As someone who is extremely critical when it comes to movies, I went into this International Film with low expectations, prepared to be easily bored and eventually have to switch to something else. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Not only is this one of the most beautifully orchestrated movies I’ve ever seen, but left me with a story I will never forget. Bone-chilling and uniquely electrifying, you’ll never take another second of life for granted.
Society of the Snow follows the true story of a Uruguayan rugby team that was invited to play in Santiago, Chile in 1972. Their flight was known as Flight 571, with a total of 45 passengers on board, including team members as well as their families and friends. Most of them ranged between the ages of 19 to 24, making the event even more tragic. On October 13th, due to a navigational error made by the pilot and his inexperienced assistant pilot, they began descending at the wrong time from 18,000 to 11,500 feet causing the plane to strike a mountain ridge and plummet in the middle of the Andes Mountains. The rough impact of the crash tore off both the wings and tail of the plane, accounting for the immediate deaths of 3 crew members and 9 passengers.
As night fell, the death toll began piling up due to the frigid −22°F to 30°C temperatures and serious injuries. With luggage full of summer clothes and little food, the survivors clung to the little hope they had left that someone would find them. After finally finding a signal and getting the radio to work (unfortunately only from the outside), they were met with the devastating news that the 10-day rescue search for Flight 571 had come to an end.
At this point, survivors were becoming manic due to the lack of nutrients in their bodies, leading them to make the unfathomable decision, to either eat the bodies of their loved ones or die. A pact was made by the remaining survivors that if they died, the others could feed on their bodies to survive.
Time was running out and with little to keep them going, two men by the names of Robert Cannessa and Nando Parrado (ages 19 and 22 at the time) volunteered to leave the site of the wreckage and attempt to find help. Aware that climbing the Andes with no experience nor equipment was a near-suicidal decision, they clung to the hope that a green Chilean valley lay across the mountains. After two weeks of preparing for the trek and awaiting warmer weather, they began their journey on December 11th, nearly two months after the crash.
After ten days of walking an insane 38 miles, they spotted their first sign of hope, Sergio Catalán Martínez, a Chilean herdsman. Almost crying with relief, they urged him to get help, and immediately he set out to alert the authorities. On December 23, two and a half months after the crash, the remaining 14 survivors were rescued, equating to 16 sole survivors. To this day, Nando Parrado and Robert Cannessa are celebrated as true heroes since without them, none of them would have made it out alive.
Though an astonishing tale, my words do it little justice. It is the Society of the Snow that captures every gut-wrenching emotion and replicates the true horror and bravery of which this story deserves to be told.