The notion that everybody has
their preordained place in life, and that stepping beyond one's bounds
leads to a collapse in social order, is probably not a popular opinion
in our modern world. It's ironic then that this would be one of the
themes central to Snowpiercer, the latest effort from Korean
auteur Bong Joon-ho, a director who so defies categorization that it's
impossible to imagine what his bounds would be, even if he ever had any.
Never content to coast on a set track, he has delivered another
singular and unique cinematic achievement, albeit an imperfect one.
Based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, Snowpiercer
is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which a radical atmospheric
treatment intended to combat the effects of global warming has resulted
in a new ice age, and the mass extinction of virtually all life on
Earth. The only survivors of this cataclysmic cold snap are those who
happened to be on board the Snowpiercer, a life-preserving locomotive
that now circles the frozen world in perpetuity.
