Snowpiercer 2013

This much anticipated English-language sci-fi epic from Bong Joon-ho (The Host) finally hits NZ screens in his original cut. “Adapted from a French graphic novel, the film is set in a dystopian near-future in which the entire Earth has succumbed to a new ice age and the last surviving humans have taken refuge in a train forever circling the planet (powered by a perpetual motion machine). The lower classes, forcibly segregated in the disgusting, slum-like back end of the train, start an uprising and fight their way to the front to seize control of the train from their tyrannical elite… Snowpiercer’s two-hour running time has nary a dull moment. The exhilarating action is coupled to an intricate and involving narrative peppered with both mordant humor and affecting pathos. Bong… expertly juggles beautifully executed, truly breathtaking fighting sequences, and detailed yet elegantly deployed exposition. The large array of characters, each one finely drawn and highly original, is incarnated with much panache and visible enjoyment by the outstanding international cast… The train itself is a marvel of production design, and as the characters press on, it’s a thrill to discover the entirely different, fantastically conceived, and gorgeously realized world within each new wagon. Beyond the miserable austerity of the slum cars lie locales as varied as a candy-colored classroom worthy of Wes Anderson… and a futuristic nightclub with a drug-fueled rave in full swing.” — Giovanni Marchini Camia, Film Comment