Roberto Canessa He has spent two-thirds of his life recounting how he faced subzero temperatures, two avalanches, climbed the Andes and ate human flesh for survive the terrible plane crash that marked his life at the age of 19.
But being one of the most fantastic survival stories of all time, for the Uruguayan it is worth telling it again.
The tragedy – or the miracle – in the Andes returns to the big screen with “The Snow Society”from Netflix, which premiered in December in some movie theaters in several countries and is available on the streaming platform since January 4.
“We all have our mountain range,” Canessa told AFP.
Juan Pablo Bayona has directed films such as 'The Orphanage', 'The Impossible' and 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'.
“And there are many people who are climbing the mountain now. We must tell them not to be discouraged, to keep going.”
Directed by the Spanish JA Bayona (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”, “The Impossible”), “The Snow Society” focuses on the odyssey that the young members of an amateur Uruguayan rugby team went through when the plane in The one they were traveling to Chile crashed in the Andean Mountains in 1972.
The title and story come from the book of the same name by the Uruguayan Pablo Vierci, who collects the testimonies of the members of “the snow society.”
For Canessa, the name represents a pact that is born when life challenges, “when civilized society leaves you aside.”
“When you have a rugby team. You go on a plane to Chile to play a match. And suddenly you are in a plane crash (…) And of course the human being immediately thinks that they are going to come to rescue him. But “The days begin to pass.”
“You have to make your own water, you have to eat the dead because otherwise you are going to die. The dead are there, next to you. You begin to see the death of another person, not with sadness for him, but with sadness for you, because you are like on a waiting list”.
'Something was missing'
On October 13, 1972, a plane with 45 people on board (the players of the Old Christians team, some family members and the crew), crashed in the Andean mountains, in Argentine territory. The dramatic impact mutilated the plane and killed several.
“And there are many people who are climbing the mountain now. We must tell them not to be discouraged, to keep moving forward.”
Others succumbed throughout the 72 days they spent in the Valley of Tears, at more than 3,000 meters high.
“What happened to us in the Andes is absurd,” says Canessa, one of the 16 who lived to tell the tale.
The now cardiologist toured the mountain range at the time with his friend Fernando Parrado for ten days until he got help.
The accident and the feat were addressed in books, documentaries and films such as “Viven!” (1993), spoken in English and starring Ethan Hawke and Josh Hamilton.
But Bayona, who wanted to tell the story in his native language, felt that “something was missing to tell.”
“[Era] giving those who had not returned the chance to express themselves. And that's where we found the twist that gave meaning to that film.”
The passenger Numa Turcatti, played by Enzo Vogrincic, is the common thread of “The Snow Society”.For the 30-year-old Uruguayan, the role was an opportunity and a challenge.
'A way of living'
To portray the impact of the mountain range, the actors gained and lost weight, and spent hours immersed in the snow.
“This story seems like there is no way to tell it if you don't go through a little suffering,” explains Vogrincic.
The actor, who suffered hunger and constant cold during filming and even recorded scenes with a fever, described filming the avalanches as “torture.”
But everything, he said, “was appreciated” because it facilitated acting and “connection with reality, which moves you a lot.”
For Canessa, “all these characteristics make it a practically scientific film with the experiment of the poor actors who made them go through the same hardships as us.”
“With the advantage that at the end of the day they left (…) It was a job, ours was a way of life.”
“It's a super light version of what happened in the mountain range. We had it much worse. If I have a movie of how we had it, people stop and leave the cinema,” he said, followed by a laugh.
The film, presented at the closing of the Venice festival, entered the short list for the Oscar for Best International Film representing Spain. It is also a semi-finalist in the categories of visual effects, makeup and soundtrack.
Canessa, who after his expedition in the mountain range learned to take life step by step, recommends seeing it from perspective: “Sit in the cinema and let yourself go and think about what you would do if the plane crashed in your life.”
AFP
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