In 1972, Flight 571 from Montevideo to Santiago crashed in the Andes. There were 45 people on the plane: members of a Uruguayan rugby team, relatives, and flight attendants. When the rescue occurred only 72 days later, there were only 16 survivors. Spain’s candidate for the Oscar for best international film, The circle of snow (The snow society) looks back at the incredible but true story of these young men.
As he did with his 2012 film The Impossible (The impossible), about a family surprised by the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, Spanish filmmaker JA Bayona relates in an intimate manner a real-life event with a spectacular backdrop.
Moreover, it is by carrying out research to The Impossible that Bayona came across the book by Pablo Vierci at the origin of the scenario of Snow Circle. Published in 2009, this factual work is based on testimonies that the author collected from survivors, but also from the victims’ families.
Hence the hyper-detailed dimension of the film and the impression of authenticity that emerges from it.
In this regard, the crash is recreated with a certain nightmare-inducing truth. In addition to the images, the sound design is relentless in its evocative power (the same, then, for the chilling photo direction). From routine turbulence to free fall to the fuselage which suddenly seems to be made of paper, the horror strikes, visceral.
Endurance test
What follows is grueling, but in a different way. Indeed, what awaits those who have escaped death is a test of endurance. They must resist the cold, an avalanche, despair, hunger, obviously…
Because, yes, the survivors notoriously had to resort to cannibalism. This is, unfortunately, almost all that has been retained in the collective imagination in relation to the tragedy, especially after Hollywood appropriated it in 1993, with the film Alive (The survivors), by Frank Marshall. It was a competent production, but conventional, and a bit sensationalist. That The circle of snow it’s never.
Essential but not central, the element of cannibalism is treated with pragmatism and restraint by Bayona. When the decision is made, a succession of very close-ups of incredulous, terrified and resigned looks is enough to give the measure of the dismay felt at having reached this point.
“I chew two, three times, then I force myself to swallow,” confides one survivor.
Psychology first
With ease, Bayona alternates vast panoramas which swallow the characters within their immensity, almost contemplative moments of daily survival, and large-scale sequences (the crush, the avalanche). It must be said that in addition to the tsunami of The Impossiblethe filmmaker also managed the chaos caused by the dinosaurs of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Jurassic world. The fallen kingdom), a narratively shaky sequel, but well done.
That being said, and fortunately, technical prowess is not what primarily interests Bayona. Thus, from its first success The orphanage (El Orfanato), a moving “ghost film”, Bayona already demonstrated its propensity to prioritize psychology first, whatever the type of story. The same is true here.
And speaking of ghosts, the director (and co-writer) allows himself an ingenious license in relation to the book. Indeed, most of the narration is done by one of the deceased, a law student serving as the group’s conscience. The process gives an additional spirituality, even poetry, to the film.
Certainly, The circle of snow would have benefited from tighter editing in the middle and more sparing use of music, but these drawbacks do not weigh heavily. From a gripping drama that entered popular culture for the wrong reason, JA Bayona has created a human and captivating film.
When they are finally rescued and the population cries of a miracle, the narrator retorts: “What miracle? » In fact, while the jubilant crowd rushes to their side, the survivors have a haunted look in their eyes.