Stranded (2009)

Synopsis: In October 1972, a plane carrying a team of young rugby players from Montevideo, Uruguay, went down in a snow-covered valley in the Andes. The dramatic tale of the survivors' struggle to stay alive and be rescued, already told in a bestselling book and feature film, finds new depth and resonance in STRANDED. Director Gonzalo Arijón, a childhood friend of some of the survivors, takes them back to the crash site, where they go into agonizing detail as they tell their remarkable, heartbreaking story, aided by re-creations of pivotal events. With no more food, they were forced to break one of humanity's primary taboos, using the bodies of their dead friends and relatives to have even a chance of remaining alive and being rescued in the Valley of Tears. Arijón talks to such brave survivors as Roberto Canessa, Gustavo Zerbino, Adolfo "Fito" Strauch, Antonio Vinzintin, and Carlos Paez as they reach deep within themselves, looking back on what they did with a fascinating perspective, a group of men in their fifties reexamining their struggle to survive when they they were around 19 and 20, with the rest of their lives in front of them as they ventured out of their country for the first time and encountered horrible tragedy. Florencia De Concillo-Perrin's score adds to the tension, and the film plays out like a gripping procedural, including interviews with people who were leading the rescue effort. Both frightening and exhilarating, STRANDED, which has won awards at film festivals all around the world, is an unforgettable documentary about an unforgettable story.     Source: RottenTomatoes.com