Snowpiercer: amazing what can happen on a train
ride. This post-apocalyptic flick is a remarkable albeit violent
piece of film making by Korean director Bong Joon-ho. In 126 minutes
you are given a full picture of mankind within a political structure as a train
circles the earth. In the opening, a voiceover tells you that a
chemical program intended to combat global warming had gone bad, the planet is
frozen and the human survivors are on a train circling the planet.
There is then a scene showing individuals living in poverty, huddled masses
living on protein bars who are dominated by a ruling class living a luxurious
life and enjoying fresh food. Those in poverty are relegated to the
back of the train while the rich upper class lives in the front. The
train was built by an individual named Wilford. People speak of Wilford
as a god but, like Oz, you begin to wonder whether or not he really
exists. A portion of the film plays as a dark Wizard of Oz.
Curtis (Chris Evans) is the main character. He is on a mission to lead
the impoverished masses from the back of the train to the front and to take
command of the entire train. Chris’ advancement, moving from cabin
to cabin, presents a Yellow Brick Road analogy. As Chris plans the
takeover, you learn about previous liberation attempts by an individual named
Gilliam, played by John Hurt, that resulted in a significant number of
deaths. To break through the train locks, an individual named
Minsue, played by Song Kang-ho, is awakened from his drug induced sleep
along with his daughter Yona (Ko Ah-soung)n. There are subtitles for much
of their dialogue. Minsue has his own agenda based on his belief
that he can survive outside the controlled environment of the
train. Tilda Swinton gives a superb performance as the spokesperson
for Wilford. One of Swinton’s scenes flashed me back to Tarentino’s Kill
Bill films. The acting is first rate with fine performances by
Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris and Jamie Bell. Within the confined space of
the train, there are remarkable visuals and images. Joon-ho should
receive an Oscar nomination for best director and, with Kelly Masterson, for
adapting the story from the French graphic novel “Le
Transperceneige”. I understand the movie distributor wanted to shorten
the running time, presumably to tone down the violence; some of the fight
scenes are quite graphic. The film’s message could have been delivered
with less violence. Nevertheless, this is one of the best
post-apocalyptic films I’ve ever seen. There is plenty of action with
first rate performances and all done with a surprising touch of humor.
