There are stories that do not age.
Atrocious experiences whose impact time will not be able to cushion for generations.
If they were fiction, they would be inconceivable, as is the case of those experienced by the survivors of the tragic plane crash that occurred in 1972, in the Andes, which is echoed in the film
The Snow Society
, by Juan Antonio Bayona.
During the tough filming of the film, Quim Vives (Barcelona, 1979), in charge of the still photography, took thousands of photographs of which almost 300 have been collected in a book:
The Snow Society
, published by the RM publishing house;
It is the diary of a fiction that, at times, will make the reader doubt whether they are looking at historical or recreated images.
The publication is presented with a packaging that simulates the black box of an airplane, of which the reader must break the flaps to enter a nightmare, under freezing temperatures, avalanches, hunger and despair;
the personal reflection of the photographer (who at that time was grieving the death of his father) on a filming that portrays life on the edge of death.
The narrative opens with images of the rescue and ends with a series that captures the movements of the survivors' hands in different situations.
Gestures that contain pain and hope, strength and fragility.
In the middle, the expression of a feat where the courage to continue living found an echo in solidarity.
This photograph is part of a day of filming, in which the inclement weather was truly unfavorable, with snow, fog and wind.Quim Vives
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed into a glacier deep in the Andes.
The main filming set was set at Laguna de la Yeguas, in the Sierra Nevada, at just under 2900 meters above sea level. Quim Vives
There were no women among the survivors of the Andes accident.
Liliana Methol, played by Paula Baldini, survived the initial impact but died in the avalanche that occurred 10 days after the accident.Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“My first foray into the project was in 2018, when a small team moved to Montevideo to interview the real survivors of this tragedy,” Vives recalls.
“There you can portray all of them.
Later, in 2022, in the filming phase, I made several series of portraits of the actors, one of which tried to imitate that initial session that had taken place four years before.”Quim Vives
“Without a doubt, I think that the time we were filming after the avalanche were the most claustrophobic and uncomfortable days to work in,” the photographer recalls.
“The fuselage, which was already small, was greatly reduced to simulate the snow that buried the boys.
Snow that was partly real.
In the photo appears Roy Harley, played by Andy Pruss, who was the first one who was able to get out." Quim Vives
“During the tests in Barcelona, in autumn 2021, a structure was built simulating a piece of the fuselage.
The actors would have to get used to the small, inclined cabin in which they and the entire crew would spend so many hours of filming.”Quim Vives
There was a 'backlot', or what would be an outdoor set, located at a lower altitude in the Sierra Nevada, among olive trees, with the purpose of using it for certain sequences, such as the exit to the outside, after the avalanche. , or if the weather report did not allow us to film in the mountains.Quim Vives
The Peñones de Sierra Nevada car park was used to film some sequences inside the tail of the plane.
At the same time, that open space next to the 'stage' was a place of contemplation and personal reflection where I used to resort during filming.Quim Vives
The director of the film Juan Antonio Bayona framing a shot during filming. Quim Vives
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