SOCIETY OF THE SNOW (2023) - ANDES SURVIVORS STORY IS FINALLY GIVEN A PROPER FEATURE FILM TELLING, THERE NEED BE NO OTHER VERSION

 

Several times while watching Society of the Snow. I thought of the faces of Nando and Roberto, the two survivors that pulled off the amazing feat. Of saving. 14 other survivors out of the Andes Mountains. Following this story for so long since really it happened in the mid 70s. I almost feel like. I know them. That their friends of mine. I visualized them and some of the other survivors watching the final cut and what the expressions on their face might be. I could see pride and even rushed tears. At the magnificence of this splendid cinematic achievement. 

If they feel the way that I do, then the record has been set straight. There will never need to be another version. We went from one end of the. To the other. With the. Hollywood. Formula. Alive 1993. To this. Than a simple retelling of the story. An actual journey into the hearts. And minds. Of the survivors as it was happening. A 4th dimension, if you will. The film makers took endless effort to make sure that this version had no. Traces of. The previous versions and that includes the documentaries. None of the tropes associated with previous versions have been repeated. For example, the pilot asking for a gun so he could shoot himself. The I'll go for pizza and you buy line. The copilot warning that the plane is going to do a "dance." with unknowns and in Spanish, I believe they even took the extra effort of making sure the new faces didn't look like the. Photos of. Nando and. Roberto as we know them. 

The avalanche sequence is given a treatment here that no other film version has even come close. To reproducing. You will likely find one or two parts hard to watch. As the depth of this film. Really drives home. The emotional. Despair. They faced. Both the pre crash and after discovery parts of the story are given ample time. Perhaps too much on the after Discovery, as there's still 20 minutes left of film at that point. The special effects and cinematography are off the chart. 

Appropriately nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Society of the snow is surely to take home the coveted prize. I can't recommend the film enough. But it is a heavy two hours and 25 minutes that you are in for. Netflix only.  5 stars/5 

HENRY THOMAS IS FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE FROM TWO KILLERS JUST FLOORBOARDS ABOVE HIM IN "CRAWLSPACE" (2022)

 

Henry Thomas is a conscientious plumber. His wife (Olvia Taylor Dudley) gets on his case about being too nice and extending too much credit to his customers. He goes out to a job and to his misfortune two bad guy poachers have decided to stash a big bag of cash that day in the crawl space under the house. When they find out he's down there literally crawling between them and their money, a big cat and mouse game ensues and it's not pretty for all involved. 

A satisfying enough thriller, what I like to call a "good two-star movie." Thomas is good but nothing along the lines of All The Pretty Horses or some of his other work. Filmed in Oregon, currently streams on Paramount, Fubo, DirecTV, Showtime and VOD, on sale right now for $5 on Vudu.  2.0 stars/5