Cast: Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano, Josh Hamilton
Director: Frank Marshall
Producers: Robert Watts and Kathleen Kennedy
Screenplay: John Patrick Shanley
Music: James Newton Howard
U.S. Distributor: Touchstone Pictures and Paramount Pictures
In 1972, a chartered plane carrying 37 people -- friends, family, and members of a Uruguayan rugby team -- crash-landed in the Andes en route to Chile. For 72 days, the survivors struggled to prolong their existence, resorting to cannibalism to stay alive. Alive, based on Piers Paul Read's bestseller, is their story.
The film begins and ends with a close-up of an uncredited John Malkovich, who, playing one of the survivors, reflects back on the ordeal and how it has affected his life since then. Malkovich, although on-screen only briefly, effectively sets the stage for what is to come.
Alive will not be shown on any airplanes. The plane crash sequence, perfectly prefaced and executed, is hair-raising -- perhaps the most terrifying crash ever shown in a movie (including those in the Airport films and Die Hard 2). The tension of the moment is heightened, rather than diminished, by the knowledge of what is to come. As the plane begins to rise and drop through air pockets, we're put on the edge of our seats, dreading the inevitable. ILM, responsible for making the crash real, has created a memorable spectacle. The sight of seats, with people still in them, tumbling through a gaping hole in the back of the cabin is unforgettable.
The unpleasant subject of cannibalism is confronted in Alive. Because it was such an important factor to the survival of the sixteen, it could not be glossed over, but it is dealt with sensitively rather than sensationalistically. There are no gruesome close-ups of half-eaten bodies. The characters react with genuine horror at what they have to do. The most graphic scene occurs past the mid-point of the film, in a wide shot of the crash/camp site, where several stripped skeletons can be seen half-covered by snow.
Alive is an adventure story that grapples with issues more profound than most movies of the genre. The moral implications of eating the body of a dead friend or relative are not overlooked, nor is the spiritual cost of such a decision. The will to live demands sacrifices, none of which come cheaply. Religion and the existence of God are themes that Alive constantly returns to.
One of the disadvantages of having so many characters is that few of them attain independence from the mass as far as the audience is concerned. As a result, most of the deaths are meaningless. There are only three characters who have enough screen time, dialogue, and interaction to achieve depth: Nando Parrado (Ethan Hawke), Antonio Balbi (Vincent Spano), and Roberto Cannessa (Josh Hamilton). It is primarily around these three that the story centers.
The cinematography by Peter James is impressive, effectively capturing the awe-inspiring feel of the Andes -- vastness, majesty, and danger. The camerawork that sets up the plane crash at the beginning is of equal importance in detailing an avalanche and showing the difficulty of a long trek across the snow-covered, precipitous slopes. A less inspired effort would have resulted in a film with reduced impact.
Alive is far different from any recent motion picture. Despite being broadly classified as an "adventure", it has depth and breadth that would put many dramas to shame. Well-produced, acted, and scripted, this is a film that has to be seen to be experienced, even by those who know the entire story.
© 1993 James Berardinelli