Rated
R (Violence, Language and Drug Content)
Running
Time: 2 Hours & 6 Minutes
Cast-
Chris
Evans-Curtis Everett
Song
Kang-Ho-Namgoong Minsoo
Go
Ah-Sung-Yona
Jamie
Bell-Edgar
Octavia
Spencer-Tanya
John
Hurt-Gilliam
Tilda
Swinton-Mason
Ed
Harris-Wilford
Ewen
Bremner-Andrew
Luke
Pasqualino-Grey
Clark
Middleton-Painter
Marcanthonee
Jon Reis-Timmy
Emma
Levie-Claude
Vlad
Ivanov-Franco the Elder
Adnan
Haskovic-Franco the Younger
Alison
Pill-Teacher
Stephen
Park-Fuyu
Tómas
Lemarquis-Egg-Head
Directed
by Bong Joon-Ho
Note: In English and Korean with English subtitles. It is highly recommended you see the film first as I discuss the ending in the fifth paragraph.
 |
| After an environmental disaster that results in a second ice age, the remnants of humanity survive on a globe-spanning train in Bong Joon-Ho's latest film "Snowpiercer." |
Are
American moviegoers 'dumb'? Given the recent box office success of Michael Bay's
latest cinematic atrocity "Transformers: Age of Extinction," you might
be inclined to shout 'Yes!' at the top of your lungs but the answer isn't so cut-and-dried.
It's unfortunately true that the average American moviegoer finds comfort in familiarity,
which is why we get so many sequels, prequels, reboots, and remakes in theaters,
yet Hollywood is just as complicit in 'dumbing down' their audience. Back in 2012,
Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Company acquired the North American distribution
rights to Bong Joon-Ho's "Snowpiercer" based on its script and a few
sample scenes. However, the studio balked once they saw the South Korean director's
finished film last year. Apparently, Weinstein took issue with the picture's dark,
nihilistic tone, its often-brutal violence, and general creative weirdness. It begs
the question: did Weinstein even sit down and watch Bong's previous films before he brought the rights or did he
just read the script's logline, saw it was sci-fi and was set in the future, and
then took out his checkbook? If I was a betting man, I would put my money down
on the latter.
Deeming
the wide release he originally envisioned to be too risky, Weinstein ordered
Bong to cut twenty minutes (reducing the 126-minute running time to a scant 106
minutes) or the film wouldn't be released as the studio executive feared it wouldn't
be 'understood' by audiences in places like Iowa and Oklahoma. First off, that's
offensive to Mid-Westerners and second, who the f*ck cares if they don't 'get'
the film? That's their problem but Weinstein couldn't see beyond the dollar signs.
Fortunately, artistic integrity won out in the end yet this came with a big trade-off.
Weinstein agreed to release "Snowpiercer" in theaters as the director
intended. The bad news was that he reneged on the wide release he originally promised
and gave it a limited 'platform release,' meaning its expansion would be contingent
on its box office performance. Making matters worse was that the release date was
set for the same day as "Transformers: Age of Extinction"! Still, I'm
glad that Bong stood his ground because "Snowpiercer" is a fantastic
film, one of the best I've seen this year. Bold, brilliant, darkly humorous, and
absolutely mesmerizing, Bong's latest work is without a doubt a modern-day sci-fi
masterpiece.
 |
| Tilda Swinton delivers a captivating, deliriously bizarre performance as tail section overseer Mason. |
With
global warming reaching to dangerous levels in 2014, humanity launched a chemical
dubbed 'CW-7' into the atmosphere in an effort to cool the Earth back down to sustainable
temperatures. It worked…but it worked too well. CW-7 plunged the world into a
second ice age, freezing and killing off most of humanity. The few who managed
to survive boarded a train called the 'Snowpiercer,' which traveled on a globe-spanning
track and was powered by a perpetual-motion engine, a marvel of engineering
invented by an enigmatic billionaire genius named Wilford (Ed Harris). The poor,
who clawed and fought their way onto the train, live in a state of crowded squalor
in the tail section while the wealthy elite reside in the front, protected by a
ruthless militia of armed soldiers. In 2031—seventeen years after the Earth
froze—the tail inhabitants prepare for the latest in a series of rebellions. Defying
Wilford's mouthpiece, the sniveling Mason (Tilda Swinton), reluctant leader Curtis
(Chris Evans) rallies his fellow oppressed passengers—which includes close
friend Edgar (Jamie Bell), his mentor Gilliam (John Hurt), and single mother Tanya
(Octavia Spencer)—to fight their way to the front and take over the engine. In
order to get past all the gates, Curtis forces Namgoong Minsoo (Song Kang-Ho), a
disgraced security specialist-turned-drug addict, to help him. Namgoong reluctantly
agrees, on the condition that his young daughter Yona (Go Ah-Sung) also comes
with him. Slowly but surely, Curtis and his ragtag band advance through each individual
car yet their success comes at great personal cost.
Twelve
minutes into Bong Joon-Ho's "Snowpiercer," Curtis and the rest of the
tail section passengers are roused awake by the guards for a sudden 'medical
check' but strangely, only the kids are subject to inspection. A blonde woman (Emma
Levie), dressed in a bright yellow coat and looking a lot more plump compared
to the grime-covered, starving bodies around her, examines a few of the children
with measuring tape and takes two of them with her. One of them is unfortunately
Tanya's little boy Timmy (Marcanthonee Jon Reis). This leads into one of the
central mysteries of the film: why are only a few children taken and for what purpose.
Layered on top of this question is another intriguing mystery revolving around the
passengers in the tail section: why even keep these poor people alive at all?
The wealthy elite look down upon them and they don't seem to do any meaningful work.
Many have classified "Snowpiercer," loosely based on the 1982 French graphic
novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques
Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette, as a social parable of the haves vs. the have-nots and
while that's true, it's also an oversimplification. In fact, the bleak themes
that Bong explores are likely the reason why Weinstein suddenly got cold foot
over its release and demanded cuts.
 |
| Every frame oozes style, with Bong utilizing his production budget to create a lived-in world. |
If
"Snowpiercer" was made by Hollywood, it would be a generic sci-fi action
film with overblown CG effects and a 'rich vs. poor' subtext tacked on at the last
minute. The ending would've had the oppressed passengers succeeding in their
revolution and living 'happily ever after.' Bong, however, is much smarter than
that and he places a lot of trust in his audience, meaning that he doesn't treat
them like a bunch of idiots. The director's brutal honesty is what elevates
"Snowpiercer" from entertaining sci-fi allegory to something truly special
because he doesn't beat around the bush with the story's message: that fairness
and equality are nothing but lies. There will always be a master, and there
will always be slaves serving that master. At one point, Gilliam asks Curtis if
his plan succeeds, 'then what'? Curtis replies, 'We kill Wilford,' as though
this would magically solve all the tail section's problems. The truth is, the people
in the tail section don't even know what they want and are being asked to sacrifice
themselves for a vaguely-defined ideal. Delving into spoiler territory, when Curtis finally comes face-to-face with Wilford,
he discovers a horrible truth: their revolution is a lie, pre-orchestrated as a
brutal means of population control. It ultimately renders what Curtis fought
for as meaningless. Like the perpetual-motion engine that the train runs on,
the battle between the haves and the have-nots is just a never-ending cycle of
violence and is society's way of natural selection. But Wilford admits he's too
impatient to let nature 'take its course' and reveals that he regularly spurs
revolts in order to maintain a careful balance. The revelation of why the children
were taken in the beginning of the film breaks Curtis' spirit, as it facilitates
a horrific, utilitarian form of survival that involves people systematically killing
each other. The greatest good for the greatest number: since the periodic culling
of people ensures the longevity of the human species, then it is not only
necessary, it is right. If "Snowpiercer" is about anything, it's about
the futility of resistance in a system predicated by the necessity for sacrifice.
Happiness can only be derived if you completely accept this system: 'Know your place.
Keep your place.' It's certainly a grim, nihilistic viewpoint, but one not
without its truths. Although the final scene leaves viewers with a tiny glimmer
of hope, it still begs the question: is the human race even worth saving at all?
Besides
its philosophical implications, "Snowpiercer" also oozes style in
every frame. Adapted for the big screen by Bong and Kelly Masterson (best known
for writing the 2007 Sidney Lumet-directed crime drama "Before the Devil Knows
You're Dead"), the script is perfectly paced and has a forward momentum that
never lets up. This is due in part by the story's video game-like structure,
with Curtis and his ragtag band advancing through each train car like they were
levels, with each car coming with its own specific set of obstacles. I wouldn't
be surprised if there eventually was a
video game adaptation of "Snowpiercer" as the story lends itself
incredibly well to the interactive medium. Perhaps Ken Levine of "BioShock"
fame can make it. However, the real standout is Bong's lavish attention on the
nooks and crannies of this steampunk, post-apocalyptic world he's built. Since
the passengers in the tail section are left with no technological luxuries such
as cameras, the only means of recording and remembering events is by having
someone draw it as it happens. The way these people react to sunlight and to
the distinctive waft of cigarettes, or struggle to remember what steak tastes
like highlights their daily suffering, increasing their—and by extension, the
viewers—outrage of the wealthy elite, who live in pampered comfort only just a
few cars away. They dine on sushi while the tail section subsists on black, gelatinous
'protein blocks' (you don't want to know what they're made out of). The train itself isn't exactly realistic—this
is sci-fi, after all—but production designer Ondrej Nekvasil goes to great lengths
to make each individual car distinctive and lived-in, with the dank quarters of
the lower class slowly giving way to swanky aquariums, sushi bars, nightclubs,
spas, and classrooms. The action scenes are appropriately brutal yet are filmed
with a balletic elegance. Again, if Hollywood made "Snowpiercer," all
the action scenes would've been rendered incomprehensible in the editing room.
 |
| Chris Evans delivers a career-best performance as reluctant leader Curtis Everett. |
The
ensemble cast is uniformly excellent. As reluctant leader Curtis, Chris Evans delivers
a career-best performance and shows that perhaps there is a little bit of Captain
America built into his genetic code. Evans' character is a well-worn trope; he
exudes hope where none exists yet Curtis isn't the kind of leader that delivers
powerful speeches, he's someone who has done horrific things to survive and must
now fight and claw his way to heroism. John Hurt is predictably wonderful as Curtis'
wizened mentor Gilliam, named after British director Terry Gilliam, while Jamie
Bell and Octavia Spencer deftly breathe life into their secondary characters, allowing
viewers to care for them despite their limited screen-time. Veteran South Korean
actor Song Kang-Ho plays Namgoong Minsoo, a junkie safecracker who's silly preoccupation
with 'Kronol,' an addictive hallucinogenic drug, leads to a number of darkly humorous
moments where he quarrels with Curtis, one speaking English and the other in Korean.
Go Ah-Sung, who previously worked with Bong on 2006's "The Host" (no
relation to last year's film based on the Stephenie Meyer novel), lends a wide-eyed
innocence to Yona. However, the standout is by far Tilda Swinton, who delivers a
captivating, deliriously bizarre performance as the sniveling, cowardly Mason.
With her prosthetic nose and fake buck teeth, Swinton chews the scenery with
aplomb, inviting laughs and hatred in equal measure with her stern speeches about
the natural hierarchy of society. Also delivering a memorable turn is Alison
Pill (from 2010's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World") as an unnervingly
cheerful and upbeat kindergarten teacher who suddenly reveals a wildly violent
streak. Finally, there's Ed Harris, whose role as enigmatic billionaire Wilfred amounts to a glorified cameo but Harris makes the most of it, creating a complex individual with a pervasive cult of personality.
After
premiering in South Korea last August, "Snowpiercer" was finally
given a limited release in the U.S. on June 27, 2014 and has received phenomenal
reviews with 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics hailed it as an 'an audaciously ambitious action spectacular for filmgoers numb to effects-driven blockbusters.' Having already grossed $80.2 million
internationally, Bong's film earned a solid $171,187 from eight locations. This
bodes well and the fantastic response from critics has led to an expansion to
250 theaters this Friday. The only question that remains is whether the average
American moviegoer will embrace the film. I hope they do because this is a film
that Hollywood is unable to and unwilling to make because, well, they're Hollywood.
This is what your hard-earned money
should be going to, not "Transformers: Age of Extinction." Make it
right, America; climb aboard the post-apocalyptic train…and go see "Snowpiercer."
Final
Rating: 5 out of 5
"From
here right to the front of the train. Everything in one stroke. We control the
engine, we control the world. Without that, we have nothing."
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