The Revenant
Dir: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Dohmnall Gleeson, Will
Poulter, and Forrest Goodluck
20th Century Fox
156 Minutes
One of the great things about
New Year’s Eve celebrations is letting the atmosphere take hold of you. I find
enjoyment in the few minutes before the clock strikes midnight. The world is
quiet, silent, and dark, and then, in an instant, everything comes alive with
sound, light, and energy. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s film “The
Revenant” has this same quality, a work of staggering patience that lingers
within dark and bleak atmospheres only to burst to life with scenes of
beautiful landscapes and spectacles of brutal violence, all this accompanied by
a performance by Leonardo DiCaprio that is beyond committed. “The Revenant” is
a painstaking journey, from a talented director, to portray nature and humanity
in its most raw and pure form.
Trappers from a fur company
are exploring the American wilderness, guided by a cautious yet steadfast man
named Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio). The group is attacked by Native
American’s and forced to find a new route through the cold and snowy mountains.
While scouting the area a bear viciously mauls Glass, leaving him clinging for
life. Members of his group (Tom Hardy and Will Poulter), including his son
(Forrest Goodluck), stay behind to care for Glass and make sure he is given a
proper burial. Betrayal, fear, and murder lead to Glass being left in a shallow
grave, forced to crawl inch by inch to seek revenge.
“The Revenant” is based on
true events, first described in Michael Punke’s novel “The Revenant: A Novel of
Revenge”. It’s a very simplistic narrative design; man is betrayed, man seeks
revenge. But in the hands of Mr. Iñárritu this tale of retribution takes on a
different kind of life through the director’s unique filmmaking technique and
unequaled style. Whether the one-takes, impressively done in an early fight
scene that transitions from land, to horseback, then to boat, or the extended
scenes that present nature in menacing and serene ways, it all builds in
creating an atmosphere that is filled with tension but also, in a way,
accomplishes a dream-like or hallucinatory effect.
Leonardo DiCaprio gives an
extraordinary lead performance, one of the best of his career. A majority of
Mr. DiCaprio’s portrayal in the film is physical and demanding; its been noted
that the actor was incredibly diligent with staying in character even when the
camera wasn’t rolling but also going to extremes within certain scenes so that
Mr. Iñárritu could maintain authenticity with the character. Tom Hardy is also
in the film, overdoing a strong accent, but providing a spineless foe that
cares more about saving his own hide.
Mr. Iñárritu isn’t one for
subtlety, the themes here are big and bursting, sometimes pretentious, as are
the locations that sweep through and over and across green and white landscapes
that veil the brutal behavior occurring within it. However, even when the
elements begin to overtake and muddle one another, especially when the film
takes on a spiritual approach to connect Hugh Glass beyond reality, the
director provides substance by utilizing his striking style to accommodate the
simplicities of the story but also presenting what’s going on in the background
during this time in history, the manipulation and genocide of the Native
Americans and also the greed of corporations and desperation of the working man
in early America.
“The Revenant” is a cinematic
adventure from a director who utilizes elaborate methods to make a revenge film
into something far more intricate and provocative than it might have been in
different hands.
Monte’s Rating
4.25 out of 5.00
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