History Film / SocietyOfTheSnow

''Society of the Snow'' (Spanish: ''La Sociedad de la Nieve'') is a 2023 Spanish-language survival drama directed by J.A. Bayona (''Film/TheImpossible'', ''Film/TheOrphanage''). It tells the true story of Uruguayan Air Force flight 571, which crashed on a glacier on the Andes mountains in October 1972 while en route to Santiago, Chile. 12 people died in the crash, including the pilots. The other 33 were left stranded in an unknown area of perpetual snow and no vegetation, without supplies or survival training. The survivors, many of them members of a rugby team traveling for a match, along with their friends and relatives, have to work together in order to survive their harsh surroundings. And most are so young that this is their first travel abroad and have not even seen snow before in their life.

* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: The trope is at play regarding the death of co-pilot Dante Lagurara, though who is the villain, and how much, is affected because SocietyMarchesOn. Originally the survivors claimed that Lagurara asked for a gun in his suitcase to commit suicide and they insisted that, though they didn't find the case until days after he died, they didn't help him die in any manner and (probably) wouldn't even if the gun had been available, because they considered it murder. This left the co-pilot no choice but to bleed and freeze to death, as he couldn't be unstuck from the cabin controls. However by 2023 active voluntary euthanasia is legal in Spain, and passive euthanasia is in most of South America. So the choice to leave it out altogether clearly has as much to do with respect for Lagurara's memory and his family as it is to not make the survivors look cruel in the eyes of the audience.

** Because of the choice to focus on Numa, other survivors feel like this when compared to their portrayals in other media. Liliana Methol probably gets it the worse, as the film doesn't include her role as volunteer nurse and unofficial "mother" of the group, possibly in an attempt to make the film more different from ''Alive''. Here she's only memorable for being the longest surviving female and TheLostLenore to Javier after her death. Additonally, Daniel Maspons, Enrique Platero and Diego Storm are practically reduced to background extras compared to previous adaptations. In contrast, Nando and Canessa retain enough screentime to be considered {{deuteragonist}}s.
** The inside of the cockpit is never shown except through an open door until after the crash, so the pilot Julio Ferradas barely appears in the film. Additionally, the steward Ovidio Ramirez and navigator Ramon Martinez appear to have been cut from the film entirely and are only seen as dead bodies several days after the crash. [[note]] Although Ovidio is mentioned on the script, during the crash scene where he slips and falls out of the rear of the broken fuselage. [[/note]]

* BodyHorror: Plenty to go around. The real miracle is that it doesn't come across as exploitative, somehow.

** The inside of the cockpit is never shown except through an open door until after the crash, so the pilot Julio Ferradas barely appears in the film. Additionally, the steward Ovidio Ramirez and navigator Ramon Martinez appear to have been cut from the film entirely and are only seen as dead bodies several days after the crash. [[note Although Ovidio is mentioned on the script, during the crash scene where he slips and falls out of the rear of the broken fuselage /note]]

** The inside of the cockpit is never shown except through an open door until after the crash, so the pilot Julio Ferradas barely appears in the film. Additionally, the steward Ovidio Ramirez and navigator Ramon Martinez appear to have been cut from the film entirely and are only seen as dead bodies several days after the crash.

** In real life, the avalanche buried the plane while the survivors where asleep, rather than making rhythms.

** Nando Parrado appears early in the film, opening the airport’s front door to the actors portraying his family.

** Carlitos Paez portrays his own father, Carlitos Paez Vilaró, sharing screen with the actor playing himself in deleted scenes.
** Roberto Canessa appears as a doctor, escorting the movie’s Canessa into the hospital.

* DemotedToExtra: Because of the choice to focus on Numa, other survivors feel like this when compared to their portrayals in other media. Liliana Methol probably gets it the worse, as the film doesn't include her role as volunteer nurse and unofficial "mother" of the group, possibly in an attempt to make the film more different from ''Alive''. Here she's only memorable for being the longest surviving female and TheLostLenore to Javier after her death. In comparison, Nando and Canessa retain enough screentime to be considered {{deuteragonist}}s.

* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: The trope is at play regarding the death of co-pilot Dante Lagurara, though who is the villain and how much is affected because SocietyMarchesOn. Originally the survivors claimed that Lagurara asked for a gun in his suitcase to commit suicide and they insisted that, though they didn't find the case until days after he died, they didn't help him die in any manner and (probably) wouldn't even if the gun had been available, because they considered it murder. This left the co-pilot no choice but to bleed and freeze to death, as he couldn't be unstuck from the cabin controls. However by 2023 active voluntary euthanasia is legal in Spain, and passive euthanasia is in most of South America. So the choice to leave it out altogether clearly has as much to do with respect for Lagurara's memory and his family as it is to not make the survivors look cruel in the eyes of the audience.

* DeathByIrony: Numa, the main character, as well as one of the strongest and most proactive survivors, dies of a small cut in his foot after being severely weakened by hunger, just 12 days before his companions are rescued.

* ShownTheirWork: Bayona called the survivors to consult multiple times. As a result the movie includes details that are hardly going to be noticed or understood by most people.

* BloodFromTheMouth: The co-pilot keeps vomiting blood during his short time alive after the crash.

%%* HistoricalVillainDowngrade

If that sounds familiar, it’s because the movie is based on the same true events that inspired the 1976 Mexican film ''Film/{{Survive}}'' and the 1993 American film ''Film/{{Alive}}'', this time adaptated from the book ''The Snow Society: The Definitive Account of the World’s Greatest Survival Story'' (2009) by Uruguayan journalist and author Pablo Vierci. But where ''Survive!'' was basically an {{exploitation}} film focused on the most sensational aspects of the story, and ''Alive'' was an adventure film that highlighted the HeroicSpirit of the survivors that ultimately made it out of the tragedy, ''Society of the Snow'' is a somber drama built as [[DueToTheDead a tribute to those who didn't]].

If that sounds familiar, that’s because the movie is based on true events also inspired both the 1976 Mexican film ''Film/{{Survive}}'' and the 1993 American film ''Film/{{Alive}}'', though this is an adaptation of the book, ''The Snow Society: The Definitive Account of the World’s Greatest Survival Story'' (2009) by Uruguayan journalist and author Pablo Vierci. But where ''Survive!'' was basically an exploitation film focused on the most sensational aspects of the story, and ''Alive'' was an adventure film that highlighted the HeroicSpirit of the survivors that ultimately made it out of the tragedy, ''Society of the Snow'' is a somber drama built as [[DueToTheDead a tribute to those who didn't]].

If that sounds familiar, that’s because the movie ie based on true events also inspired both the 1976 Mexican film ''Film/{{Survive}}'' and the 1993 American film ''Film/{{Alive}}'', though this is an adaptation of the book, ''The Snow Society: The Definitive Account of the World’s Greatest Survival Story'' (2009) by Uruguayan journalist and author Pablo Vierci. But where ''Survive!'' was basically an exploitation film focused on the most sensational aspects of the story, and ''Alive'' was an adventure film that highlighted the HeroicSpirit of the survivors that ultimately made it out of the tragedy, ''Society of the Snow'' is a somber drama built as [[DueToTheDead a tribute to those who didn't]].

If that sounds a lot like the 1993 film ''Film/{{Alive}}'', it's because it's based on the same real life events - though this is an adaptation of a different book, ''The Snow Society: The Definitive Account of the World’s Greatest Survival Story'' (2009) by Uruguayan journalist and author Pablo Vierci. But where ''Alive'' was an adventure film that highlighted the HeroicSpirit of the survivors that ultimately made it out of the tragedy, ''Society of the Snow'' is a somber drama built as [[DueToTheDead a tribute to those who didn't]].

''Society of the Snow'' (Spanish: ''La Sociedad de la Nieve'') is a 2023 Spanish-language survival drama directed by J.A. Bayona (''Film/TheImpossible'', ''Film/TheOrphanage''). It tells the true story of Uruguayan Air Force flight 571, which crashed on a glacier on the Andes mountains in October 1972 while en route to Santiago, Chile. 12 people died in the crash, including the pilots. The other 33 were left stranded in an unknown area of perpetual snow and no vegetation, without supplies or survival training. The survivors, many of them members of a rugby team traveling for a match, along with their friends and relatives, have to work together in order to survive their harsh surroundings. And most were so young that this was actually their first travel abroad and had not even seen snow before in their life.

If that sounds a lot like the 1993 film ''Film/{{Alive}}'', it's because it's based on the same real life events - though this is an adaptation of a different book, ''The Snow Society: The Definitive Account of the World’s Greatest Survival Story'' (2009) by Uruguayan journalist and author Pablo Vierci. But where ''Alive'' was an adventure film that highlighted the HeroicSpirit of the survivors that ultimately made it out of the tragedy, ''Society of the Snow'' is a somber drama built as [[DueToTheDead a tribute for those who didn't]].

* DemotedToExtra: Because of the choice to focus on Numa, other survivors feel like this when compared to their portrayals in other media. Liliana Methol probably gets it the worse, as the film doesn't include her role as volunteer nurse and unofficial "mother" of the group, possibly in an attempt to make the film more different from ''Alive'', and she's only memorable for being the longest surviving female and TheLostLenore to Javier after her death. Nando and Canessa, on the other hand, retain enough screentime to be considered {{deuteragonist}}s.

%%* DemotedToExtra

''Society of the Snow'' (Spanish: ''La Sociedad de la Nieve'') is a 2023 Spanish-language survival drama directed by J.A. Bayona (''Film/TheImpossible'', ''Film/TheOrphanage''). It tells the true story of Uruguayan Air Force flight 571, which crashed on a glacier on the Andes mountains in October 1972 while en route to Santiago, Chile. The survivors, most of whom were members of a rugby team traveling for a match, along with their friends and relatives, have to work together in order to survive their harsh, perpetually snowed surroundings where no vegetation grows, all without supplies or survival training. In fact, most people were so young that this was actually their first travel abroad and had not seen snow before.

If that sounds a lot like the 1993 film ''Film/{{Alive}}'', it's because it's based on the same real life events - though this is an adaptation of a different book: ''The Snow Society: The Definitive Account of the World’s Greatest Survival Story'' (2009) by Uruguayan journalist and author Pablo Vierci. But where ''Alive'' was an adventure film that highlighted the HeroicSpirit of the survivors that ultimately made it out of the tragedy, ''Society of the Snow'' is a somber drama built as [[DueToTheDead a tribute for those who didn't]].

* AdaptedOut: In real life, Nando didn’t wake from his coma out of luck, at first, he slept throught the whole first night resting in a pile of snow which unintentionally helped to heal his wound, and in the following days, fellow survivor and medicine student Diego Storm notices his wounds aren’t as prominent as they used to be and that his breathing is getting better, so he decides to help him, giving him blankets and sleeping next to him to keep him warm.

%%* HopeSpot

* ShownTheirWork: Bayona called the survivors to consult multiple times. As a result the movie includes details that are hardly going to be noticed or understood by most people, like the scene where Susy looks at Panchito Abal, as she was said to have a crush on him.

* SnowMeansDeath: Never more to the point than the scene when Nando buries his sister on the snow and states that he's leaving because the place is a cemetery.

%%* HorrorHunger

%%* ShownTheirWork

* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: At one point, the survivors hear on the radio that the search for the plane has been suspended until the spring, ending with the reasoning that of 43 previous air crashes into the Andes through history, none had survivors.

%%* BodyHorror

%%* DeathByIrony

%%* FanDiservice

%%* GoryDiscretionShot

%%* NothingButSkinAndBones