Director Bayona fought against all odds to tell the story of the Andes with Hispanic fidelity. (Photo: Quim Vives/Netflix © 2022)
The tragedy of the Andes, the accident that occurred in 1972 when a flight from Montevideo to Santiago crashed in the mountains and the survivors waited months for rescue, returns to the cinema with the help of Netflix with The snow company. Mexico was the first country to adapt this story audiovisually through film Survivors of the Andes in 1976, but You live!The 1993 Hollywood version, starring Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano, Bruce Ramsay and John Malkovich, ended up being the one that had the greatest international impact.
Its star cast, a strong marketing machine, a larger budget and spectacle made this possible. However, because the film was shot in English and prioritized adventure over tribute to the victims and fidelity to reality, it perhaps fell far short of doing justice to a tragedy that required a more Latin American and sober spirit. Luckily, the Netflix film directed by Spanish director JA Bayona comes to remedy the situation.
THE DIRECTOR'S FAITHFUL AND LATIN VISION
Bayona, whose career took off thanks to the trust they had Guillermo del Toro Embedded in it, he dreamed for more than a decade of filming a more human and Hispanic vision of the event. He emphasized this in interviews like the one he granted to Vanity Fair after speaking to survivors and recording around 50 hours of interviews He realized that there were details of his odyssey that had not been toldlike the stories of those who didn't manage to survive.
This gave rise to the idea of rethinking what was seen in the Hollywood adaptation and creating a tribute to those who died. a film that highlights their personal stories, their fight for survival or their courage before the admiration of those rescued. “That was the angle we found and I thought it was a beautiful idea: that for the first time those who didn't survive and gave everything they had had a voice for those who did,” the director told Vanity Fair.
Continue reading the story
But it was an arduous task because filming disaster and survival films is not easy, especially when it involves shooting in inhospitable locations in the Andes, recreating a plane crash or building a harsh environment for which countless special effects and great technical teams are required. Due to the high costs, The studios to which he presented the project required him to film in English and with renowned stars.an approach that Bayona definitely didn't want because it distorted his idea.
This problem already happened to him on “The Impossible,” the equally disastrous drama starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland about the true story of a Spanish family faced with the devastating 2004 tsunami that devastated the Indian Ocean. On this occasion he gave in to record in the language of Shakespeare, but with The Snow Society He flatly refused and the film remained in limbo for several years..
“I've been trying to find financing for this film for over ten years, I've been obsessed with this story and wanted to make it for a long time, but in this industry if you want a big budget it's like that.” is impossible to film in Spanish,” Bayona continued in the aforementioned interview.
“We wanted to do it, but we wanted to do it well: in Spanish and with local actors in the same place where it happened, or as close as possible. And the film crosses a line, it shouldn't exist because we live in a world that doesn't accept films in Spanish with this budget, which is very sad and that's why it's so important to me that it exists.
Fortunately, NetflixIntended to attract talent, make room for awards and increase the reputation of its platform, the company set out to rescue the project, funding it with $65 million. Despite it, Relying on streaming rather than a theatrical screening was not the filmmaker's preferred option, who, as seen on his social networks, is a passionate advocate of the big screen experience. In fact, with the limited theatrical release of The snow company, There's a strong emphasis on this being an experience to be enjoyed in a good exhibition venue, although, as always with Netflix titles, this is a near-impossible task.
In addition, he is always a box office hit, as evidenced by his worldwide success with “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” or the many records he holds in his country, such as “The Impossible”, the second highest-grossing Spanish film in history . Nonetheless, He sacrificed the size of the big screen and the money from ticket sales to maintain his more human vision this horrifying true story.
A RIGHT DECISION
Fortunately, his decision and persistence couldn't have resulted in a better outcome.Because The snow company Is one of the most exciting and spectacular films in the current Oscar racefor which several technical statuettes and the category “Best Foreign Film Representing Spain” are at stake.
It is an overwhelming title in its emotional part, A production in which homage and authenticity through the representation of the victims take precedence over epic, adventure or morbidityand with a 100% Latino cast in a state of grace, very grateful for the work of transporting us into the horror and emotions we experience in this frozen hell.
Recognizing the many impacts that the true tragedy had, such as the need for survivors to eat flesh from corpses, the harsh climatic conditions in the Andes, or the adventures through the mountains to find help; It would have been easy to fall into the same platitudes of ¡Viven! to expire! or even making the viewer suffer with visceral moments. But the Snow Society keeps it that way He realizes that this is not his mission.
“The Snow Society” launches a heartfelt tribute with the utmost respect and truthfulness possible (Photo by Quim Vives/Netflix © 2022)
His goal is to focus on his characters, their dilemmas in the situation, their gigantic efforts to survive and launch a tribute from the bottom of our hearts with the utmost respect and truthfulness. There is spectacle, but it always emphasizes dramatic depth and not to overwhelm with the artificiality of its technical part or its special effects, which, by the way, are of commendable quality.
Could be a bit exaggerated in some pointsas the development and appreciation of so many roles makes it sometimes difficult to locate and identify everyone on the screen, but the emotions are so pervasive that in the end you don't mind making the extra effort to position yourself and yourself to get as involved in the story as possible.
And ultimately I think so The snow company is the film that does the best possible justice to the victims of this tragic accident in the Andesa drama with a spectacular component, whose Latin and sensitive spirit, for which director JA Bayona fought with fire and blood, represents a marked difference from what we would expect from the disaster genre. Premieres on Netflix on Friday, January 4thand I think it's the perfect plan for film fans to start 2024.
This article was written exclusively for Yahoo en Español by Cine54.
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED | ON VIDEO
Snow Society: Survivor remembers accident and says 'God was very good to us'
Guillermo del Toro's jump into video games that have disappeared from the face of the earth
The fate of the girl from Pan's Labyrinth after she allowed herself to dream big
The heartbreaking Japanese film that is one of the best of 2023