'Snowpiercer' depicts humanity's struggle for life

From left, director Bong Joon-ho and the cast of “Snowpiercer,” Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Ko A-sung, and Song Kang-ho pose for a photo during a press conference in Yeouido, central Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap

By Yun Suh-young

The first impression of “Snowpiercer,” the American debut of Korean director Bong Joon-ho, is that of an instant classic that will be watched and dissected by movie buffs for years to come.

The movie, which will be released locally on Thursday, is categorized as a science-fiction thriller, but is really much more than that, a well-paced drama that combines engaging characters and an intelligent storyline that chills the heart as much as it warms it.

The story is set in 2031 inside a train called, “Snowpiercer,” which circles around a nearly-lifeless Earth, left for dead by a failed global-warming experiment 17 years ago.

Wilford (Ed Harris), creator of the train, enjoys a God-like status at the front of the train

The movie makes no effort to explain the disastrous chemical, CW-7, and how it was used in a way that resulted in a man-made Ice Age. Instead, the focus remains on people inside the train, humanity’s last survivors and the class system that evolves between them.

Setting the tone is Mason, the “prime minister” of the train marvelously played by Tilda Swinton, who tells people at the tail section, “I belong to the front. You belong to the tail. Know your place. Keep your place. Be the tail.”

Predictably, bloody conflict ensues when people at the back decide to experiment whether they could move up front.

Children born to the front section enjoy the benefits of studying in a neat classroom

“The movie provides an exaggerated version of the reality that we live in and helps us reflect on life. The dichotomy between rich and the poor is universal,” Bong said in a news conference in Seoul, where he was joined by the movie’s actors Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Song Kang-ho and Ko A-sung.

“The reason we enjoy sci-fi is that it somehow resembles our world— and at the core of it is the class struggle.”

Bong skillfully creates a microcosm of the human world in the narrow corridors of the train. There are people giving birth and there are people dying. Some people are helped, others are killed. The main struggle is between the protectors of the status quo and those desperate to break it.

An indoor garden in the front section of the train

Moviegoers follow the path of protagonists, who begin at the back of train before advancing and preparing to take over the engine room. Once they have the engine, they believe, they will have the front section. The revolt, led by Curtis (Chris Evans), is described as a struggle to regain dignity.

Curtis tries to take over the engine room and replace Wilford (Ed Harris), who enjoys a God-like status as the creator and controller of the train, with Gilliam (John Hurt), the spiritual leader of the have-nots.

Curtis is helped by Namgoong Minsoo (Song Kang-ho), a Korean engineer who helped Wilford design the train, and his train-born daughter Yona (Ko A-sung). As the group of rebels moves forward, they continue to be shocked by the versions of life they have never seen before.

A child at the tail section sleeps inside a dirty bunk bed

Evans, most famous for his Captain America superhero role, displays unexpected range and depth in the role of Curtis, while Swinton is a revelation as the iron-fisted Mason.

“We had a very enjoyable game of imagining Mason’s life before the train and what she does behind closed doors. She’s not that different from the leaders we see photographed on the newspapers every day,” Swinton said at the news conference.

“Sometimes they wear strange makeup and wigs. We kept thinking of extreme gestures for Mason. We looked through history or even the contemporary who are just as extreme, and tried to create a character that is true to life.”

Curtis (Chris Evans), right, prepares a revolt to conquer the front section with tail section members including Gilliam (John Hurt), on wheelchair, the spiritual leader of the tail section

Evans described working with Bong as a critical experience.

“To me it was so refreshing to work with artists outside of America. It broadened my horizon to work with people who approach the craft differently from how I do,” he said.

“For me the director is the most important person in the movie making process. The script is just words on paper. I go where the directors are. Bong is among the top in the world.”