Roberto Canessa He has spent two thirds of his life telling the story of how he endured sub-zero temperatures, two avalanches, climbed the Andes and ate human flesh for Survive the terrible plane crash that shaped his life at the age of 19.
But since it's one of the most fantastic survival stories of all time, it's worth telling the Uruguayan again.
The tragedy – or miracle – of the Andes returns to the screen in “The Snow Society.”from Netflix, which premiered in several cinemas in several countries in December and has been available on the streaming platform since January 4th.
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“We all have our mountain range,” Canessa told AFP.
“And there are a lot of people climbing the mountain now. We have to tell them not to get discouraged and keep going.”
Directed by Spaniard JA Bayona (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” “The Impossible”), “The Snow Society” focuses on the odyssey experienced by the young members of a Uruguayan amateur rugby team when the plane in which, what they were In 1972, a plane traveling to Chile crashed in the Andes.
The title and story come from the book of the same name by the Uruguayan Pablo Vierci, who collects the testimonies of the members of the “Snow Society”.
For Canessa, the name represents a pact that comes about when life presents a challenge, “when civilized society leaves you out.”
“If you have a rugby team. You fly to Chile to play a game. And suddenly you are involved in a plane crash (…) And of course the person immediately thinks that they will come to save him.” . But “The days begin to pass.”
“You must make your own water, you must eat the dead or you will die. The dead are there, next to you. You begin to see another person's death, not with sadness for them, but with sadness for yourself, because you're like on a waiting list.
“Something was missing”
On October 13, 1972, a plane with 45 people on board (the players of the Old Christians team, some family members and the crew) crashed in the Andes on Argentine territory.
The dramatic impact mangled the aircraft and claimed several lives.
“And there are a lot of people climbing the mountain now. We have to tell them not to get discouraged and keep going.”
Others succumbed during the 72 days they spent in the Valley of Tears at an altitude of over 3,000 meters.
“What happened to us in the Andes is absurd,” says Canessa, one of the 16 who lived to see the story.
The current cardiologist traveled the mountain range with his friend Fernando Parrado for ten days until he got help.
The accident and feat were discussed in books, documentaries and films such as “Viven!” (1993), spoken in English, starring Ethan Hawke and Josh Hamilton.
But Bayona, who wanted to tell the story in his native language, felt that “something was missing to tell.”
“[Era] to give those who had not returned the opportunity to express themselves. And that’s where we found the twist that gave this film its meaning.”
The passenger Numa Turcatti, played by Enzo Vogrincic, is the central theme of “The Snow Society”.
For the 30-year-old Uruguayan, the role was an opportunity and a challenge.
'A way of life'
To portray the impact of the mountain range, actors waxed and waned and spent hours in the snow.
“This story seems impossible to tell unless you go through a little suffering,” explains Vogrincic.
The actor, who suffered from hunger and constant cold during filming and even shot scenes with a fever, described filming the avalanches as “torture.”
But everything, he said, “was appreciated” because it made acting easier and “put you in touch with reality, which is very moving.”
For Canessa, “all these characteristics make it a practically scientific film with the experiment of the poor actors who made them go through the same hardships as us.”
“With the advantage that they left at the end of the day (…) It was a job, ours was a way of life.”
“It’s a super light version of what happened in the mountain range. We had it much worse. When I have a movie about it like we had, people stop and leave the theater,” he said, followed by a laugh.
The film, which was presented at the end of the festival in Venice, was shortlisted for the Oscar for best international film representing Spain. She is also a semi-finalist in the visual effects, makeup and soundtrack categories.
Canessa, who learned to look at life step by step after her expedition in the mountains, recommends looking at it from this perspective: “Sit in the cinema and let yourself go and think about what you would do if that Plane would crash in your life.”
AFP