Shadows on the Ice: The 1972 Andes Disaster

Bertocchini’s tense and harrowing English-language debut documents the 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 57, avoiding sensationalism through a focus on the faith and friendship of the survivors, among them members of a rugby team. The basic details of the tragedy are familiar from 1974’s Alive and its subsequent film adaptations, and it’s mostly remembered as a tale of cannibalism. Here, narration by Roberto Canessa, one of the few passengers with rudimentary medical training, lends personality and humanity to the stark struggle of the survivors. His ongoing conflicts with rugby team captain Nando Parrado drive the narrative as Nando’s optimism becomes manic. Those who survive the crash do eventually end up eating flesh from the dead, but it almost becomes a background detail amid the daily trials of their endurance. As the passengers begin to die, they face brutal high-altitude snowstorms and avalanches, and attempt impossible exploratory attempts to the east before a torturous trek to the west finally brings help. Diette and Nino’s dynamic artwork captures the despair and desolation and the unforgiving landscape. The result is a driving and cinematic account of survival. (Jan.)