A Sociedade da Neve

In 1972, a plane crashed high in the Andean mountains. The survivors endured cold and helplessness with remarkable fortitude and solidarity. When they ran out of food, they ate the bodies of the dead. Eventually, near death after over two months, two of them trekked for ten days and found help. This astonishing documentary tells their stories in their own words. There are a few pictures from the time; some reconstruction; and footage from a visit they took with their families over 30 years later to the site of the crash. It's understated, and slow, but brilliantly does justice to their experience and leaves the viewer with a sense of profound amazement at what humans at their best can do in adversity. And how life is always worth saving, even when all appears lost.

The actual survivors of the 1972 Andes plane crash have finally spoken, and you will be captivated by their words. Gonzalo Arijon, a neighbor and friend of many of the survivors, has put together a documentary called "Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains" that retells the story and illuminates it with commentary from all the survivors. The result is the closest one could possibly get to empathizing with that situation and gaining any sort of understanding of how life changes when you are stranded in the mountains for over 70 days.

The film tells it from right as they are getting on the plane until their eventual rescue, leaving very little out. It runs a bit too long, but it's worth it for the emotional impact. You need to have some familiarity with the monotony of the survivors' lives for those two months to truly appreciate their rescue.

While the survivors are the ones who truly make this story come to life, Arijon succeeds in his reenactments and the way he overlaps the survivors' words with these images. He never reenacts anything dramatically or let any words other than those of the survivors into the film. The images he recreates simply set a mood, provide some sort of visual context for the words of the survivors.

The way these men describe what happened is simply remarkable. They seem to recall it so vividly and the words they use to convey feelings that an overwhelming majority of people cannot ever say they have experienced in such a way that you can understand it. When the survivors are hit with an avalanche, the way they describe this near-death experience gives you a sense of what death might feel like. It is not far off when these men refer to their survival as coming back to life. The silence during the very sensitive and difficult parts is also very appropriate and effective. Lastly, the survivors come at the experience from all angles. There is so much to think about in this film from the way they view life now to how being outside of civilization affects your mind to the ethical considerations of the cannibalism that these men chose to partake in.

"Stranded" is powerful, deep and rich with complexity. It was far and away worth the four years of effort and care that Arijon gave it. It is simply one of the best stories of human perseverance ever and the film conveys this with absolute accuracy. ~Steven C

Visit my site at http://moviemusereviews.blogspot.com/

This documentary has a very sombre tone and is almost forlorn in its retelling of the narrative. It gathers pretty much everyone who, in some capacity, was involved in this tragedy. From the survivors to people who were initially looking for them. If you have never heard this story, it will vex you as you hear one of them recall how he stared at the bodies of his mother and sister, whom he couldn't save. All that, even when you can see and hear the survivors, and fundamentally, be sure that not everyone died. If you are fascinated by the story of the crash beyond measure, this is even a bigger treat because, as I said, they convene everyone for an interview. Even the shepherds who discovered the pair that had traversed the mountains. The recreations of the events, despite being clearly made to cover the fact that they weren't working with a colossal budget, ironically give off more atmosphere of dread than the 1993 movie with Hawke. They almost seek to mimic how the recollections of the events might look for survivors with the added passage of time.

I was hit very hard by these first-hand testimonies told, 36 years later, as if they had been lived yesterday. In the middle of the movie I began to pray. It just happened spontaneously in front of this amazing testimony of faith, a faith that made the miracle that those bodies worn and weary physically and psychologically were able to resist continuing adversity -first the crash, then the avalanche-, for so many days -two months- and then make that final effort that can not be humanly explained. The miracle is both of those who survived as well as of those who died and gave -spiritually and materially- their lives for the others. Thanks to those who made the film. Thanks that we could saw it. See it.

The story of the survivors of the famous plane crash that inspired 'Alive' – the book and movie.

But rather than focus on the sensationalistic aspects (the death, the cannibalism), it focuses on the emotions, the spiritual crisies, the triumphs and the humanity of these remarkable men.

Through a mix of amazingly candid, open (and beautifully shot) interviews, subtle, well done re- creation footage (a technique I usually despise, but is done so deftly that it works), old footage and photographs, and film of the men returning to the site of their harrowing adventure 30 years later, some with their children, this creates a deeply moving portrait of friendship, loss, courage, and introspection.