Sam's Blog - Snowpiercer

Bong Joon-Ho presents a dark, gripping social commentary on the teetering balance of class in society with his first English-speaking film, Snowpiercer.

The story begins in the distant future, when various global-warming experiments have frozen the whole world over; the only remaining humans have boarded a train that travels around the world once every year, never stopping in order to provide enough warmth and keep death at bay. However, conditions are far from perfect on this train. The upper class resides in the front of the train, and the lower class in the back, and the differences in privilege are about as polar as you can get: while the members of the upper class have parties, wear fur coats, and eat steak, the lower class eat "protein blocks", share tight quarters, and get beaten if they fall out of line.

And so we meet our leading man: Curtis (Chris Evans), with 17 years of life before the train and 17 years on the train, wants change. Encouraged by his old, nearly-limbless mentor, Gilliam (John Hurt), and goaded by mysterious notes that have begun appearing in the protein blocks, Curtis has been crafting a revolution against Wilford, the creator of the train who has become a sort of unseen, totalitarian god. And there are many who back him up, including young Edgar (Jamie Bell), who is chomping at the bit for change, and Tanya (Octavia Spencer), whose son is taken from her for Wilford's uses. The rebels strong-arm their way through the initial gates, picking up a security specialist named Nam (Kang-ho Sang) and his train-born daughter (Ah-sung Ko) who are both addicted to a highly flammable substance called Kronole, and kidnapping Mr. Mason (Tilda Swinton), the cruel overseer of the train. Gate by gate, they discover more and more of the absurdly imbalanced set-up of the train: saunas, aquariums, and classrooms full of indoctrinated children who learn all about the pre-ordained order of the train... and the closer they get to the engine, the danger they run into becomes more and more severe.

The film is a dark glimpse at the underbelly of society, with a very Hunger Games-esque tone, right down to the odd style of the upper class and the ludicrous living situations. Tilda Swinton steals the show, her strange mannerisms and and nasty smiles goading the audience into a place of resistance right alongside the members of the back of the train. There are a few moments of the film that almost seem to fall short of the intended emotions, and these moments mostly consist of a lack of subtlety... however, overall the film is well-crafted, giving us an alternative taste of action that Hollywood would have passed right by. It'll certainly give you something to think about as you leave the theater. Come check it out this week at the Midtown Cinema!