A collaboration between

Zainab Saad – English Executive Editor

Mohammad Ali Al-Hasan – Junior Editor

Alissar Izrafeel – Staff Writer

“What happens when the world abandons you? When you have no clothes and you’re freezing? When you have no food and you’re dying?

The answer is in the mountains.”

Society of the Snow, a movie teaching life, is one of the greatest productions ever created across the film industry. It gives a respectful tribute to the survivors, the deceased, and their families who were originally from Uruguay, South America. The plane crash took place in the Andes mountains in 1972. A tragic accident for the people involved but one of the most beautiful and emotional survival human stories in history. Society of the Snow was announced in November 2021 and the filming lasted from 10 January to 29 April 2022.

From Script to Screen: A Cinematic Experience through Tragedy and Triumph

The film was produced in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, and Spain. The production team worked out the project with a high sense of details and dedication. Some scenes were shot in Spain with a real and creative background from the Andes. It is worth mentioning that the purpose of the film is to show the deep engagement of the group of characters together through this tragic journey.

Beginning of the Nightmare

“A never-ending hit with the snow,” one of the real survivors said. The plane crash scene in the Andes Mountains was a disturbing scene, specifically the detailed shootings of the bodies getting cramped. It is an intentionally shocking scene for the audience as it portrays a genuine replica of the traumatic impact. Even though the crash was a tragic accident, the film aims to shed light on the characters’ humanity.

Empty Spaces in Abandoned Places

After nine days from the plane crash, three of the survivors went to the other side to search for the tail. The aim was to find the radio to reconnect with the outside world. After crossing at least one kilometer, they couldn’t see their friends on the other side. How can a helicopter see them from this distance? The director conveyed the sense of loneliness and coldness by including shots of the plane in a vast space of snow which leaves the audience feeling as cold, lost, and abandoned as the survivors.

Survivors heard on the radio that the search and rescue missions have ceased for at least a month. The world has passed over the accident and turned the page to the next commercial advertisement. At that moment, the survivors went crazy by expressing themselves through crying, striking the plane with a chair, screaming, and hitting themselves. It was a complete destruction of their hope. Director Juan Antonio Bayona said, “the actors were given the freedom to experience the scene according to their prior knowledge of the real survivors. In addition, they had frequent discussions with the real survivors specifically about this scene. Thus, we managed to create a weird atmosphere to allow the audience to understand how bizarre the moment was for them.”

We, as viewers, sympathized with the hopeless situation they are in. We asked ourselves, how will they manage to survive? What were the tools for survival? Is there enough water and food? How long can they last under harsh weather conditions?

The Avalanche Call

A moment of calmness surrounded the survivors on the plane where they were sitting and warming themselves with nothing but their own clothes. They were having intimate and deep conversations about their lives. Suddenly, an avalanche out of nowhere buried them all in snow. The layers of snow that buried the characters were overwhelming to the audience as well. A couple of minutes later, the survivors started digging out their friends buried under the snow. Some managed to survive, others died instantly. It was a heartbreaking scene especially when Javier lost his wife, Liliana, while screaming to her, “breathe, my baby, breathe.” It is a powerful message for every name to be shouted out, as they were trying to search for every member after the avalanche hit their plane. This tells us more about the bond of humanity and friendship created in the ‘society’ there on the mountains.

The close shots of the actors’ faces convey the enclosed and limited space they were trapped in for days. This gives the audience a sense of the claustrophobia that the survivors were experiencing. It is evident in the director’s choice to crowd 26 cast members, 8 corpses, and 2 cameramen operators under multiple layers of snow. 

The Voice of Survival: A Narrator Beyond the Grave

‘There’s no greater love than to give one’s life for friends.’

Those were Numa Turcatti’s final words to his friends, written on a piece of paper and folded in his frozen hands. Numa who is one of the survivors of the Uruguayan plane crash in the Andes Mountains, is the narrator of this magnificent story. He died after struggling for 60 days with his friends in an unforgiving environment. It is safe to include him among the “survivors” as the director chose to tell this story through his eyes. With that, his presence is preserved in the movie, and he continues to live in his friends’ memories.

Brilliantly woven, from an original perspective, his narration as a deceased member gives the story more emotional depth and leaves the audience in awe. In the director’s words, he expressed his intentions to “play the story from the perspective that would put everybody on the same level of importance, not only the survivors but also those who never came back.”

Frozen Memories

In the movie, Numa is employed to tell us the story of those 29 others who didn’t make it back home, which fills in the gaps of the real story, something only fantasy can complete. What it really does, though, is give tribute to those who put hard efforts back there but lost their lives in the end. Even in their death, they paved the way for the 16 survivors to make it out alive. Thus, this work is the first of its kind to deliver a raw depiction of this miraculous survival story and give a voice to the dead.

The role of the narrator gave us an insight into someone’s mind and their true feelings. We connected so much with Numa, as he was our eyes and voice of the disaster of flight 571. Unexpectedly, the narrator of the story would die only ten days before the lost members are found. His death becomes one of the biggest devastating moments in the film, as a part of us dies whilst watching. However, it also announces the beginning of Nando and Roberto’s ten-day expedition, a dangerous and sacrificial act encouraged by Numa’s words and actions. Roberto’s sudden change of mind is a perfect sign of the impact of Numa’s death that represented the final departure in the group. His story gives first-time witnesses an insight into the meaning behind those members’ death, and what it invoked in their friends’ sense of determination and will to survive.

Flesh and Friendship: Sacrificial Bonds

Despite him being among a team of unfamiliar individuals, Numa was able to form strong connections with all the members. Not only did he remain strong and self-preserved, but he was noble and selfless. He cared for the weak and consoled those who were afraid, as his friends described him. Something about his personality makes him the perfect representative of those who didn’t survive. The director’s choice of giving voice to Numa helps us visualize and feel with those who remained on the mountains.

With that, Numa becomes our reminder that those who died aren’t just numbers. They all had dreams and hopes of returning home, based on Numa’s inner monologue that says, “I look at Nando and I feel hope. He trains every day, obsessed with one idea. Beyond that mountain lies the green valleys of Chile. Climbing it is suicide, but I’m going with him.”

Even in his final moments, he voices out all the dead’s inner thoughts as they all perhaps felt the guilt of not being able to help more, but little did they know that their sacrifice of giving up their bodies to their friends was the biggest form of love. When faced with Pancho’s doubts after seeing him growing weaker by the day, Numa simply reassures him that he hasn’t lost hope. However, at that moment, both of them knew that Numa wouldn’t make it. We observe Numa as he slowly slips into what he and those who perished might’ve experienced in their last moments; helplessness, grief, and sadness. Once again, he reminds us that he, like the others, wanted nothing but to get back home to their loved ones. He goes on about his thoughts in a heartbreaking trance of distant dreams, “I want to see my siblings again, see my mother, my father. I want to dance, I want to laugh, I want to cry.”

Echoes of Desperation: Ethical Quandaries and Moral Crossroads

Throughout the movie, multiple examples of religious symbolism and foreshadowing were presented to incorporate the spiritual aspect of the survival story. This allowed the director to successfully include the audience in the ethical, moral, and religious debates that were going on between the survivors.  There were three main scenes that facilitated the attachment between the characters and viewers.

Less than five minutes into the movie, we were confronted with the first genius example of foreshadowing. As it happened, the rugby team unanimously attended a church mass just a few days before they boarded their plane. Throughout the scene, the pastor delivered a sermon where he talked about one of Jesus’ harshest challenges in a deserted place, reading,

“Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights and afterwards was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.”

(Matthew 4:1-11)

The case of Jesus being deserted without any provision is precisely what the listening passengers would experience later. This similarity makes this scene a magnificent illustration of foreshadowing.

Cannibalism versus Morality in the Andes

In the narrative of the struggle to survive, Roberto Canessa emerges as a prominent figure embodying both leadership and religious symbolism. Roberto’s rational arguments regarding the consequences of hunger and the right to survive persuaded the group to resort to an immoral practice like cannibalism. Despite the group’s initial opposition, they had enough trust in Roberto to commit an unprecedented act. He referenced a biblical concept to motivate those around him, arguing that the meat of their deceased friends is ‘like the Eucharist, like the body of Christ, and gave them salvation – life.’ His actions, including wearing the crosses of his fallen comrades, symbolize a deep acknowledgment of their sacrifice.

It is no secret that the survivors’ contemplation on cannibalism was challenging to their moral and ethical compasses, forcing them to navigate the murky waters of survival instincts. As a testament to their collective determination to survive, the group gave each other consent to consume their dead bodies once they pass away. Despite the grim necessity, the taboo nature of cannibalism remained a psychological hurdle. Three cousins prepared the human meat to mitigate the emotional strain, ensuring anonymity and employing methods to desensitize the act, such as wrapping the flesh in ice. These pragmatic measures underscore the complexities of the human psyche when faced with extreme circumstances.

God in the Mountains

Despite the faith of most of the survivors, the question of God and his power under those extraordinary circumstances created a division among the members. In one of the dark, cold nights of the Andes Mountains, the third and final scene related to religious motifs occurred. Arturo looks at Numa and asks him to maintain his energy because he lost his. Numa tries to cheer up Arturo and tells him not to lose faith. This is where Arturo goes on an emotional rant and refuses to uphold his beliefs. Arturo states, “I have more faith than I ever had my whole life.” Numa and his companions find this funny, and they chuckle, only for Arturo to ask them to stop laughing at him. He continues, “My faith, Numa, is not in your God. Because that God tells me what I’m supposed to do at home, but He doesn’t tell me what to do on the mountain.”

Numa and the others stare at Arturo while he points at the plane wreck and says, “This is my heaven, I believe in another God, I believe in the God Roberto keeps inside his head when He comes to heal all my wounds.” Arturo continues to smoke his cigarette and adds, “I believe in the God Nando keeps in his legs, the God that lets him continue walking no matter what. I Believe in Daniel’s hands when he cuts the meat. And Fito, when he gives it to us without saying which of our friends it belonged to. That’s the God I believe in. I believe in Roberto, in Nando, in Daniel, in Fito, and in our dead friends.” Arturo’s voice starts to shiver with tears in his eyes.

In an interview, the director talks about the extreme commitment the whole cast displayed while bringing this narration to life,

“We tried our best to capture the physical and emotional changes of the actors. It is challenging, as a director, to capture the change of bodies, the chemistry, and the friendships. The way the actors touch each other’s souls is a challenging aspect of shooting the movie in terms of showing the way they relate to each other and the way they feel with each other in the most tragic accident of survival.”

The movie utilizing those three main angles of production, becomes the first of its kind to depict the original story in the most realistic way. Therefore, it deserves the Oscar it was nominated for, which perfectly praises the immense efforts put into this work.

Sources

Society of the Snow | Official Trailer

Deliverance: Society of the Snow

https://theasc.com/articles/deliverance-society-of-the-snow

TEDx 2014 Nando Parrado

My Plane Crashed and I Survived 72 Days in The Andes | LADbible

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2F_gZAtsbZ/?igsh=OGlhNWZ5bmdsd2Rx&img_index=1

Making of Society of the Snow | Who Were We on the Mountain? | Netflix