The real story of the film The Snow Society

One of the biggest hits of 2024 to date, the film The Snow Society arrived in the catalog Netflix in the first week of the year, more precisely on January 4th, and captured the attention of moviegoers across Brazil and the world.

Telling the story of one of the most impactful cases of struggle for survival ever recorded throughout human history, in just 11 days of its release the work entered the list of Netflix's most popular productions, totaling around 70 million hours watched.

The Snow Society became the 10th most-watched non-English-language film in Netflix history. In fact, a phenomenon that captivated and provoked emotions in those who watched it and which aroused the curiosity of those who have not yet played it.

What is The Snow Society about?

Based on the book of the same name by author Pablo Vierci, The Snow Society portrays one of the most shocking tragic stories that has ever occurred in humanity. Called the “Miracle of the Andes”, the case occurred when Uruguayan Air Force flight 571, which was taking a rugby team to Chile, along with their friends, family and associates, in addition to the flight team, crashed in the Andes Mountains, on October 13, 1972.

At the time, about a quarter of the flight's crew died immediately after the accident. Another part of the group ended up not being able to resist the immense cold and the serious injuries suffered. There was little food in the region and absolutely no source of heat, which meant that the survivors had to face very extreme weather conditions, all at almost four thousand meters of altitude.

The first thing I did was go to the Valley of Tears, on the Argentine side of the Andes, where the plane crashed. And I was there at the same time of year. So I was able to sleep there in a small camp and experience altitude sickness, experience the feeling of loneliness that you have there.

Juan Antonio Bayona, director of the film, in an interview with the program All Things Considered

Faced with a completely adverse scenario, people who were fighting for their lives still had to deal with the lack of food, while hearing on the radio that the search for them had ended. It wasn't long before the survivors began to feed on the flesh of the dead passengers, which had been preserved by the snow.

The disaster in the Andes in 1972

It was Friday the 13th, in October 1972, when a Fairchlid FH-7827 turboprop, which belonged to the Uruguayan Air Force, crashed while flying over the Andes Mountains. The plane was transporting the Uruguay rugby team to Chile to play a match against the home team.

In short, the trip had started the previous Thursday, but due to bad weather the plane was forced to make a night stopover in Mendoza, Argentina. Shortly after resuming the trip the following day, the pilot reported to the controllers that he was over Curicó, in Chile, and was instructed to descend the aircraft, which was a big mistake.

With his vision covered by clouds, the pilot was unable to see that he was very close to the mountains. As it began its descent, it wasn't long before the plane crashed into a previously unnamed peak, later named Mount Seler. The region corresponds to the mountainous border between Chile and Argentina.

Of all 45 people inside the plane at the time of impact, 12 of them died at the time of the accident or very shortly after, including the pilot. Another five people did not resist, dying the following morning, in addition to one more victim, who succumbed on the 8th day.

Faced with this scenario, there were 27 survivors left, who faced the most terrible difficulties with the extremely cold weather high in the mountains. Most of them had suffered injuries at the time of the accident, such as fractures and other serious injuries. The group did not have equipment, medical supplies or appropriate clothing for the freezing weather.

After 11 days trapped on the mountain, the survivors heard on a small radio that the search for them was over. From then on, drastic measures were necessary to be able to fight for their lives.

Amidst problems with extreme weather, avalanches and lack of food, the group was forced to make unpleasant decisions, but which could be fundamental to saving their lives. Faced with the established problems, the group decided to start eating the flesh of those who were already dead in order to survive, which was possible since the bodies were preserved by the snow.

After days of rationing food, discovering strategies to gather water and stay alive, the group began trying to seek help in the most diverse ways.

On December 22, 1972, more than two months after the accident, rescue teams found the calls for help and went to “take care” of the people there. On December 23, all 16 remaining survivors of the “Miracle of the Andes” were rescued and taken to the hospital for treatment.

See the cast of the film The Snow Society

Enzo Vogrincic

Playing one of the main characters in the plot, Enzo Vogrincic gives life to Numa Turcatti, one of the passengers on the flight who survived the accident and has great importance in the development of the plot throughout its course. The Uruguayan actor has already worked on productions A Night of 12 Years (2018) 9 (2021) and Iosi, The Repentant Spy (2022)

Matías Recalte

Like Enzo, Matías Recalte is also very prominent throughout the plot, precisely because he plays Roberto Canessa, also one of the surviving players on the rugby team. Recalte became famous for his work in Apache – The Life of Carlos Tévez (2019) blind (2019) and Planners (2023)

Agustin Pardella

Argentine actor, Agustín Pardella participates in the film by playing Nando Parrado. Agustín has already participated in works such as pinamar (2016) Like a Sexless Dating (2016) and Summer Stories (2022)

Felipe Gonzalez Otaño

Giving life to the Uruguayan writer Carlos “Carlitos” Miguel Páez, who became known as “the man with the iron spirit”, Felipe Gonzalez Otaño also plays one of the influential characters in the plot of The Snow Society. The Argentine actor also worked on The hunter (2020)

Paula Baldini

Argentine actress of great prominence in the neighboring country, Paula Baldini plays Liliana Methol, one of the victims of an avalanche that happened days after the plane crash and killed eight people from the surviving group. Paula also acted in 2 More 2 (2012) You can call me Francisco (2015) and Claudia (2019)

Watch the trailer for The Snow Society, available on Netflix

See also other features

See Netflix releases in January (2024)

Source: Netflix, Book “The Snow Society” (2020), Outside

Text proofread by: Pedro Bomfim