Released: August 1, 2013 (South Korea)
Directed by: Bong Joon Ho
Written by: Bong Joon Ho & Kelly Masterson, based on Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand & Jean-Marc Rochette
Starring: Chris Evans, Song Kang Ho, Jaime Bell, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer & Ed Harris
Plot: The last remnants of humanity board a globe encircling train called the Snowpiercer after a failed global warming experiment. 17 years later, a revolt has begun to buck the caste system that has arisen.
IMDb: 7.0/10Rotten Tomatoes: 95/100
My Score: 4/5
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Director Bong Joon Ho’s gritty post-apocalyptic sci-fi film Snowpiercer far outshines its graphic novel origins. I read the English translations of all three volumes of Le Transperceneige in preparation of watching this film and wasn’t overly impressed with them. It’s safe to say that I didn’t have very high expectations for the movie but was pleasantly surprised. One of those films that instead of adapting the story of its source material it takes the basic premise alone and creates its own tale. After a failed global warming experiment has brought on a fatal ice age, the last remnants of humanity are travelling on a revolutionary train with a perpetual motion engine that will never break down. A strictly and sadistically enforced caste system has been in place for the 17 years since the train has started its global circuit, but one man Curtis (Chris Evans) is determined to upset the status quo and bring down the system that has enslaved so many for so long. The movie succeeds on many levels. The acting is superb, the story incredibly well formed and the emotional resonance is deep. Like most great films, it transcends the genre in which it is presented. There are some surprising plot twists and emotionally gut-wrenching scenes. Highlights include the performances by Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer and Ed Harris. If there was possibly one drawback (if only a small one) it was the ending. I understand the need for a happy (-ish, anyway) ending but perhaps it would have been truer to the rest of the film, as well as the source material, if there wasn’t one. This is more of a thinking man’s sci-fi, focusing more on character rather than flashy special effects. That’s not to say there aren’t any but the film does not rely on them to carry it through. John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell and award-winning Korean actor Song Kang Ho co-star in this widely acclaimed film that appeared on no less than 40 critics top ten lists and was heaped with accolades. This is third film Bong has been behind the camera while Song was in front of it, having previously collaborated on the films Memories of Murder and The Host, also to wide praise.
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