{"id":43047,"date":"2024-01-04T10:00:52","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T09:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1953599"},"modified":"2024-01-04T16:06:41","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T15:06:41","slug":"society-of-the-snow-true-story-how-accurate-is-the-netflix-film","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/society-of-the-snow-true-story-how-accurate-is-the-netflix-film\/","title":{"rendered":"Society of the Snow true story: How accurate is the Netflix film?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Director JA Bayona and survivor Carlitos P\u00e1ez speak exclusively to RadioTimes.com about the incredible tale of survival following the 1972 Andes flight disaster. <\/p>

By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 04 January 2024 at 09:00 AM<\/p>

\n\n

In October of 1972, a plane transporting members of the Old Christians Club\u00a0rugby union team from their home in Uruguay to a match in Chile suffered a catastrophic crash \u2013 instantly killing 12 passengers<\/a> and leaving the remaining 33 stranded in deeply inhospitable conditions in the Andes mountains.<\/p>\n

What followed has become the stuff of legend: for 72 days, the surviving players had to get by with barely any food, water or hope of a rescue, especially after they discovered via radio transmission that the search for them had been called off.<\/p>\n

Eventually, two of the survivors \u2013 Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa \u2013 were able to find help after embarking on an improbable hike into Chile, which took 10 days and saw them climb a 4,650-metre peak and travel 61km without any mountaineering gear.<\/p>\n

Thanks to their efforts, the remaining team members were subsequently saved, and the incredible tale of survival became known as the Miracle of the Andes.<\/p>

It\u2019s a tale that has been adapted for the screen before, most notably in the 1993 film Alive starring Ethan Hawke.<\/p>\n

But the latest version of the story, Netflix<\/a>\u2018s Society of the Snow, might just be the most accurate retelling yet \u2013 with director JA Bayona explaining that he prepared for the film \u201clike a documentary\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did extensive research,\u201d he explained during an exclusive interview with\u00a0RadioTimes.com<\/a>. \u201cWe interviewed the survivors for hours \u2013 many, many hours. So, we really wanted to know all the details in order to capture the story with the maximum level of realism.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the survivors were very important,\u201d he added. \u201cNot only the survivors, but the families of the deceased, their friends. All of them were fundamental to get all the information to provide the actors and be able to reproduce all those events in front of the camera.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those survivors is Carlitos P\u00e1ez, who was just 18 at the time of the crash, and told RadioTimes.com<\/strong> that he and the remaining team members are very happy with the film Bayona has made.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe trust a lot in JA Bayona,\u201d he explained, revealing that he had seen the director\u2019s earlier film The Impossible, about the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and spoken to its real-life subject Mar\u00eda Bel\u00f3n about her experiences of working with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fight a lot with JA, but he\u2019s an incredible guy,\u201d he laughed. \u201cAnd no one of the survivors looked at the script; we trusted him, everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the most important thing about the whole movie is that all the survivors feel the same way about the movie, and also the families of the people that died \u2013 they love the movie. So it\u2019s a great thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Society\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Society of the Snow.<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Bayona revealed that he was very nervous before screening the film for the survivors, but his worries were quickly put aside following their reactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the movie finished for the first time, I think it is the only moment that we got some consensus from them!\u201d he said. \u201cThey all love the film, they were very shocked about the realism of the film \u2013 they had the feeling of being back there, they were able to recognise every single corner of the landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey all felt that it was a very intense journey, but they really appreciated the realism.\u201d<\/p>\n

One aspect of the film that marks it out from previous retellings of the story is the decision to focus not just on those who survive, but also on the members of the team who tragically passed away during the 72 days they were stranded.<\/p>\n

The most prominent of those is Numa Turcatti (Enzo Vogrincic Rold\u00e1n), a strong member of the team who serves as the central character for much of the runtime, and Bayona explained that the decision to make Numa the focus came directly from reading Pablo Vierci\u2019s 2009 account of the tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe press always talk about the survivors, and in a very conventional way talking about heroes \u2013 and also very focused on the cannibalism,\u201d he explained. \u201c[But] when you read Pablo Vierci\u2019s book, it\u2019s a much bigger story than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what I was interested in was how to capture on the screen the spirituality of the book. And I think that, by telling the story through the eyes of Numa, it felt like immediately I had this metaphysical approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that, during the research process \u2013 when he started to ask the survivors about those who had died \u2013 some of them were initially rather taken aback, because the questions he was posing were so different from the ones they were accustomed to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re used to telling their story,\u201d he explained. \u201cAnd suddenly, I was asking them a lot about the deaths. And I think that what\u2019s been so effective for them \u2013 I think that one of the reasons they are so happy with the film is for the first time, after 50 years, the movie allows them to talk about them.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause, unconsciously, they were always telling their story. But by forcing them to tell the story of the other ones, I think that gave them, like, the chance of giving something back, and that actually, I think for them has been something really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Society\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Society of the Snow.<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

As is alluded to above, one of the aspects of the story that, perhaps unsurprisingly, has often attracted much media attention is the fact that the survivors were forced to resort to cannibalism<\/a>, eating the flesh of those who had already passed away in order to survive.<\/p>\n

This is portrayed in the film sensitively by Bayona \u2013 who revealed that he never wanted the film to be \u201cfocused in horror\u201d \u2013 and P\u00e1ez explained that this should not be seen as the focus of the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the main thing of the story, you know?\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s incredible, you know, all the philosophy, the discussion [of whether they should eat human meat], even the part when Canessa buries the meat and we come to reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, for me, it wasn\u2019t a big deal. Really, it wasn\u2019t. If you ask me if it happens again, I won\u2019t stay 10 days waiting for the whole thing. I will do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the main thing. But because of that, you can talk about teamwork, you can talk about solidarity, you can talk about love, you can talk of friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, for P\u00e1ez, what is the main thing?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat everybody was equal,\u201d he explained. \u201cNational Geographic says this is the biggest story in survival, but the principal thing is that we were ordinary people. And I was 18 years old, I was a spoiled boy, you know, my father gave me everything. So I knew nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Uruguay, we don\u2019t have snow, we don\u2019t have mountains. And to stay\u2026 you must understand, 72 days, that\u2019s a lot, you go for summer for two and a half months and it\u2019s difficult to have a good time and enjoy yourself for 72 days! And to be in the situation and even knowing that nobody was looking for us, you know, what\u2019s the end?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is another story of the miners in Chile, but on the 14th day, everybody knew that they were alive. In our case, on the 10th day, we knew that nobody was looking for us. It was very hard to be in this moment, when the world was continuing, playing football, astronauts going to the Moon.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we were in the Andes \u2013 that was very difficult. But in a kind of a way, you stop thinking about your family, and then we start playing our story, because we were against nature.\u201d<\/p>