Review of Snowpiercer (2013) by Liberallyguilty — 12 Jul 2014

Snowpiercer shouldn't work as a film, but somehow it does. The whole premise is so unlikely that most viewers would have to suspend disbelief just to watch it in the first place.

The themes of survival, class warfare, and sustainability are all covered in the microcosm of a dystopian "rattling ark." The storyline gives the viewers just enough information to draw conclusions about the world that they're witnessing and the cryptic symbolism gives audiences something to mull over (for example, what was the meaning of the fish blood ritual prior to the meelee sequence between the rebels and the train security forces? I'm assuming it correlates to Mason's later explanation of the aquarium later on and the idea of "culling" the population to keep things in balance).

While the cast performances overall were outstanding, I found Tilda Swinton to be particularly brilliant here as the comically draconian Mason; as was Kang-ho Song as Nam, who is arguably the true protagonist of the film.

Interestingly, I rented this on iTunes and watched it at home without realizing that it is a current release in theaters. I guess I like the trend of current releases being available on home video, but I also enjoy seeing movies on the big screen in a theater setting, so I hope the instant gratification of digital downloads doesn't make the theatre experience go completely "extinct.