MovieChat Forums > Alive (1993) Discussion > Read the book, much better than the film

Read the book, much better than the film

posted 12 years ago by stopcallingmeshirley
13 replies | jump to latest

I just finished the book and I must say, it's light years better than the film. You get a far better understanding of what's going on in the heads of the survivors, how complex the relationships were, and most importantly, how difficult the final escape really was. Highly suggested reading, whether you've already seen the movie or not: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060778660/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl ?ie=UTF8&tag=amazonbooks087-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789& creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060778660

And oh, why in the hell did Ethan Hawke never grow a beard? Did his agent not want him to be 'lumped in' with all the other actors?

[–] SoTyred 12 years ago

Ethan Hawk REFUSED to grow a beard. Real pro there eh?

I do agree that the book ALIVE is much better than either of the two films based on the event, and it would be nice if some independent film company could draw good actors for a very long (4 hour) film OR two film event. If trash like Twilight can get multi-film treatment, I don't see why this story can't.

OH THAT'S RIGHT! People are dumb arses.

**Skin that Smokewagon and see what happens!** Tombstone

[–] Jcat44 11 years ago

I'm reading the book now and I think the movie was pretty close to it...you just can't get it all into a movie unless it's hours long.

[–] palisade-1 11 years ago

Read Nando's book too. It makes a great supplement; it talks more of the internal journey (if that's the word for it), and also updates all the survivors and what they have done with their lives. The positive outcomes they have wrought for themselves, and their support of each other over the years, is part of what makes this story so inspiring.

Also, check out the "I Am Alive" documentary from the History channel. It may be on Youtube. I think the documentary "Stranded" by Uruguayan director Arijon is also on Youtube, and it's fascinating too.

[–] zebrafinch40 9 years ago

He refused to grow a beard...haha. I just watched this for the first time the other night and wondered why after weeks and weeks he didn't even have whiskers. My husband and I sort of made some comment about that.

[–] dkgambler 9 years ago

I read the book at least twice before the movie, and the movie did nothing for me. I just bought the 2010 History Channel documentary (just became aware of it), and it is great. I'd watch that over and over instead of this movie.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (2212087) 9 years ago

I have read the book, and thought he gave a very well-balanced and thoughtful view of the whole event.

I went on to read all of Piers Paul Read's books that I could get, and found that I really loved his works.

Does the History Channel use the book as its basis or does it start from scratch?

[–] palisade-1 9 years ago

Does the History Channel use the book as its basis or does it start from scratch?

Neither, really. The History Channel documentary is a contemporary look-back at the event from Nando Parrado's point of view. Nando wrote a memoir, Miracle of the Andes,published in 2007 IIRC, which told the events from his point of view, with a lot of introspective reflection and updates on the survivors and their lives over the years since. It is complementary to Read's book, rather than a competitor to it, and gives much more insight into the interior experiences of Nando and also the others, so far as he could perceive them. It's a very interesting book, and quite well-written: although he had the help of an American co-author, Nando is fluent in English (and several other languages), and the co-writer said the work is genuinely his, it is not ghostwritten.

The HC documentary starts with a re-creation of Nando waking up from his coma and his recollections. The film crew, or some of them, also went on a trek to the crash site in the summer (our winter) of 2010, hosted by Eduardo Strauch and Mexican mountaineer Ricardo Pena, who earlier was the first to ascend to the actual impact point and who found Eduardo's passport and coat and other relics of the crash. There are interviews with a number of others involved in the search or rescue. It's a moving documentary and well worth seeing, but its approach and focus is different from either Read's book or this movie.

Wikipedia gives a rundown on the feature (which may also be on YouTube):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Alive:_Surviving_the_Andes_Plane_Crash

Edited to fix typos

[–] !!!deleted!!! (2212087) 9 years ago

Thanks for that. I downloaded Nando Parrdos's book and then thought I would download Read's book also, as it's a fair while since I read it. I thought the two would make an interesting duo.

Yes, thank you, I found the documentary on Youtube. I won't watch it for a week or so because we are heading into winter (Australia) and are having torrential storms - houses floating down the street, etc. It might sound silly, but I think I would prefer to read or see things about this topic in sunny weather - which will probably be in a few days as normally the weather is pleasant where I live.

[–] dkgambler 9 years ago

palisade summed it up very well. The only thing I can add is that Read does appear in the HC documentary and has some good commentary. What I really enjoyed about the documentary was the perspective of Pena and others who convey the true awesomeness (can't think of a better word or non-word off the top of my head) of the hike that Parrado and Canessa accomplished.

I also found a Spanish language documentary (with subtitles) that I thought was very good. Link is below for part one, it's in 10 parts so you have to find them. Pretty easy to find after you finish one and are ready to move onto the next. It has a lot more discussion with the more background survivors (Harley, Zerbino, etc.), as well as some commentary from Sergio Catalan, the rancher who they found on the horse, as well as his son.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXRJU9FrUAc

I was probably 12 or so years old when I first read Alive and I've never lost my fascination with this story now well into my adult life. Not that I need a reason, but at some point I thought about how the crash happened two days before my 8th birthday. I thought about that; Parents, siblings, friends, aunts, uncles, came to our house to make me feel like a million bucks. Presents, cards with cash, whoa boy I was the MAN! While I was having a blast, the survivors were huddled in a broken fuselage just trying to stay alive another minute, another hour, another day. Maybe it's just the perspective.

Anyway, I hope you watch the HC documentary and enjoy it as much as I did.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (2212087) 9 years ago

Thank you for the link. I'm ashamed to say that I have never ever seen a Spanish language film or documentary - other foreign languages, but never Spanish. I'll remedy that.

It's interesting the impact that the memories of the crash had on you. The book is one I can actually remember the context of reading. I was travelling with my mum and brother and we were in Perugia, Italy. I would have been a good bit older than you. I was running short of things to read and my brother offered me "Alive!". I remember whining and saying I didn't want to read about that. Ugh! It sounds awful, sensational, etc. My brother assured me that it wasn't and,in fact, the author was deeply compassionate in his representation of their plight and there was nothing sensational about it.

I'm glad I took his advice. I showed me to not make presumptions and to approach things with an open mind.

[–] jefgg 9 years ago

I can't think of many movies that were better than the books they were based on.

[–] westdrop-1 8 years ago

Jaws

"Looks like we're shy one horse". "No. You brought two too many"

[–] babycallie2000 8 years ago

I read the book. One of the most interesting things was the author going into detail about the men being constipated by eating just meat and what they did to solve the problem with the dead bodies' fat oil.