Snowpiercer

If you ever wondered what Captain America would be like when he goes full DC...

It has been well over 3 months since the opening weekend of "Avengers: Infinity War", and half of the Marvel fanbase is still lamenting over the grim fact that half of their favorite superheroes have turned into dust. Forever gone. No resurrections this time, as Thanos would declare. Well, if they thought that was intense, they should get a load of "Snowpiercer". Made by the same director who brought us "The Host", "Snowpiercer" is based on a French graphic novel "Le Transperceneige" where its entire story from start to finish is told inside a train. But this train transport something extremely valuable. It holds the last remnants of the human race after a failed global-warming experiment that flash-freezes the entirety of Earth. Curtis Everett (Chris Evans) resides at the tail end of the Snowpiercer, where all the lower-class freeloaders are packed against one another. And with the desire to traverse all the way to the front section and take control of the "Sacred Engine", he leads a revolution against the elite, while revealing many abhorrent secrets about the globe-spanning locomotive.

"If we ever go outside the train, we all freeze and die". A warning that is not sugarcoated at all indeed. Surely there is truth to it, but what does it really say about living inside the train? Well, as you will soon realize, the Snowpiercer is not just a long hunk of metal. No, it is essentially a society, albeit a dysfunctional one. And whatever you could think of that exists in a dysfunctional society, it will most likely materialize inside one of the carriages. Cannibalism, child labor, corruption, oppression, barbarism, fanaticism, drug abuse, class conflict... all of which contrib to an overarching theme of the film, which is one that is not going to be optimistic as one can imagine. However, that is barely skimming the complexity behind the entire story of the Snowpiercer and its inhabitants. Every scene, every shot, every second contains some form of profound meaning and for two hours straight, the film relentlessly hits you with one conspiracy after another when you least expect it. If you are ever familiar with "Oldboy" and its incredibly dark depictions of a human's emotions, be prepared to tread in familiar waters. Your opinion on which film trumps the other on the "messed-up scale" largely depends on what disgusts you more: the torturous mind games where you are the victim or the depressing portrayal of a society that is relevant today. Nevertheless, some of the most screwed up films out there are possibly also the most worth watching, and fortunately, "Snowpiercer" is no different.

Like a math equation, many people recognize Evans (perhaps only) as Captain America, this mainstream hero with the word "justice" written all over his face and who is mainly best for action scenes. As a side note, it is understandable why Evans is exhausted from playing this character and has expressed the desire to move onto directing in the near future. Captain America/Steve Rogers may be an underratedly complex role in its own right, but generally, I feel more for Bucky than America's Golden Boy in the Marvel-verse. Ironically, in "Snowpiercer", Curtis Everett is almost the same exact character as Cap', but the main reason why people should feel differently here is that of the heightened emphasis on grief, which does not plainly refer to tears or all the drama of losing a special someone. For an actor/actress to sincerely embody grief, even the least sentimental audience has to be somehow clamped by the heart. Director Bong Joon Ho is famous for concocting some of the most grief-stricken films of his time, but even so, he needs a person to correctly execute his convoluted ideas. And Director Bond indeed chose the right person. Chris Evans reacting to a host of fear-inducing mechanisms and representing the entire theme of this film is possibly the most impressive acting feat that I've witnessed from him. With him, everything felt uncomfortably real. Even though Evans mainly keeps a stone cold face having trapped in a claustrophobic train for nearly 20 years, you cannot help but overtly sense the despair, anguish, emptiness, and guilt tangled within the character. A truly DiCaprio-esque performance that surely puts Chris Evans on the top of my list.

Another distinguished person that deserves high praise is Tilda Swinton. Captain America and the Ancient One teaming up! Who would have thought? All jokes aside, Swinton plays a villain named Minister Mason, an upper-class passenger of the train who is the spokesperson for Wilford. You can think of her as a priest, a dirty politician who seeks order in the general mass by preaching on behalf of God. For a huge chunk of the film, Wilford, the alleged creator/caretaker of the "Sacred Engine", is a mere myth. He is hidden and doesn't involve himself in this "revolution" that Curtis has instigated, which means that for most of the time, the most tangible villain is Minister Mason. As far as the acting is concerned, the way in which Swinton brings this authoritative, delirious, and political clown to life is simply brilliant. In an interview, Swinton mentioned that the character is a mashup of Margaret Thatcher, Colonel Gadaffi, Adolf Hitler and Silvio Berlusconi, and you do indeed sense the eccentricities of all of them. Personally, I find Minister Mason by far the most interesting character in this film, not just because of her Lancashire accent, but also her elegance, her grace in which she orchestrates the affairs of the train. Plus, things get even more exciting when this overwhelming insurgent Curtis thwarts Mason's authority out of nowhere, where it leads to an awfully tense power dynamic between, in the way that the popular culture today recognizes, Captain America and the Ancient One.

Despite the fact that viewer's discretion is extremely advised, it is also highly recommended to amass as much tolerance as possible and grind through the film because "Snowpiercer" is truly worth the pain. Indeed, everything about this film goes against the mainstream and you will without a doubt feel utterly uncomfortable on all fronts. Gore is the most in-your-face component that makes the film downright unwatchable for some people, but the majority of the harrowing elements of "Snowpiercer" lies in the theme. It is no exaggeration to say that literally, every single second of the film is significant towards your eventual understanding of the subject matter, and this requires some level of sociological awareness; otherwise, you will mistake certain parts of the story as plot-holes or misinterpret their dreadful implications in the film. However, the brighter side of "Snowpiercer" is its fantastical elements that draw nostalgia from "Howl's Moving Castle". I cannot stress enough just how influential and prominent the train is, so much so that it is almost magical, like the moving castle. As the story advances one carriage at a time, it is almost like Curtis is entering a whole new dimension. And believe me, every carriage explores at least one major facet of black comedy, which is what director Bong Joon-Ho specializes in. As the minutes go by, there is no space for a breather. After a heart-wrenching moment, you must immediately prepare yourself for the next one, much like riding a roller coaster.

The most interesting fact about "Snowpiercer" is that a giant gyroscopic gimbal from Prague was used to mimic the movements of an actual train, as opposed to excessively relying on CGI. After all, this is the most expensive Korean film in history, amounting up to $40 million in cost. So not only are the theme and acting done splendidly, the production that buttresses this film from the bottom is stunningly meticulous. You can easily explore the craftwork logistics in greater detail on Wikipedia, but this is one of those situations where you become so immersed in the physical environment, the ambiance, the perspectives that they spark your curiosity to go behind the scenes. From top to bottom, "Snowpiercer" stands as the most well-thought-out masterpiece that I've watched so far, therefore earning my regards on my all-time favorite list. It's rare that a horror of this magnitude ends up being undeniably refreshing in terms of originality, performance, visuals, sound design, costumes... you name it. Indeed, it can be a colossal reality check, especially for those who are squeamish, but one has to realize that many of the addressed issues in the film happens, happened and could happen at some parts of the world. As Director Bong, says, "If you can't say these things, or have these ideas in a sci-fi film, where can you?". Think of this more as a food for thought, rather than a documentary spewing out didacticism. You don't have to agree with the premise of "Snowpiercer". You don't have to let 2 hours be dictated as a given. But you cannot deny the blazingly original artistry that deserves to be immortalized as a cinematic perfection.

You learn that nuking the entire world with a freeze bomb is not the best way to combat global warming...