"Society of the Snow" is based on the remarkable true story of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes. For 72 days, 16 people managed to survive, dealing with extreme cold, starvation, and dehydration.
The survival thriller directed by J. A. Bayona tells the story of the 1972 Andes flight disaster and how 16 people were able to survive 72 days in the Andes, in temperatures of -22 degrees Fahrenheit.
But other than minimal snacks left over from the plane, the survivors did not have access to other food. "Their bodies are literally self-cannibalizing to keep them alive, so they're losing their muscle," she explained. With nothing else to eat, the survivors resorted to eating the bodies of the deceased.
How many survivors of the Society of the Snow are still alive?
It wasn't until two of them, Roberto Canessa and Fernando Parrado, climbed a 15,260 ft mountain peak and hiked for 10 days and approximately 38 miles without gear to seek help that the survivors were finally rescued. Today, in 2024, only 14 of the 16 survivors are alive.
Twenty-nine people died, but 16 managed to survive 72 days under the most precarious conditions, without food, adequate shelter, or medical supplies for the injured.
Dan Snow Rates the Best Historical Films of All Time
Who are the real survivors of Society of the Snow?
Survivors Joaquin de Freitas Turcatti, Daniel Fernandez Strauch, José Luis “Coche” Inciarte, Antonio “Tintin” Vizintín, Ramón “Moncho” Sabella, and Gustavo Zerbino are all credited to have appeared in the Society of the Snow, according to Screen Rant.
Netflix's Society of the Snow might just be the most accurate retelling yet of the Andes disaster – with director JA Bayona explaining that he prepared for the film "like a documentary" and interviewing survivors "for hours". "We did extensive research," he explained during an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com.
Why didn't they make a fire in Society of the Snow?
The place where the plane crashed was not strategically visible, so it would have been pointless to try to make a fire. Furthermore, they didn't have enough flammable objects to cause such a big fire, which is why the lighter was used for cigarettes but never a signal fire.
Society of the Snow, inspired by the true story of the 1972 Andes plane crash, captures incredible realism through the use of actual photos and footage, unknown actors, and shooting on location.
Were the survivors of the Andes plane crash cannibalism?
A group of survivors lived through the plane crash, only to face the frigid cold and snow of the mountains, avalanches and, most famously, a lack of food. As they fought for their lives for more than two months, they fed themselves by cannibalizing the bodies of those who had already died.
Death. Turcatti had been surviving in the mountains for 61 days. Due to a septic condition, he died in his sleep weighing just 25kg (55lbs). He was the last fatal victim of the tragedy of flight 571 in the Andes.
Nando made a superhuman effort, survived for 72 days, and found his way out of the Andes, after an 10-day snowy trek through the mountains with his friend Roberto Canessa.
Did the actors of Society of the Snow lose weight?
“This is why sometimes you will get, at the Oscars, the awards for the actor and the makeup at the same time—because it's very difficult to separate.” Though the actors did lose weight as the production went on, there were limits, which is where Martí and his team's prosthetics came in.
Two of the survivors walked through the mountains in search of help for 10 days without anything that even resembled climbing equipment. They travelled 60 km to finally reach the valleys of Chile where a mule driver spotted them on the other side of a river and was able to begin the rescue.
A group of survivors lived through the plane crash, only to face the frigid cold and snow of the mountains, avalanches and, most famously, a lack of food. As they fought for their lives for more than two months, they fed themselves by cannibalizing the bodies of those who had already died.
Why did it take so long to rescue Society of the Snow?
Throughout the course of the actual rescue, the deployed team contended with the harsh elements of the Andes mountains and struggled to recover everyone. According to Time, the helicopters dispatched to the crash site could only airlift six of the remaining 14 survivors out to safety due to bad weather.
The next day, Oct. 13, 1972, the plane took off again and was flying through the Andes when the co-pilot at the controls started to descend, mistakenly thinking he'd cleared the mountain range. The aircraft hit a mountain, breaking both wings off and causing the fuselage to slide down a mountain.
What caused the plane crash in Society of the Snow?
However, a little over an hour into the flight, the pilot misjudged his location and—with clearance from air traffic control—began to descend before the plane had made it out of the Andes. Unable to clear the ridgeline, it struck a mountain, losing both wings and its tail on impact.
If some of the tissues that contain myoglobin – the skeletal and cardiac muscle – are damaged or ruptured, the protein is released into the blood where it will go into the urine, causing the typical black colour we see in the film. Rupture can have many different causes, one of them being hypothermia.
What is the true story behind the Society of the Snow?
In 1972, a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team crashed into the Andes mountains, forcing the survivors to endure freezing temperatures, avalanches, starvation and, eventually, eat the dead among them.
Twenty-nine of the plane's 45 passengers died, but not right away: 33 survived the initial crash. Of that set, only 16 endured the area's harrowing freezing temperatures, injuries and an avalanche.
The decision to make Numa the narrator goes beyond Bayona's intention to tell the story of those who died in Society of the Snow. It is fair to say that it emphasizes that approach as it sets the point of view in the mind of someone who did not make it to the end.
The crash site of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 is located at an altitude of about 11,700 feet, close to the Chilean border, in the Mendoza Province in western central Argentina. Its coordinates are: 34°45′53.5″S 70°17′06.6″W.
What happened to the men from Society of the Snow?
Where are the Flight 571 survivors now? It's been 50 years. Since they were very young when the accident happened, almost all sixteen of them are still alive — Javier Methol and José Luis "Coche" Inciarte died in 2015 and 2023, respectively.
