Is Society of the Snow Based on Real Events?
Yes, “Society of the Snow” is based on true events. The movie does a great job of showing what happened with Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in 1972. A plane hired to take a rugby club from Montevideo to Santiago for a game crashed on a glacier in the Andes mountains, killing everyone on board. Only 29 of the 45 people on board escaped the first crash, putting them in one of the toughest places in the world. The survivors had to deal with terrible conditions like freezing temperatures, avalanches, and a desperate need for food, which led to the famous choice to eat each other.
The movie is based on Pablo Vierci‘s book of the same name, which carefully details what the 16 survivors went through. It was while studying for his 2012 movie “The Impossible” that director J.A. Bayona came across Vierci’s book and felt moved to bring this lesser-known story to the forefront of movies. Over 100 hours of interviews with live survivors were recorded by the filmmakers as part of their extensive research. The survivors and families of the victims were also actively involved in the making of the film.
Pablo Vierci, who wrote the book that the movie was based on, was also an associate director of the project. His point of view on the story was very important in shaping the story. Vierci stressed how important it was to tell the story from the dead’s point of view, seeing it as the story of 45 people who went through terrible things and created a society where kindness and humanity ruled.
Bayona’s careful method included using Candombe music from Uruguay and honoring the dead through on-screen tributes, which gave the movie more cultural depth. Both Bayona and Vierci agreed that the choice to have the voice of Numa Turcatti, played by Enzo Vogrincic and who died soon before the rescue, tell the story of the movie was a purposeful one.
“Society of the Snow” is even more real because it is based on real events and had a huge effect on people who were directly involved with the tragedy. The real survivors, their families, and people who helped with the escape worked on the movie, making sure that the story stays true to what happened on the Andes flight. Because of this, the movie is an honest and moving portrayal of an important and scary part of history.
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