Snowpiercer (2013)

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full starfull starfull starempty starempty star

It's well known that Alien 3 was, for a time, going to be set on a wooden planet inhabited by space-monks: this is my go-to example of what happens when you give the wrong sort of auteur a big-budget science fiction spectacular. Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer is, perhaps, another one.

The world has been stricken by an ice age; the only survivors live, apparently, on a huge, perpetually moving train. It's 17 years after the end and the world has solidified into a caste system based on ticket class -- first-class holders live in luxury at the front; Curtis (Chris Evans), leads the poor, downtrodden masses who were "rescued" when the apocalypse arrived and now live in squalor at the tail end.

The goal is revolution: taking down Wilford (Ed Harris), the owner and engineer, at the far end of the train.

Taken purely at face-value, it's quite an adventure. The difficulty is that, taken literally, it's a disaster: the premise does not hold up under scrutiny, both big reveals are incredibly silly, and the conclusion cannot plausibly include the necessary note of hope. But if it has rather more appeal as a ham-handed allegory for the implicit classism of the modern world, the overall tenor is just too realistic to write off the nonsensical parts as (has been suggested) Gilliam-esque surrealism.

- Sam - 2014-05-04 01:23:41