Greetings,
Why do great movies constantly get shelved or swept under the rug whilst movies that are, at best, "meh" are the ones making all the money? I don't know. I guess with enough advertising/indoctrination you can convince enough people to see those sub par ones. Which means it's up to us to spread the word about stellar pieces of art that aren't appreciated nearly as much as they should be. That's why I've chosen to talk about Snowpiercer. Spoilers: It's good. It's very good.
Snowpiercer is a 2013 sci-fi South Korean film that is based on a French graphic novel called Le Transperceniege by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette. Calm down! Calm down, people who hate reading. This is not a heavily subtitles film. In fact, it's pretty much all English. Bless your ethnocentric little souls, it's in English. Actually, this is the English language debut of director, Bong Joon-ho, who also wrote the screenplay along with Kelly Masterson.
Anyway, it's all about an ice age that occurs after an idea to end global warming goes terribly wrong. Most of the life on Earth is gone, and those who are left live on a constantly moving train, which continually pierces the snow that has covered the planet. Hey! I just got the title! Much like it was in the world they once lived in, the passengers are subject to class separation, with the "lesser" humans shoved in the back, cold and hungry, and the more "valuable" people living in a state of luxury. I wonder if some of the people in the train aren't happy about that and intend to make changes. Yes, that might be what happens. And that is all I'm going to say, because this is one of those films where the plot is the journey and the struggle of the people within it, and you must go along for the ride, if you will.
When it comes down to it, that's what I think this movie is about. It's about people who are fighting with all their might for their worth to be seen, for their lives to be appreciated and for their right to exist as human beings. It's almost like something that is ultimately an action film can have a whole lot of depth to it, and not just be a toy commercial. Who knew? At the heart of this, beneath all the bells and whistles, so to speak, is just a good story. And THAT should always be the foundation of any movie. It isn't always, but when it is, I am happy.
Of course, this wonderful story was helped along by the amazing cast that they assembled. At the helm, we have Chris Evans. And may I just say to Mr. Evans, should he ever read this...ahem...HOLY CRAP, DO MORE STUFF LIKE THIS MOVIE!!!!! Sorry, didn't mean to shout, but not every film he has done has been worthy of his talent. THIS is worthy of his talent. Seriously, Chris, pick stuff like this always. Besides him, we get Tilda Swinton, looking unrecognizable. I just knew it was her by the stellar acting. Also, there's Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris and my man, John Hurt. In addition to them, we are introduced to South Korean actors Song Kang-ho and Go Ah-sung. I had never heard of them before, but I'm glad I did through this movie. Everybody here was just about perfect.
You know what? I am going to take back something I've said before, possibly on this blog, certainly in real life. I, along with many other people, are just plain tired of all the redundancy of Hollywood. What with all the remakes and reboots and franchises, it's easy for us to believe that there is nothing new being thought of out there. But there is. There are original ideas being created in the minds of writers and film makers. And, yes, I know this is an adaptation, but the book gave us a literary new idea, which was transferred to a cinematic new idea, so it all counts as original. Problem is, as I mentioned, all the attention goes to those big budget, familiarly themed movies, whether they're good or not, because people will gravitate toward things they recognize. It's just the easy way to live. But I would rather do a little work to find things like Snowpiercer. Maybe if we ALL try a bit harder to find them, maybe if people, who have the power to do so, do a little extra sifting through that slush pile, we can turn the tide and get more excellent films like this one. Now go watch it.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
