Snowpiercer is a wonderful “end of the world” movie. We seem to be swimming in apocalyptic films & t.v. shows. I’ve always loved science fiction in books because it was an appreciation learned from my Father. Snowpiercer is extremely dark with a high body count.
Snowpiercer is a metaphor for our times. The “have-nots” are in the tail of the train & eat disgusting protein bars for their meals. How the “haves” live is greedy & full of drugs, gluttony & hedonism. There is a horrible, rigid disparity that offers no hope for class movement. We watch the 99% revolt.
I loved the movie because I could not predict the twists & turns. There were startling images that stick to your eyeballs long after the credits roll which is what I have come to expect from Korean directors (Chan-wook Park’s movies on revenge for example). This is Bong Joon-ho’s first American film & I experienced it as wonderfully political & courageous.
Bong Joon-ho takes risks like the heroes in the film.
It is intense & exciting to watch the events unfold on a train that carries the last of humanity in a postapocalyptic world that is the deep freeze due to mistakes that have been made. Survival means constant struggle & the empty words from Tilda Swinton as the prime minister just don’t cut it.
There is a raw urgency to the main character of Curtis who is the leader of the “have-nots”. He tells his story of how he grew into character development towards the end of the movie. It’s a story of why he has learned to make hard choices & do the right thing. Without spilling details which would spoil the movie he has made terrible mistakes. It’s the story of where his honor & strength started.
Heraclitus said that “Character is Fate”. I believe it is about learning to make the hard choices. You watch the pain Curtis is in when he lets his best friend die in order to keep moving forward. Heraclitus also said “Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.”
Curtis is brave & true & sticks with his hard-won morality until the very end. In contrast to many of the other characters in the film he is a man of honor & conviction. He stumbles into impossible situations that are very difficult and continues to change & adapt right up to the end instead of falling into despair & giving up.
He has earned his positive character traits the hard way; the way all of us must.
This is an exciting movie that has a lot of layers. The unexpected depth makes it the most satisfying movie of the year. It would be a shame to miss it. Critics have given it 94% on rotten tomatoes and my favorite reviewer Claudia Puig calls it profound, an art film that is a thriller. Don’t miss it.
