Society of the Snow: Is It True? Here’s Everything You Need to Know
In the early 1970s, a rugby team from Uruguay set out for a match in Chile. Some brought friends or family members, some left them behind. On their small chartered plane, everyone was giddy with excitement. But as they made their way over the Andes, the plane started to descend — far too early. They struck a mountain and broke into pieces. Miraculously, some of the 45 passengers on board survived — but they faced perilous conditions.
From Gaudí and Goya award–winning director J.A. Bayona (The Impossible, A Monster Calls),Society of the Snow tells the near-impossible true story of the 1972 Andes flight disaster. The film, Bayona’s first Spanish feature since 2007’s The Orphanage, closed out the 2023 Venice Film Festival. The tale is not for the faint of heart: For those not familiar with the story, Society of the Snow involves graphic depictions of the accident and what the victims had to do to keep from starving to death, including cannibalism.
In preparation for making the film, Bayona and his creative team talked extensively with the victims’ families and survivors. “The survivors were instrumental. Their enthusiasm fueled the film and my perspective,” Bayona told Netflix. “It was essential for the [actors] to connect with the survivors and the other families.”
“[Recalt] came to my house, we got together with the family, he went to the hospitals, he saw my patients, he was talking to my wife and my sons,” Flight 571 survivor Roberto Canessa, now a pediatric cardiologist, tells Tudum about how the actor prepared to play him. “The other actors [playing] my friends that died, [we told] them how our friends were.”
Is Society of the Snow based on a true story?
Yes. It’s based on the crash of Flight 571 and the survivors’ accounts of their harrowing days spent in the Andes Mountains. On Oct. 13, 1972, a rugby team from Montevideo, Uruguay, boarded Flight 571 to Santiago, Chile, for a match. But on their way through the snowy Andes — just short of their destination — the plane crashed deep in the barren mountains, where temperatures can reach 40 degrees below zero. Twelve people died on impact and several more were gravely injured. Only 29 lived to see a second day in the Andes.
Though multiple search-and-rescue planes combed the area, the search was eventually called off and the passengers were presumed dead. But many of them were still alive, starving and struggling to stay warm deep in the mountains. Those who survived spent nearly two-and-a-half months living in what remained of the plane’s fuselage before eventually being rescued. Society of the Snow tells the grave story of what happened during those 72 days in the Andes.
“The starting point for our work has always been the profound impact that the real event — as well as reading Pablo [Vierci]’s book — had on us,” Bayona told Netflix. “We had a feeling that this story had not been truly told.”
Canessa says seeing the film took him back to those fateful days. “I couldn’t believe I was back in the fuselage,” he tells Tudum. “There were all my friends there. It was Arturo Nogueira, one was Numa Turcatti… Seeing their interaction from outside, with no pressure, was quite an interesting experience.”
Where does Society of the Snow take place?
The film takes place in Argentina, among the Andes Mountains — one of the largest and longest ranges in the world. The site of the crash is known as the Valley of Tears. “In this film, you see the hugeness of the Andes,” Canessa tells Tudum. “We were like flies in the middle of nothing… When you see [the film], you will have to understand what we felt when we were lost there.”
Before production, Bayona visited the site of the crash. “It was amazing to visit the Valley of Tears — in the same place and at the same time of year as the crash,” the director said. “It’s a fascinating and terrifying place… But experiencing the extreme cold, lack of oxygen, and constant exhaustion helped us understand what the main characters went through.” Bayona and the film’s producers traveled to the Andes a few times during production. “Shooting some scenes there was an unforgettable experience,” he said.
