Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, the film “The Circle of Snows” benefited from the help of real survivors who made it possible to reconstruct, down to the last detail, the memories of their tragedy.
With The Circle of Snows, director Juan Antonio Bayona makes realism his priority. The feature film, which retraces the tragedy of the Andes, is based on the book by Pablo Vierci, published in 2009, and on the testimonies of the 16 survivors collected by the filmmaker. In total, more than a hundred hours of conversations were recorded for the purposes of the film.
The survivors – some of whom appear in the feature film – also played a surprising role in the making of the Snow Circle. In addition to delivering their memories, they participated in the development of storyboards – drawings which allow you to imagine, with precision, the numerous shots of the film. “Normally, it’s the director who takes care of it.”, explains Juan Antonio Bayona to AlloCiné. “This time I wanted to reflect reality and the only way to do that was to let them express their memories.“
Storyboards made by survivors
The conceptual artist, who creates the storyboards, was therefore sent to the 16 survivors. “He was at their service, adds the filmmaker. We had to understand images that were very difficult to imagine.” The survivors were able to explain what the interior of the plane was really like after the accident, what the hammocks they made for sleeping looked like, where the bodies were, how their suitcases were arranged and how the the survivors.
Juan Antonio Bayona/X Comparisons of storyboards (left) and film shots (right).
It is enough to compare the real photos of the tragedy and those in the film to realize the accuracy of the details. But the team of Snow Circle went even further by going directly to the scene of the tragedy. “It took us three days to get there.”, specifies Juan Antonio Bayona. “It is a difficult place to reach by helicopter and dangerous due to avalanches.”
The filmmaker and some of his assistants took specific shots and then, with the help of digital effects, integrated the actors into the setting. These landscapes thus replaced the Spanish plains where the film was actually shot.
Comments collected by Thomas Desroches, in Paris, in October 2023.
The Snow Circle is available on Netflix.