A hó társadalma

A 140 perc úgy elszalad, mint a gyors vízfolyás. J.A. Bayona tökéletesen elsajátította a mesterséget és a műfaj szabályait, és egy erőteljes igaz történetet van a kezében. Nem rágódik a prológuson, sem a repülő gépen, és a lehető leghamarabb beleveti szereplőit a havas pokolba. Csak ott ismerjük meg őket. Az érzelmek kölcsönös bevallása a kétségbeejtő helyzetben működik, és a folyamatosan haldoklók egyre növekvő száma tovább fokozza a drámát. A kannibalizmus decensen van tálalva, és főleg azért sokkoló, hogy a történet hősei mennyi ideig voltak kénytelenek így létezni. És hogy mennyire hozzászoktak. Jó színészek és a film lenyűgöző lezárása, gondolatokkal a sorok között. Az egyetlen kifogásom a tájékozódással kapcsolatos munka a néhány felvétel vágásában, amelyek a repülőgép körüli hegyvidéki területet tárják fel. (2024.01.07)

Bayona is a master of the disaster effect. Whereas Alive was a matter of leaving certain things somewhat in the abstract, physical details are not absent in Society of the Snow. Does that necessarily lead to a deeper experience? No, but it doesn’t seem out of place and tasteless like some of the emotional-blackmail moments in Stand by Me. I could have done without the conjuring with the (unreliable) narrator, but it’s not worth concealing the fact that, despite the slight distance that this refined filmmaking evokes, this film has an excellent pace and the actual event on which it is based has enough...well, meat on the bone is perhaps not an appropriate analogy. In any case, Society of the Snow manages to reconcile reverence with adrenaline. Nevertheless, I still think Alive is the better film (also because I associate it with the experience of going to the cinema when I was a kid) and the excellent documentary Stranded offered greater emotional and psychological depth. (2024.01.07)

Netflix and J.A. Bayona deliver a reconstruction of the famous story of the plane crash with a rugby team in 1972, and although Alive is good, this more modern package suits it even better. Those who haven't seen the original will enjoy the film even more, but for those who don't remember it like I do, this remake is not harmful. Bayona is an expert on disasters, as he already proved in The Impossible, and the plane crash is brilliantly captured. Unpleasant, realistic, and brutal (that bone-breaking scene was epic, I had to watch it three times), the characters are likable; you will root for them, as the frost, hunger, and hopelessness mercilessly engulf you, which is an important element. I was hoping that cannibalism would be more developed (I hoped they would show some butchering, but that would be entering a different genre). The scene with the avalanche is also good, and despite its longer running time, the film quickly passed by, even though nothing significant or fun happens. Netflix delivered a decent, chilling survival flick right from the start, which will please fans of the genre. The story remains powerful even after all these years. 75% (2024.01.06)

This well-known story of the air crash in the snow-covered Andes whose survivors had to resort to cannibalism had already been told in the 1993 American film Alive. In comparison with that film, Bayona offers a more modern take with top-quality filmmaking (including excellent camerawork and an intense scene involving the crash itself). In addition to that, he returns this story about the power of the human will and tenacity to the Spanish-speaking realm. But that’s basically all there is to it, because the film naturally doesn’t have much to surprise us with in terms of plot. With few exceptions, the individual characters are interchangeable and their agonisingly bad fortune serves mainly to make an emotional impact on viewers. However, the film is likable in that it is a truly honest and thoroughly realistic survival drama that is unburdened by the necessity of cramming the plot with personal conflicts between the characters, who can thus focus more on the practical side of their own survival. The low degree of pathos and the very subtle and humane approach to the issue of eating human flesh are also pleasing. (2023.10.09)