Society of the Snow survivor says cannibalism isn't main aspect of story
Carlitos Páez spoke exclusively to RadioTimes.com about the new dramatisation of the incredible tale of survival following the 1972 Andes flight disaster.
One of the survivors of the infamous 1972 Andes plane disaster has explained why cannibalism should not be seen as the main part of his story.
Carlitos Páez was speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com ahead of the release of new Netflix film Society of the Snow, which tells the incredible true story of how the Old Christians Club rugby team were stranded in inhospitable conditions for 72 days following a catastrophic crash.
The story has previously inspired a number of other films and TV shows – both directly and more loosely, in the case of Yellowjackets – and one of the sources of fascination has often been the fact that the surviving team members were forced to resort to cannibalism in order to survive.
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This is portrayed in the film sensitively by director JA Bayona – who revealed that he never wanted the film to be "focused in horror" – but Páez explained that, to him, there were far more interesting aspects of the story.
"It's not the main thing of the story, you know?" he explained. "And it's incredible, you know, all the philosophy, the discussion [of whether they should eat human meat], even the part when Canessa buries the meat and we come to reality.
"And, for me, it wasn't a big deal. Really, it wasn't. If you ask me if it happens again, I won't stay 10 days waiting for the whole thing. I will do it.
"It's not the main thing. But because of that, you can talk about teamwork, you can talk about solidarity, you can talk about love, you can talk of friends."
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Instead, Páez said that the idea of "unity" and the fact that "everybody was equal" are the things that he thinks should resonate with audiences who watch Society of the Snow.
"National Geographic says this is the biggest story in survival, but the principal thing is that we were ordinary people," he said. "I was 18 years old. I was a spoiled boy, you know, my father gave me everything. So I knew nothing.
"In Uruguay, we don't have snow, we don't have mountains. And to stay... you must understand, 72 days, that's a lot, you go for summer for two and a half months and it's difficult to have a good time and enjoy yourself for 72 days!
"And to be in the situation, and even knowing that nobody was looking for us, you know, what's the end?"
Society of the Snow is now streaming on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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