Background
Originally filmed in Spanish, Society of the Snow, or La Sociedad de la Nieve, is a historical fiction film that centers around the infamous 1972 plane crash in the Andes mountains. The Uruguayan flight had been carrying up to 45 passengers on their way to Chile, but none of them arrived. Many other films attempted to cover this incident in the past, (Survive, Alive 20 Years Later, Stranded, etc.), but this one certainly did it the best.
Disturbing Imagery Within Society of the Snow
This film does not shed light on how truly terrifying and disturbing the crash was. It would be almost offensive to try and pass it off as an “adventure” or “action” piece. In reality, 20+ people died in this incident. Society of the Snow does not let us forget about the suffering the victims felt during their last fleeting moments.
The movie is filled with disturbing imagery and cringe-worthy details. Though I wouldn’t quite call it as disturbing as Midsommar, or Cannibal Holocaust, it has its moments. With many scenes depicting cannibalism, starvation, frostbite, and suffocation, it makes for a wildly disturbing watch.
Cinematography
One of my favorite aspects of this movie was the gorgeous cinematography. Society of the Snow was filled with unique filming techniques to add to the unsettling atmosphere. Two of my favorite methods are 0.5 shots to make things appear closer than they are and give a claustrophobic effect, and extreme wide shots of the environment around them, to prove how small the characters are compared to the desolate land that surrounds them.
Respecting the Survivors
This film did an amazing job at offering respect towards the real survivors of the crash; for, the film had no real villain except for the circumstances the characters found themselves in. This can become complicated at times though, while watching, one may become bored at the idea of having no character to root against or for. But still, it needed to be done, no one would want to cause any disrespect or offend any of the 14 lasting survivors.
Conclusion
This film was profoundly eye-opening. A lot of times, when one reads, learns, or watches a documentary about a tragedy it can be difficult to take into account how horrific the situation was. However, this movie did a truly magnificent job of showing its audience the actual horrific events that took place. It paints the survivors as heroes and sheds them in a completely positive light. It seems as if the creators of the film, J.A. Bayona and Belén Atienza, really did their research while creating it.
Recommendation
Society of the Snow is perfect for anyone wanting to watch a thrilling, disturbing, movie that doesn’t exactly fit into the horror category, but still stays loyal to the classic aspects of screenplay and has plenty of raw emotion.