Directed by J.A. Bayona, the film La Sociedad de la Nieve is a gripping survival saga adapted from Pablo Vierci’s eponymous book. Its narrative centers on a plane transporting a cohort of Uruguayan rugby players that crashes in the Andes mountains. But is this story rooted in actual events?
Without a doubt, ‘Society of the Snow’ is based on the Uruguayan 1972 Andes flight disaster. This real-life tragedy occurred when Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 tragically crashed in the Andres Mountains on October 13, 1972, while carrying 45 passengers and crew. Among the passengers were 19 members of the Old Christians Club rugby union team, accompanied by their families, supporters, and friends.
Referred to as the Miracle of the Andes, the incident saw 16 survivors being rescued 72 days after the crash. Notably, Roberto Canessa and Fernando Parrado, two of the survivors, managed to scale a 15,260 ft mountain peak and trek for 10 days, covering approximately 38 miles without proper equipment, in search of help.
‘Society of the Snow’ is not the sole cinematic portrayal of the Flight 571 disaster. The 1993 film ‘Alive’, inspired by the 1974 book ‘Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors’, depicted the resilience of the rugby team. Unlike ‘Society of the Snow’, ‘Alive’ was entirely in English and did not encompass the entire group of survivors; it constituted a dramatization of the events.
La Sociedad de la Nieve is presented entirely in the Spanish language and features a cast primarily comprising relatively obscure Uruguayan and Argentinian actors. The source material also narrates the story from the perspective of the sixteen survivors.
Remarkably, 14 out of the original 16 crash survivors are still alive today.
‘Society of the Snow’ is set to hit theaters in a limited release on December 22, 2024, and will be available on Netflix from January 4, 2024.
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