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Surprised Marshall depicted the cannibalism?
- This topic has 6 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by Cassidy Brighton.
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March 23, 2017 at 9:34 pm #973Megan NormannParticipant
On the list of things I didn’t think should be included outright in the film, I wrote down cannibalism – so I really didn’t expect to actually see them eating human meat in the movie, and I definitely didn’t expect to see any of them cutting the meat off of the actual bodies, regardless of how inhuman they looked at that point. I knew it would have been deeply implied or outright stated, but I found it surprising that the director chose to actually show the human consumption. Additionally, I felt as if the film didn’t do a good enough job of showing just how weak and starving the survivors were in order to get the audience to feel as though the resort to cannibalism was justified. Liliana and Javier in particular I would have expected to look as though they were on the edge of death, for example, but I don’t remember getting the impression from the movie that they looked or acted much differently than the boys who had already started eating the meat. I was wondering if anybody felt similarly in this while watching the film?
March 23, 2017 at 9:47 pm #974Arden ZavitzParticipantMegan,
I totally agree with the fact that the physical appearance of the characters only seemed to change because they had gotten dirty and not that their weight drastically decreased or that their hair/beards were not growing or grown at any point during the film. However, I believe that the cannibalism was definitely a key point to depict because of its extreme importance in the survivors of the crash. Without the flesh they had absolutely not food and I think that it would unbelievable and artificial to add in them finding any other source of food in the middle of the Andes mountains, where no life was flourishing whatsoever. When reading the book, I thought that the image of them cutting flesh was raw, real, and would invoke moment of pure emotion for the audience whether it be shock, disgust, etc. Because of cannibalism’s importance to their survival and the dramatic effect that these images could create in film, I believe that it was key to incorporate to a.) relay the truth of events and b.) break up the monotonous actions of their everyday life.
March 24, 2017 at 10:32 pm #977Darby DalyParticipantHi Megan,
I don’t know if I necessarily agree with you on this. I felt as though the cannibalism was one of the biggest controversies presented in this book, and without it in the film it would not have had as much of an impact on the audience as it had with it. The act of cannibalism that these men carried out created a significant moral conflict that made the story even more heartbreaking. I think by including the scenes of the men cutting and eating the human flesh their story was more realistic. If they had cut out these scenes then it would have made the cannibalism seem as though it were immoral, and I feel that the book justified it not only in terms of their survival but also religiously.
March 27, 2017 at 11:11 am #983Lizzie MessanaParticipantMegan, I have to agree with some of the other comments. On my own list of aspects of the film, I wrote that I would definitely include the cannibalism, as it is one of the most important and unique parts of this survival story. There were aspects of this rendition of the narrative that I thought were well done. Nando originally brings the topic up as a joke, which I saw as something that could happen as a dark form of comic relief to hide the pain of his sister dying. As uncomfortable as it made me, the repeated images of the meat being cut or cooking served as a constant reminder of what the team had to do to survive. Unlike what I have seen on this thread, I felt that the timeline of the cannibalism was somewhat justified in the film. In terms of the characters’ appearances, it is important to remember that the actual cannibalism happened fairly early on, so the survivors wouldn’t actually be physically emaciated yet. Additionally, I personally felt that, even though the actual cannibalism happened only around 10 days in, the film spent much more time fleshing out the first few days of being stranded. For me as an audience member, this decision made it feel like the characters had been stranded for a long time and had exhausted numerous options, which helped to lessen the blow of considering cannibalism.
That being said, I do believe that the movie could’ve poured emotion into the entire decision scene. Just as Darby mentioned, the act of cannibalism presents a situation of moral conflict and heartbreak for the characters. In terms of consuming the flesh of the deceased, I feel like that could’ve been better handled in the film. As an audience member, I was uncomfortable even though I knew it was coming; so I think the movie succeeded in making the audience as unfordable and conflicted as the team must’ve been. However, to me, the film and the actors were lacking in emotion during the initial cutting. Rather, they just seemed to convey a stoic front while Canessa was cutting the first person. I would’ve expected more visceral reactions, especially from the members who were vehemently against it for personal and religious reasons.
March 27, 2017 at 2:35 pm #985Madison CarterParticipantHi Megan,
I was also very shocked that the film depicted the survivors both cutting and eating the human flesh. I understand that it was an important part of the story line, and hesitantly wrote it down on my list of scenes to include in the film adaptation. However, I agree with you that the survivors did not seem desperate enough. I thought that it was important that the film included the discussion and reasoning behind the decision to eat the dead, but the desperation and urgency of the situation appeared missing from the film. It was more shocking to me that they depicted the survivors eating the flesh, but left out the desperation that drove them to do so.
March 27, 2017 at 3:10 pm #986Kate SchulzParticipantI agree with Lizzie, in when I was reading I had decided that the cannibalism was definitely something to include, and that the film did a good job of portraying it as an act of survival when all other options had been exhausted. I think the first moment when Canessa cuts and eats the first piece of flesh was probably an accurate depiction. Most of the team probably realized that if they wanted to survive they needed to eat, and, being stranded in the mountains they did not have any resources, and so cannibalism became the only option. I think the film did a good job of portraying cannibalism as their only option, and showing it as something they resorted to out of desperation. Given the necessity of it, I think the stoic looks on the rest of the teams’ faces was probably accurate. I feel as though the film did a good job of making the audience feel the moral struggle the team was going through, as well as how uncomfortable they were with the actual action, despite it being something that needed to be done for survival .
March 27, 2017 at 8:39 pm #990Cassidy BrightonParticipantMegan, I do agree with you that the cannibalism is really disgusting, but I think it is essential to the movie. On my list of scenes to include, it was on my list because I think that is one of the main elements that set this story apart as being one that people find so shocking and interesting. I was shocked at the way the scenes were done though. The men eating it didn’t seem to have much trouble eating it, even taking bites off of pieces like it was something they enjoyed. I needed the men to look and act weaker for the cannibalism to make sense to me. The desperation was depicted much better in the book in my opinion.
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