Pablo Vierci and why the story of the Los Andes accident “reconciles us with human beings”

It’s been more than 51 years since NASA Flight 571 Uruguayan Air Force crashed in the Andes mountain range on October 13, 1972. And the echoes of this accident continue to resonate in the pages of the history .

Of the 45 passengers on that plane, 16 died after impact – or shortly after – and 29 were alive. SO, After 72 days in extreme conditions, the number of deaths rose to 29 and the last to 16. .

They survived among the wreckage of the plane, the bodies of their loved ones and the hope of escaping the worst-case scenario. a country where collective uncertainty predominates and where people are not even sure of being able to return safely, despite tireless efforts.

They had no food, shelter or other basic necessities. The first reaction was to come closer to share the rare warmth and not die of cold. .

Even in the following days, they learned through a radio transmitter that the operations were over and that they were no longer looking for them. They had been left for dead .

How were they going to survive in these conditions for more than two months, at four thousand meters above sea level and 30 degrees below zero?

It seemed impossible, but 16 of them did so .

The trip was organized by a group of alumni of Stella Maris Irish Brothers School and the plan was to attend a sporting event in Santiago . His rugby team, the Old Christians, would face the Chilean Old Boys.

19 of them belonged to the club, 5 were cabin crew and the rest were family and friends.

But from one moment to the next, this case where young Uruguayans ran under the rays of the spring sun turned into an odyssey to survive among the pale mountains and robust ice.

What happened in 1972 has inspired movies documentaries and books .

And this is not surprising: They entered into a pact of mutual surrender in which the deceased gave up their own bodies so that others could survive. They had to share what had happened and their final thoughts with the loved ones waiting for them at home.

Pablo Vierci knows this story in depth. Not only because he was a companion of the crew and played rugby with them during his school years, but also because they turned to him to help them tell the story of what had happened. pass. .

Of the 12 books published by the Uruguayan writer, screenwriter and journalist, two focus specifically on the Los Andes accident. At that time he was 22 years old .

The first is titled The Snow Society (2008) and tells what happened to those involved through their own voices, before, during and after of the episode.

8 years later published with the medical student at the time of the tragedy (and now doctor), Roberto Canessa, I had to survive (2016).

In conversation with La Tercera, Vierci says that before its publication The Snow Society wrote a note in 2003 for The country of Uruguay which he titled: “To us as to others”.

“It was a long article, a kind of essay, where the story is told from the point of view of those who did not live. But it wasn’t a literary exercise, it was an emotional exercise . I think it turned out well because it was done authentically. I wanted to be faithful to them,” the author recalls.

This writing was a sort of prelude to the book that would come later, which It not only tells the story of those who made it out alive, but also that of the group as a whole. .

“When they came and told me what happened up there, which they expanded on every time I spoke to them, the more I marveled at these completely counterfactual societies that they built. What In the worst cases, when faced with a set of extreme adversities, what emerges is not the worst of human beings, but compassion and mercy. contrary to everything they told us.

“Who was going to say what the mutual delivery pact looked like? This theme of superlative generosity, of saying: “We are a wheel, where today I am a survivor and tomorrow I am the fuel.” but the wheel must continue, because it must cross the mountain and arrive at my house to tell my father, my mother, my brothers what happened.’”

Under this line, he emphasizes that “The worst thing is that there was no story, that a capsule had been buried in the glacier, as the fuselage is now. .

“It was a kind of commitment to me, to those who died and to the survivors” .

Although in addition to the books mentioned above, others have been written like They live! (1974) by the British Piers Paul Read, to name just one, Vierci stresses that knowing and remembering the Flight 571 crash is essential, because “it’s not just a tribute” to those who were there.

He says that contrary to what we can find in apocalyptic cases and fictions where “every man for himself” predominates, In this story as real as it is incredible “there is an antidote to this version of the human being”. .

“It is in this example, so exuberant, excessive, unfair and at the same time epic, with extreme generosity, that happened in 72, where they were lost, abandoned by the society of the plains” Vierci assures, then adds that he understands the Air Force search protocol for 10 days and that they could not risk the lives of the pilots to find a group of people who had been declared dead at that time -there.

In this sense, he asserts that “Today this would not happen, because there are other research instruments, but it is reasonable” .

“It is independent of what the plain society has and the regulations. It’s the feeling of the one who experiences it (…) These young people in their twenties have created a society guided by the complete opposite of what fiction teaches us. She was guided by mercy, where the priority from the first moment was the wounded. The first thing they do is kiss so they don’t freeze to death. It’s instinctive, but it’s also an act that’s almost a metaphor.” .

Therefore, says Vierci, “It’s a story where they pass the baton from day one” .

“It’s also very disruptive in terms of courage and kindness. The mutual deliverance pact took place in the year 72, when the notion of organ donation did not exist as it does today. (…) the first heart transplant took place in 67 and there was a great ethical debate (…) Why is it necessary to tell this legacy? Because it reconciles us with human beings. .

Faced with a society that historically presents setbacks – through acts such as armed clashes – the Uruguayan author states that “we need these antidotes and maximum when it’s an antidote that can be recreated in a book like this or in a film (…) is powerful.”

“How am I going to let this go away?” No, I would feel very bad with myself, with them, even with contemporary society , because it reconciles me with human beings. We need these antidotes and we must spread them. And that’s why the film (…) everyone will be able to see that in the moments of discomfort that we constantly experience in our lives, you can open this window and watch this episode which is inspiring and where I see there what I see nowhere else, that is to say the best of human beings, not the worst. »

On September 1, more than 300 people gathered at a cinema in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, to see the film. that the Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona made from the pages of The Snow Society.

The filming process took eight years in total and Vierci served as creative associate producer (He himself explains in detail in his book how the project was born and how a bond of trust was generated to recreate the story).

Among the participants were the survivors, their families and loved ones of the deceased in tragedy.

“It was the most moving scene I have ever experienced, like a kind of reconciling embrace. “If there was a wound because I didn’t understand how my brother died, that wound is closed.” recalls the writer in an interview with LT.

“Books go deeper into one aspect, but to recreate the way such an adventure was experienced, a film can do it as deeply or more deeply than a book, because you have the image, the acting and the aroma. The survivors said: “We smell what we smelled in there.” If we all accompany the succession of adventures, we put ourselves in the place of the other, we put ourselves in their place, we manage to feel empathy . And if you feel empathy, you understand so much more. A window opens even though it was closed. We open windows that were half closed 51 years ago. But it is, as (Roberto) Canessa says, a laboratory of human behavior. It’s a small quantitative story, but it applies to everyone. It’s worth it for you. This goes for your brother, for people from completely different cultures “.

The film, also titled The Snow Society (2023), It has already been presented in London (United Kingdom), Los Angeles (United States) and at the Venice Film Festival (Italy), where it was acclaimed by the public. .

Even, was chosen as a Spanish candidate for the Oscar for best international film . Final nominations will be announced on January 23.

Before finishing the interview with LT, Vierci remembers the milestone when Roberto Canessa and Nando Parrado climbed more than 4,600 meters of snow to reach the summit and then descend into a valley, where they had contact with Chilean mule driver Sergio Catalán. on the banks of the El Barroso river.

This journey in which they used all their strength despite injuries and the passage of time led to the rescue of all survivors on December 22, 1972 .

Catalan took it upon himself to seek help .

“And when they call the FACH and the Andean Rescue Corps, they carry out the riskiest rescue in the history of Chilean aviation and it is Chileans who risk their lives” says the writer, who throughout his career twice won the second National Literature Prize of Uruguay, in 1987 and 2004.

Actually, The survivors later developed a close friendship with Catalán, so much so that when he needed hip surgery, they raised money to help him. with his surgery.

When he died at the age of 91 in 2020, in Puente Negro, Gustavo Zerbino traveled from Uruguay to Chile to say goodbye and thank him for his help, representing those on board the flight 571. .

“Now the torch, for me, has been taken up by Bayona and the team that accompanies it, in which I include myself. Survivors, family members, pilots, the air force, the riflemen helped us. “Everyone helped us” said Pablo Vierci.

The film The Snow Society will be released in theaters in December and then will be broadcast Netflix from January 4 .

Check out a trailer below.