Alive
In 1972, the Uruguayan rugby team is flying to Chile to play a game. However, the plane from the Uruguayan Air Force with 45 people crashes on the Andes Mountains and after the search party, they are considered dead. Two months after the crash, the sixteen survivors are finally rescued. Along the days, the starved survivors decide to eat flesh from the bodies of their comrades to survive.
Working with a respectable budget of $32.0M, the film achieved a steady performer with $36.7M in global revenue (+15% profit margin).
1 win & 1 nomination
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Alive (1993) exemplifies deliberately positioned narrative architecture, characteristic of Frank Marshall's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 2 hours and 7 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.4, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Nando Parrado
Roberto Canessa
Antonio Balbi
Carlitos Paez
Federico Aranda
Gustavo Zerbino
Arturo Nogueira
Javier Methol
Main Cast & Characters
Nando Parrado
Played by Ethan Hawke
Natural leader who emerges as the group's strongest survivor, determined to trek out of the mountains to find rescue.
Roberto Canessa
Played by Josh Hamilton
Medical student who performs crucial survival tasks and joins Nando on the final expedition for help.
Antonio Balbi
Played by Vincent Spano
Team captain who tries to maintain order and morale among the survivors through leadership and optimism.
Carlitos Paez
Played by Bruce Ramsay
Young survivor who struggles emotionally with the ordeal but provides companionship and hope to others.
Federico Aranda
Played by John Haymes Newton
Survivor who grapples with the moral implications of their situation and provides emotional perspective.
Gustavo Zerbino
Played by David Kriegel
Pragmatic survivor who helps make difficult decisions for the group's survival.
Arturo Nogueira
Played by Sam Behrens
Injured survivor whose suffering tests the group's resolve and compassion.
Javier Methol
Played by Illeana Douglas
Older passenger who provides fatherly wisdom and perspective to the young survivors.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes The Uruguayan rugby team celebrates their camaraderie and youth in Montevideo, showing their privileged, comfortable lives before departure. They are confident, full of life, and looking forward to their match in Chile.. Significantly, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 15 minutes when The plane crashes into the Andes mountains. The fuselage breaks apart, passengers are thrown about, many die instantly. The survivors find themselves stranded at over 11,000 feet in freezing conditions with minimal supplies.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 30 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 24% of the runtime. This shows the protagonist's commitment to The survivors hear on the transistor radio that the search for them has been called off after eight days. They realize no one is coming to save them and they must save themselves. This is their active choice to commit to survival by any means., moving from reaction to action.
At 64 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Significantly, this crucial beat An avalanche hits the fuselage at night, burying many survivors and killing eight more people including key members. This false defeat raises the stakes catastrophically—nature itself seems determined to kill them, and hope plummets to a new low., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 94 minutes (74% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Roy Harley, the young man maintaining their hope through the radio, dies. The group reaches its emotional and physical nadir—70 days stranded, supplies nearly gone, bodies weakening. Death seems inevitable. Nando faces the whiff of death as hope evaporates., illustrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 102 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Nando makes the decision: "I'm going to get us out of here." He, Roberto, and Antonio Vizintín commit to a final expedition west over the mountains, knowing it's likely a suicide mission. They synthesize their survival skills with newfound resolve and faith., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Alive's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs proven narrative structure principles that track dramatic progression. By mapping Alive against these established plot points, we can identify how Frank Marshall utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Alive within the biography genre.
Frank Marshall's Structural Approach
Among the 4 Frank Marshall films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.1, reflecting strong command of classical structure. Alive represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Frank Marshall filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional biography films include Lords of Dogtown, Ip Man 2 and A Complete Unknown. For more Frank Marshall analyses, see Congo, Arachnophobia and Eight Below.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
The Uruguayan rugby team celebrates their camaraderie and youth in Montevideo, showing their privileged, comfortable lives before departure. They are confident, full of life, and looking forward to their match in Chile.
Theme
Carlitos's sister says goodbye at the airport, expressing concern about the dangerous flight over the Andes. The theme of survival, faith, and what we're willing to do to live is introduced through casual concern about the journey.
Worldbuilding
Establishment of the team dynamics, relationships, families saying goodbye, boarding the chartered plane. We meet Nando Parrado, Antonio Balbi, Roberto Canessa, and others. The world is one of privilege, sport, friendship, and youthful invincibility.
Disruption
The plane crashes into the Andes mountains. The fuselage breaks apart, passengers are thrown about, many die instantly. The survivors find themselves stranded at over 11,000 feet in freezing conditions with minimal supplies.
Resistance
Immediate aftermath and debate over survival strategy. Medical student Roberto tends to the injured. They debate whether to stay with the wreckage or attempt to find help. The group resists accepting their dire situation, believing rescue is imminent.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
The survivors hear on the transistor radio that the search for them has been called off after eight days. They realize no one is coming to save them and they must save themselves. This is their active choice to commit to survival by any means.
Mirror World
Roberto Canessa and the group face the moral crisis of their situation. The subplot of faith versus pragmatism emerges, embodied in their relationship with each other and with God. The question: What does it mean to remain human in inhuman circumstances?
Premise
The exploration of survival in the mountains. The group rations food, melts snow for water, uses the fuselage for shelter. They make the agonizing decision to consume the frozen bodies of the dead. Expeditions attempt to scout for help but fail.
Midpoint
An avalanche hits the fuselage at night, burying many survivors and killing eight more people including key members. This false defeat raises the stakes catastrophically—nature itself seems determined to kill them, and hope plummets to a new low.
Opposition
The physical and psychological toll intensifies. More people die from injuries and cold. Resources dwindle. Internal conflicts emerge about their choices. Nando, whose mother and sister died, becomes increasingly determined to escape. Several failed expedition attempts demoralize the group.
Collapse
Roy Harley, the young man maintaining their hope through the radio, dies. The group reaches its emotional and physical nadir—70 days stranded, supplies nearly gone, bodies weakening. Death seems inevitable. Nando faces the whiff of death as hope evaporates.
Crisis
The dark night of the soul. The survivors process their losses and face the likelihood they will all die on the mountain. Nando and Roberto have a crucial conversation about whether to attempt one final, desperate expedition over the mountains to find Chile.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Nando makes the decision: "I'm going to get us out of here." He, Roberto, and Antonio Vizintín commit to a final expedition west over the mountains, knowing it's likely a suicide mission. They synthesize their survival skills with newfound resolve and faith.
Synthesis
The final expedition. Nando and Roberto trek for ten days through impossible terrain. They climb a mountain and see Chile in the distance. They encounter a Chilean peasant on horseback who alerts authorities. Helicopters arrive to rescue the remaining 14 survivors from the crash site.
Transformation
The survivors reunite with their families in Chile. Nando, now transformed from a carefree rugby player to a man who survived the impossible, embraces his father. The closing image shows the survivors forever changed, bonded by their ordeal and what they did to survive.