【電影簡介】

2031年，人類試圖阻止全球變暖的實驗失敗，極寒造成地球上絕大部分生命死亡。在冰河災難中幸存下來的所有人登上了一輛如同諾亞方舟的列車，列車依靠永動機繞著地球不停行駛。在這列車廂有著等級之分的列車上，飽受饑餓之苦、生活在惡劣環境的末節車廂的人們在革命領袖柯蒂斯的帶領下，為了生存一節車廂一節車廂的向前突進，掀起了一場向車頭進軍的“革命”。

【音頻文本】

Just one month ago, South Korean soap opera "My Love from the Stars" reached insane levels of popularity in China. Its lead actor Kim Soo-Hyun is still raking in appearance fees from various commercial events in China.

But South Korean films are quite a different story. The country's most expensive co-production to date, "Snowpiercer", is now being screened in China and has fallen behind Chinese art-house movie "Black Coal, Thin Ice" in terms of box office earnings. That's important because as we mentioned last week art-house filmsdon't usually sell very well in China.

Strangely enough, the Bong Joon-ho movie is an excellent product and deserves better recognition. Some of my better-informed colleagues decided to watch it simply because it was made by the director of "Memories of Murder" and "The Host". Yet the majority of Chinese viewers haven't been able to warm up to the film's allegorical title.

More allegorical is the story. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, "Snowpiercer" revolves around a world-touring behemoth of a locomotive which carries onboard the surviving population of mankind after an environmental breakdown. Our lead character Curtis is an underdog passenger living in the tail section, which means, he is at the bottom of the train's social system. Alongside an equally discontent fellowship of passengers, Curtis starts a revolt against the system and seeks to take control of the train. But as he advances further into the front section, he gets a larger picture of human existence in such a miniature society, and he is compelled to make a decision when he meets the captain in the engine room.

While the setting is a metaphor to a world where the social hierarchies are frozen and social mobility impossible, the storyline reveals the worldview of the original storywriter Jacques Lob. You may agree to disagree with his portrayal, but the seed of doubt has been sown. Bong Joon-ho's film adaptation successfullyconveys the author's idea and at the same time leads many viewers to explore the issue themselves and comeup with their own answer.

If you think this film sounds too serious, don't be put off because it is also very entertaining. Lead actor Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho and many of the film's other male actors go to great lengths to stage impressive and realistic action scenes throughout. Their masculinity is balanced by the spirited acting of Tilda Swinton, who supplies quite a few laughs with her quaint accent, gloomy smirks and frenzied gestures.

So, "Snowpiercer" is actually not bad. But since it's not as brainless as South Korean soap operas, it's not easily digestible for lazy moviegoers.

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