Snowpiercer

Coincidentally, before being tasked to do a film review of a film made by an auteur, I had watched Snowpiercer. It is directed by Bong Joon-Ho and now he is internationally recognised for his recent film Parasite (2019) for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay and Foreign Language Film.

As a fan of Chris Evans on Gifted (2017), Knives Out (2019) and of course as the beloved Steve Rogers in the Captain America and Avengers franchise, I wanted to watch other films he had acted in as he tends to go for roles that he is particularly interested in. I had watched Snowpiercer with no idea of what the film was about, merely thinking it was going to be an action film. Little did I know that it would be more than just an action film.

The whole film takes place on the Snowpiercer train, which runs on a completed track that goes around the globe. Due to the climate change, the whole world is covered in blankets of snow and the only way for people to survive was to board the train. The train is divided into sections of class, those being in high class nearer to the front and lower class at the “tail section”, which is at the end of the train. The film explores the social injustices faced by the people who live in the tail section and sees the clashes between the tail and those who are higher up in the hierarchy.

What was intriguing was seeing the attention to detail with the characters such as how Curtis Everett (Chris Evans) is constantly facing a moral dilemma and he makes a choice to leave his friend in order to use Minister Mason (Tilda Swinton) to get to the front of the train for example. The set design and costumes made it effective in conveying the luxuries that those in the higher class get to experience, as well as connoting the ways of living permanently on a train for both higher class and lower class.

Additionally, Bong Joon-Ho would occasionally edit the film whilst they were shooting. In retrospect, it could have limited the ability to explore other creative options for the film, but it did add to the challenge of filming scenes that had to make sense for the storyline and ended up working well. Not only that but Snowpiercer was Joon-Ho’s first debut film that he has ever done in the English-language, which was another challenging aspect to the filming process and still manages to make the film interesting. However, the film would have done even better at the box office if there had not been difficulties with the distribution company.

If you enjoy watching sci-fi action films then Snowpiercer is a must watch as Bong Joon-Ho adds his own dynamic by possibly creating a surrealist world through the portrayal of realistic issues.