Would You Eat A Friend To Survive?

Cold. It’s so cold you can’t even make it through the night. Your body is shaking, and you can hear your teeth hit each other as you shiver.

For a pinch of warmth, you must latch onto the person next to you.

Hunger.

It’s been two weeks without food. Your stomach is so empty, and the pain is so unbearable you’d be willing to eat anything. Even if it goes against your morals.

Hopelessness.

Will rescue come? Will you ever see your family again? Will you come out of this alive?
Are you even human anymore? Or have you become an animal? Who are you on the mountain?

Society of the Snow is a Spanish film directed by J.A. Bayon based on the book La Sociedad de la Nieve by Pablo Vierci. Both were based on the real-life story of a Uruguayan plane that crashed in the Andes mountains.

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, filled with 45 people and carrying a Uruguayan rugby team, crashed on October 13th, 1972. For 72 days (about 2 and a half months), they were stranded in the harshest conditions possible.

The passengers had to withstand the harsh cold temperatures, an avalanche, and had no other choice but to eat the bodies of those who perished to survive.

During the 72 days, the passengers worked together and persevered as they fought for their survival and rescue.

Carlos Paez, a real-life survivor of the crash, explains:

“…and from the avalanche onwards, we became one single group, and our story became one of the best examples of team work ever as we gradually transformed into a kind of survival machine for which everyone did their part.”

Only 16 of the passengers survived (14 are still alive today), with 29 perishing in total, and 33 surviving the initial crash. The survivors were rescued on December 23rd, 1972.

The film, which was released on December 22, 2023, has been nominated for three Oscars: Best International Film, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, and Best Original Score and Visual Effects.

It has also been nominated for the BAFTA awards (British Academy of Television arts) and the Golden Globes. The movie has won a total of twelve Goya awards (Spain’s main national film awards).

One of the passengers on the flight was a young law student named Numa Turcatti, who was friends with one of the rugby players on the plane.

Numa was one of the passengers who helped the group endlessly, putting the others before himself even though day by day he was becoming weaker and weaker. His body was gradually giving up.

Due to an injury that he had suffered during the avalanche becoming infected, Numa died in his sleep on December 11th, 1972, at the age of 25.

Vierci wrote in “Society of the Snow.”:

“Numa was also a very special person. He helped with the endless activities on the mountain from the very first, never thinking about the risk to himself, never calculating how much energy he was expending and how much energy he needed to keep for himself.”

In one of the most memorable moments before his death, Numa wrote a letter which was found grasped in his hand. This letter provided the surviving passengers with the last motivation they needed to embark on their ultimate expedition for rescue, which ultimately led to them being found.

The letter read simply:

“It’s deserving of an Oscar, it’s a masterpiece! The film is more than just about the cannibalism and survival, it is truly about union-ship, friendship, courage, honesty, and bravery.” – Rossana Buenaventura (my mom, who is considered as major fan of the movie!).

The story of Society of the Snow is very well known in the Latino community, and with its new film adaptation, it has branched out to people all over the world.

The film not only showed the parts of the true story (which many people had missed and weren’t aware of), but it also shows how with hope, anything – even in the most despairing and frightening situations – is possible.

Society of the Snow provides a message that changes the view of life in the most beautiful way.