Snowpiercer is the name of the film adaptation of the graphic novel created by the authors Jacqaues Lob e Jean Michel Charlier, with the name of Le Transperceneige; distributed worldwide as Snowpiercer, the film achieved a good success, thanks to the preponderant presence of Chris “Captain America” Evans and of course thanks to the Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho. In the series that came to Netfix - and announced somewhat surprisingly - things are slightly different, albeit in line with the events of the feature film, as we are witnessing situations that take place eight years before the film.
A frozen world
We are in 2027, the Earth is in the throes of a violent global warming, to the point that scientists, driven by the desire to revive hope on the globe, decide to release chemical warheads, capable of subverting the climate and put the weather in their favor. Unfortunately, the attempt fails miserably, causing an apocalyptic event: the planet turns towards an inexorable cooling. The only hope of salvation is the Wilford train, a visionary genius who built a locomotive capable of carrying "a thousand and one wagons" traveling thousands of miles around the globe on a perpetual journey that could save mankind. There is no room for everyone on the train and although first, second and third class passengers actually paid for the ticket, some managed to get on by force, finding themselves in the "carriages on the bottom" where any kind of comfort is lacking and where life is worth nothing, or almost. Layton Well is our protagonist: almost six years after the departure of the train, he finds himself on the bottom but his detective skills make him fundamental as a mysterious serial killer wanders among the wagons to be found; the purpose of our hero, however, is twofold: on the one hand he must satisfy the requests of his tormentors, that is the staff of the train that harasses the passengers of the fund, on the other hand he wants to find a better situation for his people.
The world from the window
Snowpiercer travels on continuous tracks and our passengers never stop looking out - sure, if you can. If you play the role of a "bottom man" like Layton Well (Daveed Diggs who comes from the world of music but is proving to be a great actor) you will hardly see the world outside: the last part of the train deliberately remembers the living conditions of the deportees to Aushwitz, that is wooden beds, no windows, extreme hygienic conditions and poorly defined "food" rations (here we could open a debate but if you have not read the graphic novel or seen the film, we will avoid in order not to ruin the "surprise") . If, on the other hand, you play the role of the beautiful Melanie Cavill, played by an exceptional Jennifer Connelly, you will often find yourself looking out: the woman is in fact the conductor and manages everything, taking the place of the owner Wilford, who deserves all the honors of having invented a machine for the salvation of humanity. The world outside is another silent protagonist of the series as the protagonists live it "in zones"; there are in fact points of the tracks where it has been calculated that there will be more or less ice or, over the years, the snow avalanches that occasionally hit the train have been classified. Time seems to be marked by the areas that the Snowpiercer crosses. On his journey, Layton will find himself crossing many carriages, seeing wonders that people in the queue can only imagine, prompting the protagonist to wonder about what is right and wrong.
Get on or off?
Snowpiercer is a compelling series, which pushes you to watch each episode with bated breath, almost as if you were passing yourself from one car to another, running wildly from the tail to the head of the train. The series seems a consequence of the times we are living and various questions are swirling in the mind of the viewer with increasing insistence; how did you decide who deserved to get on the Snowpiercer? With what criteria were the passengers selected (apart from the payment ... what then, what have they ever done to us with that money?) Were the passengers selected? Why, despite the conditions in which they live, does mankind seem unable to share its resources? The train does not speak, he runs and breaks the ice, cold that has deposited perhaps too deep in the heart of the man who seems to have forgotten concepts of equality, now driven only by the irrepressible instinct of survival. The series awaits you from May 25 on Netflix, don't miss it!
