were leaked to the press, both the Chilean and Uruguayan churches granted absolution to the survivors, as did Pope Paul VI. The vast majority of survivors have largely spoken out about the circumstances surrounding this tragedy. A first film called “The Survivors” told their adventures in the cinema in 1993. In 1972, an Andean museum was even opened in Montevideo to “highlight essential values (solidarity, teamwork, purpose in life, self-confidence). control, support, etc.),” the website says.
Article written in collaboration with 6Médias