Film Review: ‘Snowpiercer’ a Problematic But Wild Ride Dystopia

Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 4, 2014 - 12:40pm

CHICAGO – Travelers. We are travelers in this life, and metaphorically we’re mostly in coach, but sometimes manage to get some first class treatment. What if all this traveling were confined to one vehicle? Imagine a future world contained in a constantly traveling train, and the premise for “Snowpiercer” realizes a one-of-a-kind dystopia.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

This is obviously highly symbolic, as the “train” is operated by a visionary who foresaw the destruction of the earth’s atmosphere, plunging the rest of world into a permanent winter. The “Snowpiercer” is the name of the train, and as the passengers “move” up to the front, what awaits them get more interesting. This is directed by the oddball filmmaker Jooh-ho Bong, who was more successful in his satirical symbolism within his previous films “Mother” and “The Host.” The premise of “Snowpiercer” suffers from some obvious symbolism, including the casting of the actor who portrays the visionary ruler of the train’s engine, but the situation of this post-apocalyptic earth is so wild and wacky that it makes the film viable as a different form of science fiction.

After a climate change experiment goes awry, the only survivors of earth circle the globe in a perpetual motion choo-choo train invented by the visionary named Wilford. The harshest residents of the Snowpiercer are in the back cars, forced to ingest protein bars – provided by the bureaucrats guarding the front – to stay alive. This includes Curtis (Chris Evans) and Edgar (Jamie Bell), who are plotting revolution. This works for Tanya (Octavia Spencer), whose son was kidnapped, and Gilliam (John Hurt), who had sown the seeds of the uprising.

The initial push is successful, and they kidnap one of the main bureaucrats named Mason (Tilda Swinton, in another eccentric performance) to gain entry to the front cars. What follows is a process of stranger and more luxurious lifestyles towards the front of the train, and clues to the state of the world provided by anarchists Minsoo (Kang-ho Song) and Yona (Ah-sung Ko).

“Snowpiercer” continues its limited release in Chicago on July 4th. See local listings for theaters and show times. Featuring Chris Evans, John Hurt, Tilda Swinson, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Alison Pill, Kang-ho Song and Ah-Sung Ko. Screenplay by Joon-ho Bong and Kelly Masterson. Directed by Joon-ho Bong. Rated “R”