SNOWPIERCER THE ART AND MAKING OF THE FILM

Strangeness On A Train

RELEASED OUT NOW! 176 pages | Hardback

Author Simon Ward Publisher Titan Books

Bong Joon-ho’s riff on French graphic novel Transperceneige is eight years old, and didn’t even get a UK cinema release, but growing accessibility via streaming, the director’s success with Parasite, and a Netflix TV version mean this is now a saleable proposition.

If ever a film deserves the coffee table treatment, it’s this one: the tale of a class uprising on a train that’s humanity’s last refuge, its production design is stunning. Shot almost entirely on a Prague soundstage, its 26 builds included a greenhouse, swimming pool and nightclub, with the same few carriages periodically stripped and remodelled. Lashings of concept art show interesting paths not taken, like a Victorian-style schoolroom and an engine resembling a kneeling figure.

Other curiosities include a long-haired look for Chris Evans’s buzzcut hero, and a male take on baddie Minister Mason (prior to Tilda Swinton being cast).

With stars like Evans and Swinton happy to give their time, it’s clearly a project all concerned remain proud of – even if the working methods took some getting used to. “Director Bong”, as he’s dubbed, makes Hitchcock look disorganised: every sentence executed as storyboarded; no “coverage” shot; cast returning from lunch to find the morning’s work cut together. Members of the cult following will find fresh cause for their devotion. Ian Berriman

According to the stunt coordinator, the gimble rig used to shake carriages made some people vomit from motion sickness.

But who maintains the tracks, eh? Answer that!

Chris killed extras unless regularly hugged.

An aquarium tunnel in Vancouver inspired this.

Just one of many designs for the train’s engine.