runamokprods The story of the survivors of the famous plane crash that inspired 'Alive' – the book and movie. But rather than focus on the sensationalistic aspects (the death, the cannibalism), it focuses on the emotions, the spiritual crisies, the triumphs and the humanity of these remarkable men. Through a mix of amazingly candid, open (and beautifully shot) interviews, subtle, well done re- creation footage (a technique I usually despise, but is done so deftly that it works), old footage and photographs, and film of the men returning to the site of their harrowing adventure 30 years later, some with their children, this creates a deeply moving portrait of friendship, loss, courage, and introspection.

Chris Knipp In this excellent documentary survivors of the famous 1972 rugby team plane that crashed in the Andes tell their story with reenactments. This time, unlike the case of Errol Morris' new film about the Abu Ghraib scandal, 'Standard Operating Procedure,' reenactments cause no discomfort, even though aspects of the events shown are famously chilling. That's because in this context, as with Kevin Macdonald's 'Touching the Void' (coincidentally also about survivors in the Andes), participants in the events are present on-screen to describing everything in detail so staged scenes don't feel like intrusion or speculation. There was a film dramatizing the events, Frank Marshall's 1993 'Alive,' with Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano, and others, but this will be the definitive film statement on this event, one of the great survival stories of recent times. The grainy recreations blend seamlessly with the actual film footage shot of the survivors at the moment when they were rescued.It was October. They were just going from their home town in Uraguay for a friendly rugby match in Chile, flying over the dramatic, snowy heights of the Andes mountains. And then it happened: the plane is in the middle of a snow storm with heavy winds, the pilot loses control, and they go down. The crash was quiet, soft, mysterious, some survivors report. The 24 who were still living were mostly fine. What logic, they ask, in their survival; the others' death? Marcelo, leader of the team, set a ration of one square of chocolate and a small cup of liquor a day.An aerial search for the crashed plane was almost impossible because it was a year of exceptional storms, the reason the plane went down.At first we see the men who survived talking about the trip, the mood, the flight, and the crash. And there are quick, often hazy reenactment shots. Later, some of the survivors are seen actually there in the recent present, revisiting the site, remembering the dizziness, weakness, and nausea of hunger, eating face cream, drinking deodorant cups of wine and feeling drunk--and all that followed.And then one describes realizing as the days pass and they grow weaker what they'd have to do--"Either we do it, or die." It was a gradual consensus among them that they'd have to "take that step." They had entered a new world where a dead body could be a meal, as one puts it. It's with great subtlety and tact that the film leads up to this difficult subject. In the end, the viewer is spared nothing. It was a choice to live--a responsibility to parents and family to use any means necessary. It wasn't brute instinct but a debated, considered decision. And yet it was not unanimous, and ultimately remained "another unsolved problem." Some saw it as a kind of holy communion. And this is how, in an effective statement to the public, one of them stilled the sensationalism of the press later on.The radio told them after thirteen days the air search was called off--a terrible blow. They knew then they had to get out on their own. This is where some made a heroic effort to climb up out of the basin where the plane lay.Suddenly one night the others think they're dead when the plane gets buried by avalanche, so their refuge became a trap from which they had to dig out. In this event their team leader Marcelo died along with another person and they were all buried for three days. And the avalanches continued.There were several expeditions, the big one by three, after more deaths, at 61 days. One returns, because he is not fit enough. The two "expeditionaries" on the eighth or ninth day come to a path where there's no snow, and there is water and livestock. They see two shepherds, and throw them a rock with a message about who they are. When they're taken back in a helicopter to rescue the others, it's unbelievable how far they walked. This return to the scene and the event 35 years later is perhaps the first time all the survivors could fully look these events in the face. It helps that these rugby players all came from the same school and still live close together. They're almost like one big family. This is a very social experience all the way through--unlike many survivor stories, which tend to be lonely. But still, this is not the kind of thing many of us go through. There's a lot to ponder and digest here, and it's presented with the utmost skill and taste.

Michael McGonigle So many times, when film footage is recreated for a documentary, it has none of the power that actual film footage has. Also the recreated footage usually does not have the dramatic power normally associated with a narrative film because documentaries don't usually have the budget necessary for proper sets, special effects or access to good actors.But, Stranded: I've Come From A Plane That Crashed In The Mountains. . . manages to intermix old film footage, a handful of real still photographs, new film shot in the actual locations of the disaster along with LOTS of recreated film footage into a stunning mix that makes Stranded the best documentary on a disaster I have seen in a long time.The basic story is well known. In October 1972, a small plane carrying a group of Uruguayan rugby players took off for neighboring Chile and disappeared in the Andes Mountains.Rescuers were dispatched on both land and air, but no one could locate the wrecked plane and all passengers were thought lost. Although the plane had crashed, there were 29 survivors, many of them uninjured.These young men would now embark on an ordeal of survival unrivaled in history. They would be pushed to physical extremes like surviving unfathomable cold and hunger to getting buried in an avalanche.They would be pushed to great mental limits by seeing so many friends die along with resorting to cannibalism to survive. When you consider that sixteen would ultimately survive the ordeal, the fact that this story still captures the imagination should come as no surprise.The truth is most everyone only wants to hear about the cannibalism. The fact that the filmmakers very skillfully handle this delicate aspect of the story without exploiting it for its tabloid appeal is admirable.There are a few moments where I groaned though, like when one of the survivors tells us he had a bad feeling about getting on the doomed plane in the first place. Is this true? Who knows? I just wish some of these people who all say AFTER an accident that they knew this was going to happen, would have opened their mouths beforehand.Another man intones with solemnity that they took off on Friday the 13th. Well, so did ten thousand others planes that day and none of them crashed in the mountains.In any case, since there were precious few real photos of this event, the filmmakers had to resort to staging recreations and I commend the imagination of the director, cinematographer and actors for making what could have been cheesy actually interesting cinematically.We hear from some of the helicopter rescue pilots talking about their early forays into the mountains to look for the missing plane. One pilot explains the problem of looking for pieces of tiny wreckage in these huge mountains.Then we see the snowy peaks and valleys from his point of view and your heart sinks because you suddenly realize that seeing some small speck of wreckage from this height will be almost impossible.I had to laugh when a desperate family member contacts a well-known psychic for help in locating the downed plane. Her psychic powers lead her to offer this "helpful" information.They should look for a white plane, which will be hard to see in the snowy mountains. Also, the wings will be missing and the fuselage will be partly buried. Thanks a lot!Did the psychic offer any useful information like where exactly the plane was, or how many people survived? Not a chance! Useless moronic psychic, God how I hate them!Stranded is a long film, but I was never bored for even a second, especially when they find the tail of the plane, and along with a radio battery (that sadly doesn't work) they also find a camera.These pictures taken by the survivors in the middle of their ordeal are stunning. Yet, despite everything, they all manage to smile when a group picture is taken. Still, these photos have a raw power that silenced the audience I saw the film with.Two survivors hike out of the mountains to get help and against all odds, they succeed. Fortunately the moment is not played like a heroic victory. It is admirably downplayed. The men get help and immediately fly back to rescue their buddies.Of course, after the rescue, the press was immediately skeptical about how the men survived for more than 70 days without food. What DID they eat? Some doctors added to the confusion by saying there is nothing known to medical science that would explain how these guys could have survived.Take it from me people, when a so-called "doctor" starts telling you there is no known scientific cause for some phenomena, be wary. It usually means the doctor has fallen into the fallacy of ignorance. He can't explain the phenomena rationally, so therefore, it can't be explained rationally. This is why you get second opinions.As it turns out, the survivors were not being coy or disingenuous about eating their dead comrades for survival, it's just they knew that fact would be sensationalized, blown out of proportion and misunderstood. They wanted to speak to the families of their dead friends first and not have them hear about it from lurid newspaper descriptions.The end of the film shows some of the survivors back at the place that was their home for 72 days in late 1972. As they gather at the metal cross that marks the spot (the bodies have long been buried, the plane fuselage destroyed), they remark that it was the death of their friends that allowed them to be here today with their children and grandchildren and they owe their dead friends everything.It is a moving moment and as worthy a memorial as anyone could come up with.

Movie_Muse_Reviews The actual survivors of the 1972 Andes plane crash have finally spoken, and you will be captivated by their words. Gonzalo Arijon, a neighbor and friend of many of the survivors, has put together a documentary called "Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains" that retells the story and illuminates it with commentary from all the survivors. The result is the closest one could possibly get to empathizing with that situation and gaining any sort of understanding of how life changes when you are stranded in the mountains for over 70 days.The film tells it from right as they are getting on the plane until their eventual rescue, leaving very little out. It runs a bit too long, but it's worth it for the emotional impact. You need to have some familiarity with the monotony of the survivors' lives for those two months to truly appreciate their rescue.While the survivors are the ones who truly make this story come to life, Arijon succeeds in his reenactments and the way he overlaps the survivors' words with these images. He never reenacts anything dramatically or let any words other than those of the survivors into the film. The images he recreates simply set a mood, provide some sort of visual context for the words of the survivors.The way these men describe what happened is simply remarkable. They seem to recall it so vividly and the words they use to convey feelings that an overwhelming majority of people cannot ever say they have experienced in such a way that you can understand it. When the survivors are hit with an avalanche, the way they describe this near-death experience gives you a sense of what death might feel like. It is not far off when these men refer to their survival as coming back to life. The silence during the very sensitive and difficult parts is also very appropriate and effective. Lastly, the survivors come at the experience from all angles. There is so much to think about in this film from the way they view life now to how being outside of civilization affects your mind to the ethical considerations of the cannibalism that these men chose to partake in."Stranded" is powerful, deep and rich with complexity. It was far and away worth the four years of effort and care that Arijon gave it. It is simply one of the best stories of human perseverance ever and the film conveys this with absolute accuracy. ~Steven CVisit my site at http://moviemusereviews.blogspot.com/