Snowpiercer
Short description
A climate experiment intended to halt global warming goes catastrophically wrong, plunging the planet into a new ice age. The only survivors travel aboard the Snowpiercer, a vast train powered by a perpetual-motion engine that circles the globe without stopping. Inside, a rigid class system has taken hold: the wealthy live in comfort at the front of the train, while the poorest are packed into the rear carriages, where they endure squalor, disease and brutal treatment by guards. A man named Curtis emerges from the tail section to lead an uprising, and his group pushes forward through the train, carriage by carriage, toward the mysterious figure who controls it.
Bong Joon-ho directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Kelly Masterson. The film sits in the middle of Bong's filmography, arriving between Mother and Okja, several years after The Host. Chris Evans plays Curtis, with Song Kang-ho, Ed Harris, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton and Jamie Bell among the main cast; 44 cast members and 235 crew are credited. The production, a Korean-Czech co-production, cost around 39 million USD and earned roughly 87 million USD worldwide.
Reception divided along audience and critical lines. On IMDb the film holds 7.1 out of 10 from about 419,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.9 out of 10 from over 10,000 votes, while a critics' rating stands at 8.2 out of 10 from 266 reviews, noticeably higher than the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Bong Joon-ho wanted to build a zoo in the train, but the budget wouldn't allow it.
- In addition to her main role, Tilda Swinton appeared in the episode with the "dance room" – she hands a bottle to Yune as the main characters walk through the crowd.
- Fight choreographer Julian Spencer drew inspiration from the fight scene in the bathhouse from the film "Exporting Raymond" (2007).
- Tilda Swinton speaks with a Yorkshire accent in the film, like Margaret Thatcher.
- Korean actor Song Kang-ho was very surprised that the Western actors knew all their lines by heart at the script reading and apologized profusely when they messed up takes. He also regretted that he couldn’t get to know his Western colleagues better due to the language barrier.
- All the burning torches in the film are real.
- Bong Joon-ho wanted to put many more children under the train in the film's climax, but the budget wouldn't allow it.
- The film is based on the graphic novel “Le Transperceneige” by Jacques Lob.
- The character Edgar is named after director Edgar Wright.
- 500 meters of train set were built for the film.
- The charcoal drawings in the film were created by Jean-Marc Rochett, the original artist.
- Mason was originally conceived as a male character, but the gender was changed after Tilda Swinton was cast in the role.
- Ed Harris was dissatisfied with his lines on the first day of filming and became very angry. Bong Joon-ho said he couldn't stop laughing at Harris's outburst.
- Chris Evans was worried about how silly it would look when he slipped on a dead fish during the fight scene. Bong Joon-ho had to explain to him the “beauty of the mistake”.
- Chris Evans personally contacted director Bong Joon-ho regarding a role in the film.
- Ed Harris was the last actor cast in the film, at the suggestion of the director Bong Joon-ho himself.
- Rebel Wilson was originally cast as Claude, but was unable to participate due to commitments to other projects.
- Tilda Swinton considered leaving acting, but changed her mind after filming this movie.
- Jamie Bell said that Chris Evans rehearsed his monologue in a hotel room in front of a mirror for hours.
- Actress Emma Livie (Claude) is a non-professional actress. At the time, she was an art school student and didn't know exactly what film she was shooting, and was very surprised to see Chris Evans on set.
- Jake Gyllenhaal and Dustin Hoffman were considered for the roles of Curtis and Wilford respectively, but were unable to participate due to commitments to other projects.
- During post-production, Bong Joon-ho had to regularly defend certain scenes, as Harvey Weinstein demanded cuts to the film. For example, Bong had to lie that his father was a fisherman and the scene was dedicated to him, because of an episode where one character threatens another by gutting a fish.
- This is the first English-language film by Korean director Bong Joon-ho.
- The protein bars are a mixture of seaweed and sugar. Jamie Bell found it very difficult to eat them during filming.
- Tilda Swinton wanted to have a one-on-one scene with actor Song Kang-ho in the film, but this did not happen.
- The character Jonah's name is taken from the Bible.
- Before filming Chris Evans' monologue, he was asked to be left alone on the train set for four hours so the actor could get into the right emotional state.
- The film was entirely shot at the Barrandov Studios in Prague.
- Song Kang-ho and Ko Ah-sung previously played father and daughter for the same director, Bong Joon-ho, in "The Host" (2006).
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