SOCIETY OF THE SNOW
Society of the Snow: where in the Andes did the plane crash?
Directed by JA Bayona, Society of Snow was a nominee at the Golden Globes and is being tipped for success at the Oscars.
Society of the Snow, a Spanish-language movie that is set to be a contender at this year’s Oscars, chronicles the real-life 1972 Andes plane crash.
It is not the first big-screen dramatisation of the tragedy; most notably, the accident and its aftermath were the subject of Frank Marshall’s 1993 film Alive, an English-language picture starring Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano and Josh Hamilton.
What happened in the Andes plane crash?
On 13 October 1972, a flight chartered by an amateur Uruguayan rugby team crashed in the Andes mountains as it travelled from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Santiago, Chile, ultimately killing 29 of the 45 passengers and crew on board.
In the 50 years since the accident, the story of the survivors who endured freezing conditions for 10 weeks before being rescued has continued to receive international attention. And this ongoing interest is chiefly because they survived by resorting to cannibalism after their food supplies quickly ran out.
How and where did the Andes crash happen?
Carrying not only members of the Old Christians rugby club, but also friends, family and supporters, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed when its pilot became fatally disorientated.
Lieutenant colonel Dante Héctor Lagurara mistakenly believed he had passed a waypoint over the Chilean city Curicó, where the twin-engined Fairchild turboprop was supposed to turn north towards Santiago and begin its descent.
However, the plane was in fact still over the Andes, some 40 miles east of Curicó; indeed, it was still in Argentina. After starting its descent prematurely, the Fairchild struck a mountain.
Crash site: exact location and map
The crash site of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 is located at an altitude of about 11,700 feet, close to the Chilean border, in the Mendoza Province in western central Argentina. Its coordinates are: 34°45′53.5″S 70°17′06.6″W.
Survivors turn to cannibalism
Initially, 33 of the 45 on board survived the crash, but they faced sub-zero temperatures and, within about a week, had consumed the scarce food provisions on the plane, which largely consisted of wine and chocolate bars. To survive, they then began eating the corpses of those who had died.
By the time they were finally rescued on 22 and 23 December, 17 more had died. The rise in the death toll was in no small part down to an avalanche at the end of October, which killed eight.
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Society of the Snow shortlisted for Academy Awards
Based on Pablo Vierci’s 2009 book of the same name, Society of the Snow has been shortlisted for four Oscars ahead of March’s 96th Academy Awards.
The picture, which is directed by JA Bayona, is in the running for Best International Feature Film, Best Original Score, Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Visual Effects. The final Oscars nominations are to be announced later in January.
A nominee for Best Non-English Language Motion Picture at last weekend’s Golden Globes, Society of the Snow has largely received positive reviews, with The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw describing it as “a fervent film, heartfelt and shot with passion and sweep”.
Writing in the New York Observer, Emily Zemler adds: “Bayona focuses on the humanity not the sensationalism, showcasing poignant moments of love and care between the characters. It’s a tearjerker at times, sure, but what remains is how much a person can endure under impossible circumstances.”
Where to watch Society of the Snow in the US
Society of the Snow was released in US movie theatres on 22 December 2023. Since 4 January 2024, the film has also been available to watch on the streaming platform Netflix.
Watch the trailer for Society of the Snow:
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