Review of Snowpiercer (2013) by Mikebaldelli — 10 Jul 2014

For the fourth time in seven years, alien robots have descended on movie theaters across America, filling up three, sometimes four theaters at your local multiplex. The 200 million dollar behemoth is accompanied by an extravagant add campaign and numerous merchandise tie-ins.

As audiences flocked to the new Transformers movie, a much smaller, more unknown film rolled into theaters. Well, only a few theaters. In fact, you’d be lucky to find this Little Engine That Could of a film near you. That film is Snowpiercer. Its journey to American shores is as epic and filled with drama as the actual train in the film, but more on that later.

Snowpiercer tells the story of a near future Earth that has been ravaged by climate change. In an effort to counteract global warming, humans experiment with releasing various chemicals into the environment. The experiment backfires and a new ice age freezes the Earth, killing most of humanity. The few remaining survivors board a high-speed train where they endlessly circle the Earth. As we board the train at the start of the film, it has been circling the Earth continuously for the last 17 years.

The entire train is a small ecosystem of humanity. People of all nationalities and social standing co-exist together. It’s somewhat like a modern day Noah’s Ark. Like with our own society, there are the halves and the have nots. The people in the back of the train live in filth, cramped on top of one another. Their main food source are mysterious black gelatin bricks. All this while the people in the front of the train live the life of luxury. Eating gourmet meals and indulging in all the luxuries that a life on Earth would have to offer.

One can’t help but make the parallel to Rosa Parks and her struggle during the civil rights movement. In Snowpiercer, the passengers at the back of the train are treated like second class citizens and are essentially prisoners in their own home.

Soon we are introduced to Curtis, played by Chris Evans. That’s right, everybody’s favorite shield wielding Avenger, Captain America. Curtis is tired of eating black goo every day and he’s tired of his people being treated like rats who have stowed away. His objective? To get to the front of the train. A task that could prove quite difficult when confronted by ax-wielding ninjas and other various obstacles.

Snowpiercer is easily one of the most unique action films you will see (if you're lucky) all summer. The film is based on a French graphic novel, directed by a Korean director and comprised of a predominantly Western cast. The director is not just any director either, his name is Bong Joon-ho and he’s one of the best directors in South Korea. His films Memories of Murder, The Host, and Mother are some of the best films of the last decade.

If it wasn’t for Bong Joon-ho, Snowpiercer might not have even made it to American shores, at least not in the form that the director intended. Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Co., who was set to distribute the film, wanted the director to cut over 20 minutes from the film because he felt American audiences “wouldn’t understand it.” Bong Joon-ho was having none of it and the US release was delayed for almost a year.

Ultimately, the director and Weinstein came to a compromise. Weinstein wouldn’t force Bong Joon-ho to cut anything from the film, but instead of releasing it in 1,000 theaters across the country, it would only get distributed to about 100 art house cinemas and out-of-the-way multiplexes, all but assuring that Snowpiercer would go unseen by most of America.

The ironic thing about Snowpiercer is that it’s not some subtitled black and white French film or something. It’s a fast-paced action film led by Captain America himself. You would think Evans’ face alone would guarantee that audiences would come out to see the film. I guess Harvey Weinstein disagrees. The rest of the film is rounded out by two Oscar winners, Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) and Octavia Spencer (The Help). As well as Oscar nominee John Hurt.

The fact that most people will never see Snowpiercer is a shame because it’s an amazing film, filled with interesting themes about freedom and class distinction. The film really makes you think about what it means to be truly free. The people aboard the train have the illusion of freedom and free will. In reality, The Snowpiercer is a prison and not just for the people struggling in the back, but for everybody that calls it home.

Snowpiercer also has great atmosphere and Bong Joon-ho fills every frame of the cramped confines with fine detail. The film also features a menacing soundtrack that amps up the excitement as the train comes barreling around curves.

As Curtis and his ragtag group of freedom fighters make their way towards the front of the train, each train car has its own unique feel. Some almost feel like the passengers are stepping into another world as they enter each car.