Snowpiercer(2013)

[Drea]

This movie certainly isn't for everyone but I found it to be one of the best metaphorical tales about the state of the world that I've seen.
Trying to follow the storyline and make sense of what was going on was a bit of a task, but at the end I was amazed how the film fit many subtle pieces of truth in for those who understood.
There is a good bit of violence and themes that might be disturbing. It also has some of that absurdity that asian films are known for so be forewarned.

There is a good review here: _http://www.cine-vue.com/2014/02/berlin-2014-snowpiercer-review.html_

"And yet, it's the depiction of class warfare and the rise of the proletariat that makes Bong's triumph more that just a runaway actioner. The intelligent scrutiny of neoliberal ideals makes for a wonderfully reflective, spectacular think piece on social irresponsibility and individualism."

 

[Ask-Seek-Knock]

I saw this movie last week, it's a long time since I didn't see such a mind-blowing movie. It is a movie which is full of symbols, with great plot twists, an original scenario and great actors. The director of this movie which is also the writer of it(along with someone else) simply managed to put the hierarchical structure of the world into the size of a long train. I could never imagine that could be done, it stroke me unexpectedly.

Just watched and wouldn't recommend it. I thought it was utterly absurd and unnecessarily gratuitously violent. Granted there are some metaphors about society but I didn't find it a particularly enjoyable 'journey'. It starts off as a kind of low budget British gritty drama and then evolves into a dark, twisted Al-Gore-sponsored South Korean blood-fest. - Maybe I've been watching too much Downton Abbey

I totally agree with Theseus. I would NOT recommend this movie. I love Chris Evans which is the only reason I watched the movie. IMO it was one of the worse movies I've ever seen. My husband wanted to turn it off after 30 minutes but we paid $6.99 to watch it at home while it was still in theaters and kept thinking it would get better but it just got worse. At times it's a total bloodfest, warning for those that are squeamish. We both felt like our souls were tarnished from it. So disappointed in Chris Evans for doing this film.

 

[Phlebas]

It was too violent like most films but I'm a sucker for future dystopia and I thought Tilda Swindon was great as the evil Thatcher/ Rand like oppressor / archon

http://io9.com/how-an-obscure-2nd-century-christian-heresy-influenced-1609994487

The above link is to an article that proposes the film is Gnostic allegory which is a fair point. The one bit I am having a problem getting my head round is the part of the film where the evil grinning man coats his axe with fish blood and then passes the fish on to the next evil looking man who does the same.

"Looking at Snowpiercer through a Gnostic lens also illuminates one of the more bizarre scenes in the film, and likely one that producer Harvey Weinstein wanted to cut from the U.S. version. This is when the heavily-armored and masked guards slice a carp, ritualistically coating their hatchets with its blood. If you think of the fish as Christ and, by extension, his followers (i.e., Curtis and his disciples) another piece of the film's mythology falls into place. " from linked article.

I went to Catholic school so I'm down with the drink my blood for eternal life angle but I just don't see how that translates to your enemy putting Christ's blood on a axe and then hitting you with it. Are trying to kill them and save them at the same time ? Or maybe the archons are using christianity to enslave ?

 

[Siberia]

Very good movie, among the best that i've seen this year. And it's not as much about symbolism for me, although very symbolic of course, but about the strikingly exact depiction of the evolution trends in general and the current events in particular.

What is curious about this movie, is that it can be perceived at numerous levels simultaneously: as an Asian blockbuster with tough guys walking through fire and iron (with their epic axe and torch fights); as a satiric and philosophic film about all government systems and final destination of all revolutions. Or one can simply enjoy the art, with ever increasing absurd and surreal stuff behind each next door opened, until the situation reaches its apex.

With her false "rabbit" teeth, Tilda Swindon's character (a-la Yatsenyuk, Ukies' PM) looks like a typical age-less groomed type of bureaucrat to me, who is able to make even the strongest of us weep catching us when we are most weak and vulnerable. She is cold and monstrous like nurse Ratched, proclaims her "stability is above all," while in reality always ready to forget her pseudo-socialist mantras and execute anyone who threatens her personal safety.

And those Right-Sector-type thugs in balaclavas - how many times we have seen them this year already? Not just in Ukraine, but in the Middle East and Hell knows where else we'll have to face them. The scene mentioned above where they coat their axes with fish blood looks like a psychopathic ritual, indeed.

The level of violence is rather high, but in this particular film, it seems that it is not a self-purpose like "let's add some shooting here because it sells good." For me it felt more like showing the world "as is" with no softening pills. Maybe it would be better mitigating the shocks, but for a 100% apocalyptic film, it could steal from its essence, imo.

 

[Lizziespreparetogovegan]

Interesting to read such contrasting opinions about the film in this thread. I watched it myself recently and would say it was a very mixed bag. Yes, it was a great metaphor for today's ponerized and hierarchical society and obviously gripping in terms of maintaining the suspense regarding who and what was at the front of the train but I agree with the comments about the gratuitous and gory violence. It was waaaay over the top and didn't serve the higher message of the film at all. Indeed, there was something almost 'satanic' about the hack-em-up scene about half way through. The director was clearly appealing to an audience here who enjoy a significant level of violence which seems to have become endemic across the cinematic spectrum in this day and age.

****SPOILER*********

However, the dark twist and somewhat devastating message at the end of the film was what made it worthwhile in my opinion. Obviously the core message was that the entire 'revolt' had been manipulated from the very start by both the Elite architect and driver of the train who was in league with the aged underclass 'hero' and mentor of the down-trodden prisoners. In this respect the film has a very similar theme to films such as 'Arlington Road' and 'Oldboy', the message being that even the most noble and brave attempts at finding truth and redressing injustice can be fraught with manipulation on every level, right till the end: just when you're about to see the man behind the curtain, you realise that he's led and manipulated you into being there....for his own twisted benefit.

********************

I guess there were the standard insights into the machinations of psychopathy here but with such a conclusion, it makes me wonder if it actually takes a psychopathic mind to make a movie with such a twisted and devastating ending.......