ALIVE 1993
by
Frank Marshall
The Uruguayan rugby team was flying to Chile to play a match
in October 1972 when the Air Force plane carrying them got caught in turbulence
and crashed in the mountains.There were 45 souls onboard ,out of which half a
dozen died immediately as the cockpit and the tail got detached midair
itself.Rest of the passangers ,cocooned inside the fuselage,found themselves
amidst snow capped moutains,devoid of much food or communication systems.
As their teammates and fellow passangers keep dying one by
one,succumbing to injuries,shock and despair,the survivors had to resort to desperate
measures like eating the dead to keep up their strength.As their search is
called off,some of the crash victims take
it upon themselves to finally make a 12-day track to reach help.The ordeal
lasted for 72 long days,during which 29 people succumbed and only 16 managed to
remain alive.
This biographical survival film is beautifully shot.Nothing to complain regarding
the crash scene,which leaves one with butterflies.But the director has tried to
keep things simple and not go into disputes and divisions which would have
originated among the survivors.Frank Marshall has rather turned this into a
tribute to human resilience and will power.The film works because one can
connect with the tragedy.But it is also guilty of simplistic portrayal of the
effort put in to survive.A young Ethan Hawke manages to leave his mark,and the
rest of the cast has also done well.
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