Society Of The Snow tells the true story of the 1972 plane crash where 16 members and supporters of a Uruguayan rugby team survived 72 days (nearly two and half months), of starvation and extreme weather events while trapped amidst a glacier in the Andes Mountains. Uruguayan flight 571 took off with 40 passengers and five crew members on board. Due to bad weather the plane was forced to land in Mendoza Argentina and stay overnight. On Oct. 13, the plane set out for Santiago; however, the pilot misjudged his location and with clearance from air traffic control. Unable to clear the ridge line, the plane struck a mountain losing both wings and its tail.
“This is more than a movie. This is an experience we had to share with humanity to show people who are having their own mountain crashes how to be resourceful and how not to give up,” said survivor Roberto Canessa to Deadline.
After director J. A. Bayona set out to tell the story of horrific plane crashed, his hard work paid off. On Tuesday, the film was Oscar nominated in the category for Best International Feature Film category. Society Of The Snow was shot partly in the same location where the real plane crashed.
“It’s been 10 years to find the financing for this film,” Bayona told Deadline.
Society was produced with a Spanish budget which is not the budget of an American film.
“Going with Netflix to a massive audience and suddenly seeing your movie become number one in almost a hundred territories from day one; it’s a great sign of hope to me,” the director added.
Bayona being able to produce this film in such a realistic and impactful way just shows that putting hard work and effort into a project might pay off. Bayona based the movie on Pablo Vierci’s book of the same name. While there has been a morbid fascination over the events following the crash, Bayona set out to honor Vierci’s telling of the story and approach it in a composition way from a “human perspective.”
It delivers an inspiring message for young people and gives the best image what human beings are capable of even in the worst situations. The response from all over the world has been fantastic as the portrayal of this story was touching as well as emotional on a different level.
