Termed as the top contenders for the Oscars in the foreign film category, Society of the Snow will be available for streaming on Netflix from January 4, 2024. Directed by Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona, Society of the Snow features Enzo Vogrincic Roldán as Numa Turcatti, Matías Recalt as Roberto Canessa, Agustin Pardella as Nando Parrado, Tomas Wolf as Gustavo Zerbino, Diego Vegezzi as Marcelo Perez, Esteban Kukuriczka as Adolfo 'Fito' Strauch, Francisco Romero as Daniel Fernández Strauch and more in the leading roles. Society of the Snow is the story of a rugby team stranded in the Andes mountains after their chartered flight crashed. Since the storyline is so close to reality, the question arises whether Society of the Snow is a true story or Society of the Snow is a real story or not? Below is everything about Society of the Snow's True Story-
Is Society of the Snow a true story?
The answer is yes. Society of the Snow is a true story based on the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash in the Andes that was carrying 45 passengers and crew, including the Old Christians Club rugby union team. The official synopsis of the movie says, "On October 13 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the Andes. Only 29 of the 45 passengers survived the crash. Based on this remarkable true story, J.A. Bayona's 'Society of the snow' will close the Venice Film Festival, participate in the Perlas section of the San Sebastian Film Festival and will arrive on Netflix soon."
Society of the Snow True Story Explained
As mentioned above, the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the Andes on October 13, 1972. The flight was on its way to Santiago, Chile. As per reports, the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash reason was the inexperienced co-pilot, Lieutenant-Colonel Dante Héctor Lagurara. Dante was piloting the aircraft at the time of the accident. He mistakenly believed the aircraft had overflown Curico, the turning point to fly north and begin descending into Pudahuel Airport in Santiago de Chile, but failed to notice that instrument readings indicated he was still 60–70 km (37–43 mi) east of Curico.
As the aircraft began its descent it struck a mountain ridge, shearing off both wings and the tail cone. The remaining portion of the fuselage slid down a glacier at an estimated 350 km/h (220 mph) and descended another 725 metres (2,379 ft) before ramming into an ice and snow mound.
Notably, Society of the Snow is not only the story of a plane crash but also how 29 passengers survived in the chilly weather for the next 72 days. During 72 days after the crash the survivors suffered from extreme hardships, including exposure, starvation and several avalanches, which led to the deaths of 13 more passengers. Reports suggest that to survive, passengers resorted to cannibalism as well i.e. they ate fellow passengers dead bodies to keep themselves alive.
On 23 December 1972, two months after the crash, all 16 remaining survivors were rescued. Courtresy of two survivors, Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa who climbed the 4,650-metre mountain peak without any mountaineering gear and hiked for 10 days into Chile to seek help, traveling 61 km (38 miles).
Notably, Agustin Pardella plays the character of Nando, and Matias Recalt plays the character of Roberto.
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