Dead Meat (Alive (DVD))

Member Name: Hunting_Bears

Product:	Alive (DVD)
Date:	08/05/03 (182 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great acting, good photography

Disadvantages: script is a bit poor

'Alive' is a film that doesn't exactly endear me to aeroplanes or mountains but this story of human cannibalism, courage and the triumph of the human spirit is at turns cheesy, incredible and funny. Frank Marshall is Steven Spielberg's producer and sometimes he directs movies like 'Archnophobia'. 'Alive' is his second film and certainly more weighty and serious than his first film. 'Alive' was a chance to tell a unique story and open the debate on what lengths would you go too to survive against the odds?

'Alive' is based on the true story of a group of Uruguayan ruby players who are travelling across the Andes to play a match in Chile. Guess what? They don't make it. The plane crashes in the opening minutes of the film and the survivor's land on a mountaintop with many people dying or dead. The people that haven't been crushed, impaled or killed on impact struggle to organise themselves. The captain Canesa, organises the men and women into burying the dead, looking for a radio, food and help with the injured. Night sets in and it is clear they are in for a long stay. After weeks, Nando (Ethan Hawke) decides he will not sit around and die, if need be he will eat the dead (including his own mother and sister) and walk out of the fucking mountains! They do succeed, Nando leads a small band in their desperate walk to victory. The film ends with a rather poignant voiceover spoken by John Malkovich as the camera glides over mountains.


There are many things to recommend in 'Alive' the cast of non-stars making each character believable and showing the range of emotions (denial, anger, humour, determination) and the cinematography which offers stunning white vistas of the Andes mountain range. I feel the only let down is the script that sometimes borders on bland Hollywood 'triumph over adversity' styling. The big moral question of the film 'cannibalism
' is not explored enough (but isn't a major factor of Christianity based on cannibalism 'Eat this bread for it is my body'? For a bunch of Hispanic South American Catholics they don't seem to connect with this. They eat the folks because they either do that or die.

The script also leaves out some of the more gruesome aspects for instant, they ate more than the meat on the arse. Rescuers found entrails, hearts, livers and kidneys missing from the dead.

So the angle of the film is based around the struggle to survive. It isn't a bad narrative hook because the characters have to endure extreme cold, people dying and loudly letting everybody know it, an avalanche (a superbly claustrophobic sequence) and a long walk out of the Andes.

The film also uses humour which I liked because black comedy is brilliant in grim situations. My favourite line is 'I'll buy the pizza if you go and get it". The plane mechanic is also barking mad and he's funny but I don't he's actually supposed to be humorous (but I think he's funny).

'Alive' is supposed to be some kind of religious faith movie but I find this sentiment hard to swallow (no pun intended). To suggest that they are unchanged by their eating of human flesh is absurd. They argue about it for around five minutes and then act has if everything is normal. The psychological conflict should have been explored more (though it is a Hollywood movie) and I think the religious overtones are wrong. If I was in there I would be yelling 'I shit on God' every other sentence. Faith can sometimes get you through but in the end because God isn't real, it's really human perseverance shining through.


The film is something of a classic now, it was parodied to great affect in 'The Simpson's' when Marge has fear of flying, Homer the ever-loving and caring husband goes to Blockbuster and rents
'Alive', 'Fearless' and 'Accidental Hero'. 'And we are all Alive!' goes the line in 'The Simpson's' then a voice that is obviously chowing down on human flesh say's 'We certainly are'.

The DVD offers a good documentary that mixes on location footage of the making of the film and also interviews with unrepentant survivors. It show's what a bunch of middle class god-fearing people do when they are without the commodities of modern living. I would have loved to see Luis Bunuel's version of this film, it would have been cruel and no doubt brilliant.

So I recommend 'Alive' because it is an entertaining couple of hours in which you watch people freeze, die and eat each other whilst you view it in the warm comfort of your home. I think this is an irony not lost on the filmmakers or audience. Bon Appetite!

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