REVIEW: tragedy or miracle, The Snow Society is one of the best films of the season

At the beginning of 2024, the Netflix made one of the best catalog additions in recent months. An unquestionable success in streaming from “Tudum”, the film The Snow Society Little by little he enchanted the public with a breathtaking work. In a highly strengthened 'word of mouth' scheme, it didn't take long for the Spanish feature film to top the platform's ranking, remaining in first position for days.

By the end of January, the work had already totaled more than 156,6 million hours watched. In fact, one of the service's biggest recent successes. In addition, there were more than 64,4 million estimated views, making it the 4th most watched non-English film in the catalog. The Snow Society has enchanted viewers with such production quality. Not surprisingly, the work directed by Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona received two Oscar 2024 nominations.

The plot of The Snow Society

In October 1972, a Uruguayan Air Force plane carried 40 passengers, made up of players, coaching staff, relatives and friends of the country's rugby team. Celeste's, in addition to five crew members for a trip to Chile, where the team would play a match against the local opponent.

It turns out that while flying over the Andes Mountains, bad weather combined with a hasty calculation regarding the planned route caused the aircraft to crash, killing a large part of the group on board and leaving the survivors in a complete risk situation.

Totally isolated from the world, the group that bore the impact begins to face a series of problems while finding themselves trapped in a mountainous region, far from everything. Without food, getting water from the snow, going through avalanches and extreme cold, with temperatures extremely hostile to the human body, those who remain are forced to make some of the worst decisions, while they continue to fight for the opportunity to one day be able to return to House.

One of the best films of the season

The Snow Society was nominated in two categories at the Oscar 2024. In addition to competing for Best International Film, the Netflix production is still in the running to win the statuette for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, which would be well deserved, due to the great work presented on screen. However, there are other points that make Juan Antonio Baytona's work so acclaimed in the service of streaming most famous in the country.

One of the great successes of The Snow Society is, in addition to the technical side, showing the public the human relationships that surrounded one of the best-known survival cases in history. By making a point of recording wide frames, the production gives the audience the idea that these people are completely in the middle of nowhere. Not only that, the “nothing” in this case is taken over by a vast white blanket that makes everything even more difficult: snow.

Getting lost among the mountains of the Andes would be bad enough in spring and summer conditions. But going through this in one of the harshest winters ever makes everything even more complicated. By being able to convey this immense adversity to its viewer, the film manages to help people understand what a miracle it was that people managed, day after day, to stay alive.

But the film does not focus solely on the setting work to demonstrate the magnitude of the event. The work constantly presents the dilemmas experienced by each of the survivors during the days they were trapped in the mountains. Each of those people had a life outside of there. When making decisions that could influence everyone, there were discussions, debates, values, principles and fear. Everything is placed on the screen so that the audience feels the weight of each action that happens to the group.

Choosing the protagonist

It is very common that in productions that deal with the survival of a certain group, the protagonist of the story revolves around the one who will follow until the end, largely to show how the individual saw each of the situations.

But this film goes in a completely different direction by starting the plot under the eyes of Numa Turcatti, a character played by actor Enzo Vogrincic (9, 2021). It is Numa who begins narrating the story, acquainting the viewer with everything that is about to happen.

After the accident, the young man continues to be the main highlight, even with dilemmas happening with other characters. There is no way not to create a bond with Numa, since we see almost everything from his perspective, which was a clear decision in the script, which is also by Juan Antonio Bayona. It turns out that due to a series of factors, Numa leaves the group after a certain point in the film, which makes the audience miss him.

It's at this point that you realize the decision for Numa's protagonism. It is possible to use and abuse the framing, the well-made scenes, all that meter-high snow that covered the entire environment, but more was needed.

In this way, the film makes you talk to Numa all the time, puts you under his vision in most of the decisions made, leads you to frustrated attempts to solve problems with the character, makes you create bonds with him, so that then you feel exactly what everyone felt after your departure. One of the best decisions in the production, which wants you to feel what those people felt for months after losing loved ones.

Impeccable technical quality

The direction, the script and the performances are indeed points that raise the level of the film to a very high level. However, there is no denying that the technical part made everything easier. The images presented by the film are always breathtaking, making the audience wonder at every moment whether the survivors will really be able to get out of this situation, as it seems impossible. The white immensity runs across the screen and demonstrates the size of the feat accomplished by these men.

In addition to Best International Film, The Snow Society is also up for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the Oscars. The nomination is much more than deserved. The work done on the actors' faces shows the deterioration the characters have gone through after so long in conditions completely inhospitable to human life.

Another big highlight is the soundtrack. Bearing the signature of American composer Michael Giacchino, the film's music performs exactly as it needs to be. It doesn't stand out, it's not scandalous, it doesn't steal the focus, which should remain in the story. But she is present at all times. Whenever the melody enters the scene, it is to enhance what is happening in the plot. It excites and worries when necessary, but accompanies relief when it is required.

Conclusion

The success of The Snow Society It is notorious. The film arrived on Netflix and soon experienced a considerable rise, which placed it at the top of streaming for several days in a row. Juan Antonio Bayona's work emerged as if he didn't want anything and soon moved families and friends around the world, becoming a strong story about the case that we still don't know if it was a tragedy or a miracle, but that is certainly marked in humanity with a great example of the struggle for survival.

Where to watch The Snow Society?

Released on January 4th this year, the film The Snow Society is available on the Netflix streaming platform. A worldwide phenomenon, the work directed by Juan Antonio Bayona has an approval rating of 91% from specialized critics on the website Rotten Tomatoes.

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The real story of the film The Snow Society

Source: Netflix

Text proofread by: Pedro Bomfim