Directed by: Bong Joon-ho. Starring: Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda
Swinton. Sci-Fi, South Korea 2013, 126mins, Cert 15.
“The train is the world. We, the humanity”
Finally arriving on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK 7 years after its
completion, this dystopian allegory on a train from Oscar winning director and
co-scripter Bong Joon-ho (PARASITE) seems all the more pertinent given the
present enforced world-wide lockdown.
In an attempt to combat global warming, scientists dispersed a chemically
engineered coolant dubbed ‘CW-7’ into the atmosphere to bring Mother Earth’s
temperature down a bit. Unfortunately, it worked rather too well and ushered in
a new ice-age killing off almost the entire planet except for a few survivors who
manage to board a train – the Snowpiercer. Designed by a rail-obsessed maverick
genius known as Wilford, his technologically advanced ‘rattling ark’
circumnavigates the world once every 12 months on a global track layout,
smashing through built up snow and ice blockades whilst being entirely
self-sustaining.
Based on the French graphic novel ‘Le Transperceneige’, the film wears its
class struggle allegory on its sleeve. The working class poor suffer squalid
conditions in the rear of the train, whilst the first-class passengers towards
the front enjoy luxurious dining and recreational facilities. However, 17-years
after boarding the Snowpiercer, anti-hero Curtis (Chris Evans) is planning a
peasant passenger revolt under the mentoring eye of his elder confidant Gilliam
(John Hurt). But this plot to obtain a collective upgrade by taking the engine:
“We control the engine, we control the world” will rely on a security
specialist Namgoong Minsoo(Song Kang-ho) who is seemingly addicted to a drug manufactured
from flammable industrial waste, and a hunch that the ‘armed’ guards have actually
run out of live ammunition...
Minister Mason (Tilda Swinton - marvellously grotesque), in one of her raids on the
poor end of the train, places a shoe on the head of protective father Andrew
(Ewen Bremner, ‘Spud’ from TRAINSPOTTING) to reinforce the social hierarchy in
this new world order on rails. Echoes perhaps to George Orwell’s chilling
pronouncement from ‘1984’: “If you want
a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever.” But
in case you think SNOWPIERCER will be bogged down with socio-political
commentary, rest assured it storms through its (admittedly scientifically dodgy
premise) with as much forward momentum as the train the action explodes within.
Like a bleakly violent reworking of THE WIZARD OF OZ, every newly hot-wired
door opens into a carriage of increasingly colourful lands offering tantalising
glimpses of luxury and civility, with the ultimate prize being an audience with
the omnipotent wizard himself, Wilford (Ed Harris) in the train’s Emerald City,
the engine.
In order to avoid spoilers, details must remain vague and sketchy as to
what the increasingly darker journey down the Snowpiercer specifically entails.
There is a standout bloody set-piece when the train enters a tunnel, and a
memorably disconcerting visit to the classroom section. But the fact that revealing
the ingredients of the gelatinous ‘protein packs’ fed to the rear-end
passengers occurs less than an hour into the running time signals that far more
horrific surprises are awaiting further down the line.
Technically and
visually, the film is a marvel of design, with each new section of the train
offering bold, intricately detailed carriages. The cinematography pulls off the
not inconsiderable achievement of making the potentially claustrophobic set-up
of confined spaces visually arresting and immersive.
To this end, Bong Joon-ho is assisted with some strong performances, with John
Hurt, now sadly missed, but fascinating as always, and Chris Evans stepping up
to the mark proving he is more than just Captain America and delivering a
third-act monologue which is so disturbing Marvel fans should be forewarned.
The Blu-ray
transfer vividly captures the nuanced detailed textures in both set and
character, reproducing the extensive gamut of colour from the drabness and
gloom of the rear carriages to the opulent garishness of the front sections
whilst offering a pin-sharp transfer with a pleasingly filmic texture.
With a Netflix
commissioned series due to arrive shortly, and director Bong Joon-ho’s stock
higher than ever thanks to PARASITE (although genre aficionados were already
championing the director after his 2006 creature-feature THE HOST), now is a perfect time to catch this
exceptionally well-realised, uncompromised, Korean Sci-Fi actioner
powerhouse.
****(out of 5*)
Paul Worts
This review was originally published by FrightFest.
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