Bong joonhos scifi allegory snowpiercer is one weird and hilarious trip. Jul 09, 2014 snowpiercer sucks you into its strange, brave new world so completely, it leaves you with the all too rare sensation that youve just witnessed something youve never seen beforeand need to. Its only in the last few years that ive discovered just how great he is, and how many amazing movies hes made. We would be talking about bonafide classic status especially if someone like the late tony scott handled the train action sequences, and not the weak special effects team. Snowpiercer takes place in 2031 after a failed globalwarming experiment has frozen all of earth and wiped out all life. Then wham, suddenly its turned into a bloody horror film. Designed by wilford, an engineer who knew the experiment would fail, the. So much so that one of the characters is actually named after him. The only survivors are the passengers of a super train traveling across the globe with a perpetualmotion engine. In snowpiercer, the train trip to end all train trips the new york. Gilliam a nod perhaps to another gonzo director, terry gilliam, whose career has been a. How snowpiercer became the summers coolest movie south korean director bong joonhos scifi epic fought its way to american screens. He began his career as an editorial cartoonist, before an editor suggested he focused on his writing, which bore rich fruit across a number of genres. The only survivors live in the train snowpiercer which is driven by a perpetual motion engine created by the millionaire wilford that lives in the engine part.
Jumping ahead several hours or days between individual issues is one thing, but this book did a weird thing where it would jump ahead just a couple minutes like we were a camera only capturing the moments that were interesting. Snowpiercer is a 20 science fiction action film based on the french graphic novel le. Seeing new films clearly influenced by terry gilliam, for example, is a. Dec 30, 2014 if there is a more adventurous actor out there than tilda swinton, i am not sure who it could possibly be. If there is a more adventurous actor out there than tilda swinton, i am not sure who it could possibly be. Chris evans captain america looking a lot like u2s the edge with hat pulled low as curtis, the textbook reluctant leader of one of the perpetual, and, in an adornolike nod, planned and. First i want to say that this is one of the best and entertaining as hell. Click here to watch full movie online click here to download full movie online austin americanstatesman you have to hand it to south korean director bong joonho, he knows where to give credit where credit is due. John hurt 1984 as the requisite gandalf figure gilliam a hamfisted tribute to director terry gilliam.
Jul 01, 2014 bongs cluttered, gadgety miseenscene is reminiscent of terry gilliams cult film brazil, particularly once the proles break through into the forward carsone is an aquarium, another is a greenhouse. Curtis journey is still worth following, framed as a succession of terrible choices that he is pushed to. Snow piercer is a great premise with a mediocre story. Chris evans captain america looking a lot like u2s the edge with hat pulled low as curtis. The mighty terry gilliam on gilliamesquea book, a style, a way of life the monty python director reflects on battles with hollywood and cultures obsession with blood. Plus, terry gilliam directed time bandits, which was one of my favorite movies when i was a kid. Jun 27, 2014 the scifi thriller snowpiercer, directed by bong joonho and scheduled to be released on june 27, imagines the world in an ice age where the last members of the human race live on a train. Technically a 20 film, snowpiercer has first become available to western viewers mostly though online streaming options, and so i count it as a 2014 release here. B this article has been rated as bclass on the projects quality scale. While hollywood is busy with foundfootage horror, cynical raunchy comedies and comic book blockbusters the latter of which do incorporate conspiriana, lesserknown independent films are touching on far more abtruse matters that extend beyond the realm of the political. Bong joon hos snowpiercer is a terrific, dark dystopian nightmare mixed with flashes of terry gilliamesque absurdity and the filmmakers own fractured frame of reference.
Snowpiercer may be terry gilliaminspired, but it lacks. Gilliam on gilliam directors on directors terry gilliam, ian christie on. Jun 24, 2014 that said, bong has compiled a topnotch crew to ensure every single frame of snowpiercer is spilling over with incredible detail, from the terry gilliam esque rear with its various gloomy. Snowpiercers tilda swinton on transforming into a creepy. Aug 07, 2014 snowpiercer sucks you into its strange, brave new world so completely, it leaves you with the all too rare sensation that youve just witnessed something youve never seen beforeand need to see again and again. At times, snowpiercer recalls terry gilliams brazil, both in its. Gilliam shares a name with terry gilliam, whose dark, surreal, and absurdist films were very likely an influence on this movie, especially the orwellian satire brazil and frenchcinemainspired scifi thriller 12 monkeys.
But, its definitely in stock and available at amazon, at least at the time of this posting. He began his career as an editorial cartoonist, before an editor suggested he focused on his writing, which bore. Snowpiercer trailer alright, here is a strange one. Jun 27, 2014 bong joon hos snowpiercer is a terrific, dark dystopian nightmare mixed with flashes of terry gilliam esque absurdity and the filmmakers own fractured frame of reference. The mise en scene of snowpiercer is conveyed through entangling visuals, almost tropical in their entrapping profusion and knobbiness, like a steampunk exfoliation of the world of terry gilliam s brazil 1985, also a film in which to be a member of the underclass is to be caught into a hostile world like laocoon caught in snakes it seems very. Snowpiercer sucks you into its strange, brave new world so completely, it leaves you with the all too rare sensation that youve just witnessed something youve never seen beforeand need to see again and again. In snowpiercer, the train trip to end all train trips. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. Jun 27, 2014 if the name gilliam set off a little tremor of excitement when you heard it that is no accident because, with its combination of startling visuals, a headspinning storyline and oddball characters that dont always conform to their presumed parameters, snowpiercer is a film definitely in the vein of the works of the great terry gilliam. I am a monty python fan, and i was interested in hearing the perspectives of the only american member of that group. There have been failed insurrections in the past but oldtimer gilliam. Gilliam was a part of monty pythons flying circus from its outset, credited at first as an animator his name was listed separately after the other five in the closing credits and later as a full member.
Nov 09, 2014 while hollywood is busy with foundfootage horror, cynical raunchy comedies and comic book blockbusters the latter of which do incorporate conspiriana, lesserknown independent films are touching on far more abtruse matters that extend beyond the realm of the political. Can we discuss the fact that gilliam told curtis to not listen to wilford and cut his tongue out immediately. Snowpiercer owes the inspiration for much of its landscape and characters to filmmaker terry gilliam. The scifi thriller snowpiercer, directed by bong joonho and scheduled to be released on june 27, imagines the world in an ice age where the last members of the human race live on a train. That said, bong has compiled a topnotch crew to ensure every single frame of snowpiercer is spilling over with incredible detail, from the terry gilliamesque rear.
Oct 16, 2014 18 things we learned from the snowpiercer commentary. Im not sure where the line is between a good gonzo movie and a creative mess, but i know that snowpiercer is on the right side of it with the same giddy fervor he brought to the monstermovie genre in the host, director bong joonho here takes on the postapocalyptic adventure. In the future, the earth is now an icecube all over and the surviving humans live on a train that never stops running. By finding this out you fully understand the character in which the movie follows and why he behaves the way that he does. He looks out the window every year and he thinks that the snow is melting and that humans can survive outdoors again. Jun 27, 2014 working from the french source comic book le transperceneige. It is loosely based on the french comic le transperceneige in 2014, an acceleration of global warming prompts. Actually, the movie felt like his in a lot of ways, especially the bits of comedy injected into such a dark and depressing story. Snowpiercer is a bizarre, dark masterpiece of a scifi action film. The series was continued in two volumes by writer benjamin legrand, replacing jacques lob. By 2031, the passengers on the train have become segregated by class, with the elite in the extravagant front cars while the poor are.
The graphic novel was first published in 1982 under the title le transperceneige, and later retitled the escape. Chris evans stars in this postapocalyptic scifi set on a train that never stops running. Bong joonho has delivered one of the most strange and visuallyarresting dystopias weve seen since terry gilliams brazil, and easily one of the most imaginative scifi action flicks in years. Based on the french comic book le transperceneige, snowpiercer takes place 17 years.
Im unfamiliar with the work of the director or the graphic novel that the film is based on, and so. From a visual perspective, snowpiercer is never less than stunning as it. In addition to gilliam i think you see distinctly french influences, says mcweeny. The film is often reminiscent of the work of terry gilliam, specifically brazil, and im sure it. The mighty terry gilliam on gilliamesque a book, a style. We would be talking about bonafide classic status especially if someone like the late tony scott handled the train action sequences. Bong joonhos snowpiercer envisions a postapocalyptic world on a train. Rochette, the original comic artist of the graphic novel le transperceneige. The action and pacing in snow piercer is odd and disjointed. While it seems they are matching target, it isnt available to purchase there at least in my zip code. Snowpiercer is a postapocalyptic science fiction film directed by south korean director bong joonho, produced by park chan wook, and starring chris evans, song kangho, go ahsung, tilda swinton, john hurt, ed harris, octavia spencer, luke pasqualino, and jamie bell among others.
The oscarwinner michael clayton cannot be accused of taking obvious roles. Why francobelgian comic book movies are more fun than marvel and dc. My buddy domhnall ohuigin had mentioned this movie more than once. I felt lipsmacking anticipation about seeing snowpiercer, the first. After an attempt to stop global warming via climate engineering catastrophically backfires, creating a new ice age in 2014, the remnants of humanity have taken to a circumnavigational train, the snowpiercer, run by recluse transportation magnate wilford. However, i can report that snowpiercer works brilliantly, the sum of. The base material is a french graphic novel called le transperceneige. In a future where a failed climatechange experiment has killed all life except for the lucky few who boarded the snowpiercer, a train that travels around the globe, a new class system emerges.
Gandalf figure gilliam a hamfisted tribute to director terry gilliam, from. The filmmaker sat down with us to talk about snowpiercers journey to the screen. An intimate look at the films of terry gilliam, visionary director and animator terry gilliam is a famously candid commentator on his own work. Its amazing how terry gilliam seems to be left out of the best director conversation all the time. Cw7 is possibly a shout out to icenine, which has basically the same effect on earths biosphere. The ultimate point of the film does not reside in the piercing but in the snow. Snowpiercer sucks you into its strange, brave new world so completely, it leaves you with the all too rare sensation that youve just witnessed something youve never seen beforeand need to. Just when you think that snowpiercer has settled into a hollywood action movie rhythm, up pops some slapstick humour. Korean filmmaker bong joonho the host, mother and monty python alum terry gilliam twelve monkeys, brothers grimm are offbeat visionaries with cult followings, which explains why theres been so much interest among cinemalovers in their respective upcoming scifi films snowpiercer and the zero theorem despite neither having received an official release date in the u. Working from the french source comic book le transperceneige. If youre going to make the most terry gilliamesque movie ever made by someone other than. But snowpiercer never hit the level of wit or whimsey that gilliam so organically produces. This article is within the scope of wikiproject comics, a collaborative effort to build an encyclopedic guide to comics on wikipedia.
Nov 21, 2014 but past the half way point, bong really lets go, and we enter something akin to a terry gilliam world, where the warped and increasingly strange vistas threaten to engulf the increasingly stretched point that snowpiercer wants to make. Sir john hurts characters name, gilliam, is an homage to terry gilliam, a director. That terry gilliam and ridley scott should prove to be the biggest influences on bongs visuals and production design is no surprise. This 20 tracktion movie follows the revolutionary lowerclass tailsection passengers fighting their way towards the luxurious front of the train, and plays out like a horizontal version of dredd. The nations release the substance cw7 with the intention of controlling the global warning, but accidentally it results in another ice age destroying earth. Then again, shake a snow globe, and theres no telling where its disparate parts will settle. Snowpiercer is the enthralling and thoughtprovoking postapocalyptic. Jun 26, 2014 that terry gilliam and ridley scott should prove to be the biggest influences on bongs visuals and production design is no surprise. His book was interesting, and he is definitely a very funny guy, with some great stories.
But when the lower class the peeps living at the tail end of the train. It reminded me very much of a terry gilliam movie the way they just dump you into a complicated universe and let you figure it out yourself. His cartoons linked the shows sketches together and defined the groups visual language in other media, such as lp and book covers and the title sequences of their films. Imagine this stellar graphic novel material at the hands of someone who can master this kind of unsubtle yet biting satireparable, like a terry gilliam, instead of the marxist agitator behind the disastrous okja. With chris evans, jamie bell, tilda swinton, ed harris. Snowpiercer, a breakneck scifi adventure about a train carrying the last. Snowpiercer is set some 17 years after the earth has frozen over. If you like to participate, you can help with the current tasks, visit the notice board, edit the attached article or discuss it at the projects talk page. I couldnt believe it, and i was still waiting for curtis to do something even when he was eating or not eating his steak, but wilford kept on talking. Terry gilliam has 45 books on goodreads with 25536 ratings. In snowpiercer, the train trip to end all train trips the. John hurt 1984 as the requisite gandalf figure gilliam a hamfisted tribute to director terry gilliam, from whose brazil the film clearly borrows. Snowpiercer influences 6 sci fi classics that influenced. Though adapted from a 1982 french graphic novel, its real roots can be.
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