Just came from seeing Snow Piercer, the dystopian science fiction action thriller that is the English-language debut of Korean director Bong Joon-Ho (though not entirely: Korean star Song Kang-Ho doesnt speak a word of English in the film but must constantly interact with characters who speak English only, which kind of reminded me of Forrest Whitaker trying to communicate with Isaac Bankolé in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai). Set 17 years in the future, the film portrays all of humanity stuck on an ever-moving train, perpetually traveling around the world through a frozen landscape where all life has died, after a disastrous attempt in the present day at geo-engineering to combat global warming. The 1% are housed in luxury cars near the front of the train, with their attendants living in only slightly less comfort a couple of cars back. Back of them are cars full of very serious security guards, and in the very back are the rest of the race, herded into dingy quarters and fed with a daily ration of slimy protein bars. One should do justice to the films obvious strengths. The production design and special effects are stunning, and the film will surely win an Oscar for one or both. Screen veterans such as Ed Harris, Tilda Swinton, and John Hurt throw themselves into their roles body and soul, with strong performances from Chris Evans in the lead, Jamie Bell as his sidekick, Octavia Spencer as an aggrieved mother, and others. The symbolism and layers of meaning of the film are made very plain, and as to excitement and suspense, Korean directors are able to do something with action and violence that I cant quite put my finger on, but their treatment of it conveys a remorseless, completely real quality; the only reason this film stays within an R rating is that much of the fighting is done in shadow, with strategic cutaways. And a Romanian actor named Vlad Ivanov, as the enforcer of last resort, is the person I definitely never want to get on the wrong side of; hes one of these bad a@@es that you can stab and strangle to your hearts content and yet, a few minutes later, there he is stalking you, hungry for more. The film is intelligent and well-made, and I sat there, rather coldly admiring its virtues in my mind without being very deeply touched in my heart. When youve said the best that can be said for it, basically, its still The Matrix on a train. It also reminded me of The Truman Show, with Ed Harris; Zardoz, the 70s John Boorman film, with Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling and, on a physical level, the Steven Seagal film Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, which also takes place on a moving train. And I almost forgot: it also reminds me a little bit of the 1979 action thriller Avalanche Express, with Robert Shaw and Lee Marvin, which I believe was the last film for one of those actors. I agree with my friend John Beifuss, whose review appears below, that the film is so weighted with allegorical baggage that the wheels of the train nearly grind to a halt. And although the script seemed quite intelligent in most places, I was astonished when, upon finding that they needed to fight their way through a car full of guards armed with battle axes, iron clubs, and machetes, Chris Evans turned to Jamie Bell and said Be careful. Really? You think? I dunno...the film had a lot of interesting components that didnt quite add up to a whole, for me. Having said that, Id still say its worth a look, and it will be very interesting to see what this director does going forward.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 01:07:02 +0000
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