If you're at all familiar with Ethan Hawke's "Alive" (1993) then you'll have the gist of this story of the Uruguayan rugby team whose aircraft came down after heavy turbulence, stranding them amidst the wreckage high up in the Andes mountains. Of the forty who embarked, only sixteen remain and it now falls to them to demonstrate the ultimate in team spirit if they are to fight the cold, hunger, fear, avalanches and each other to survive. Juan Bayona has created a really uncomfortable film to watch here, engendering some strong performances from Enzo Vogrincic (Turcatti) and Agustín Pardella (Nando) as they are forced to drink melted snow and - well you can use your imagination as to how they had to find enough food to survive the sub-zero temperatures whilst - they hoped - help would find them. It's the pristine cinematography that helps this stand out - we really do get a sense of the hostility of this terrain, the cold and the dark; the cloud line making an airborne search for them all but impossible. Should some of them set off to search lower down or is their greater safety in numbers? It's history, so we do know what happened back in 1972 - but even that doesn't impact too much on the gradually increasing senses of peril, claustrophobia and terror and of the best and worst aspects of human nature when facing a crisis. An ensemble effort really, with a team of actors presenting a convincing and compellingly chilling tale of survival that's well crafted by those behind the camera too.
