Snowpiercer: Film Analysis

Social commentary comes in many forms. From light-hearted political cartoons, to hip-hop culture in the 1970’s, all the way to current mainstream films, almost everything has a basis of social commentary. Snowpiercer, a film released in July 2014 originally based off a French graphic novel, had a premise of class warfare and governmental population control based in a dark dystopian future. Set in 2031, the entire earth has been frozen due to a failed climate-change experiment and all life on earth was destroyed except for the select few who could make it aboard a train called the Snowpiercer. Those at the tail-end - the lower class - lived in poverty and were led by Curtis. Their primary goal throughout the film was to reach the front of the

Just as Big Brother represents a god-like figure, Wilford is the train’s conductor and is not seen until the end of the film. Wilford supposedly controls every aspect of the Snowpiercer and maintains “the sacred engine”. Naturally, Wilford must have his lackeys to protect him and carry out his orders. One example is Minister Mason, a woman who often reports to the back of the train to deliver Wilford’s message. She also asserts her power over the impoverished residents in a multitude of ways; She refers to them as “shoes…[that] belong on the foot”, takes away children in an attempt to brainwash them with the teachings of Wilford, and, if especially defiant, she cripples them by removing entire limbs and permanently marking them as examples of what will happen if they fight against the bourgeoise class. The majority of passengers near the front are also given copious amounts of alcohol and mood-altering drugs, possibly to keep them from challenging the law as

There are many scenes involving heavy gore and fighting, as well as an overall sober, mournful, and foreboding tone. However, out of the entire the mature audience that Snowpiercer was designed for, many different subgroups were able to find entertaining and possibly introspective moments throughout. From an action-lover’s perspective, there were moments of tense, in-your-face battles between Curtis’ army and the hordes of fighters from the front sections. For political theorists, this film beautifully demonstrated a dystopian world in which the entire system was ultimately going to fail. In the same style of The Hunger Games franchise, Snowpiercer had major implications of one person completely transmuting a lone leader’s regime. The train in it’s entirety symbolizes capitalist principles, while Curtis represents Marxist ideals. He desires equality and for the spoils to be shared between all passengers, while Wilfred and his attendants strive for the rich to stay rich and the poor to stay