The Revenant

The last time a film has left me this exhausted and physically drained with its emotional power was 12 Years a Slave.  The Revenant is not just one of the great films of 2015, but also possibly of the decade.  It's a harrowing film unlike any other, because of the way that co-writer and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (2014's Best Picture winner, Birdman) has decided to shoot and tell his story.

In order to film his "one man vs. the elements of nature" survival story, Inarritu went against the odds and shot the entire movie in difficult settings.  Rather than recreate the harsh winter landscapes with studio sets or CG, he filmed everything on location in some of the most barren and bitter landscapes he could find.  He shot the film using only natural lighting, and drove the cast and crew almost to the edge of their efforts.  The effect pays off in spades, as the audience is completely transported into the action.  This movie feels completely real.  We see Leonardo DiCaprio up there on the screen, struggling for survival, and we believe it.  Very few effects were used, and what effects there are are blended seamlessly with the natural scenery.  The end result is a film that puts other recent similar ones to absolute shame.  Just look at the sequence where DiCaprio is mauled by a bear - a scene that is likely to be famous almost the instant people see it.  It's brutal, raw, bloody, and about as honest as you can get without actually causing physical harm to your bankable star.  Now compare it to the scenes in the recent survival story, In the Heart of the Sea, where the actors did battle with a massive whale that looked like it was generated by a computer (because it was).  This isn't just a difference in craft and style, it's a total difference in intensity and passion.  The earlier film from Ron Howard felt generic and structured.  This movie is as emotional as anything you've seen.

For those of you wondering about the title, a "revenant" is an animated corpse that has returned from the dead in order to haunt the living.  Loosely based on the novel by Michael Punke, the film tells the story of Hugh Glass (DiCaprio), a man who was leading a group of fur trackers in the frigid northern section of the 19th Century wild frontier.  When Hugh is viciously mauled by a bear, he is left for dead by the rest of his party, who leave two men in charge of giving him a proper burial.  Hugh's adult son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck), also stays behind, not wanting to leave his father alone.  Time passes, and the three men surrounding the barely conscious Hugh debate what to do.  One of the men, Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), wants to put Hugh out of his misery.  Hawk, naturally, wants to do whatever it takes to save his father's life.  The youngest of the three, Bridger (Will Poulter), is torn between following orders and doing what he knows is right.  Ultimately, a fight breaks out, and Fitzgerald winds up murdering Hawk, while Hugh watches helplessly and immobile from his wounds.  Fitzgerald and Bridger head back for camp, leaving Hugh behind to die in a shallow grave.

Hugh does manage to pull himself out, and the remainder of the film deals with his 200 mile journey to get back to his camp in his weakened and severely wounded state.  The tone of The Revenant is quiet and almost dream-like.  The dialogue is very sparse, as DiCaprio says very little at all in the entire film, giving a powerful physical performance.  He is driven by flashbacks of his son, as well as his wife, who also died a few years ago when their village was attacked and their house burned down.  Equally dreamlike is the cinematography by  Emmanuel Lubezki, who films the vast winter landscape with a clear eye for beauty, but never forgets the danger as well, which leaves us constantly on edge.  This is one of those movies that makes you feel cold just by watching it.  The towering and shadowy trees of the dense forests that Hugh trudges through in his quest for survival also seem to take on a life of their own through Lubezki's camera work.  They seem to blot out the sun and the moon at times, giving the audience a sense of total isolation.

This is a somber film from beginning to end.  There are no moments of levity, and nothing to take our mind off the fact that this man up on the screen is suffering and near death.  This is not as morbid as it sounds, as DiCaprio's performance shows so much courage and intensity.  We see his determination to survive, and it inspires us as well.  The reason why his character does not say much is because he spends a majority of the film in a state where he simply can't form comprehensible words.  And yet, his performance shows us everything we need to know.  The movie is also never depressing.  Yes, it can be brutal and extremely violent.  Heck, it almost makes Quentin Tarantino's recent Hateful Eight (another Western) seem quaint at times.  But it never becomes a slog or a torture to watch.  There is always a small glimmer of hope, and that's what keeps the film from sinking into a pit of despair, and keeps the audience riveted and wanting to know what will happen.

Anyone who wants to study successful minimalist storytelling should view The Revenant.  It's so skillful and masterfully made, I wouldn't be surprised if it became important to study for future filmmakers.  There's really no one single area that needs to be dissected separately from the rest of the film, because this is the kind of movie where the whole needs to be examined, not just individual moments or aspects.  Take any one element away (the performances, the atmosphere of the settings, the music score), and you're missing something great.  This is a movie that you don't exactly watch, so much as you experience it.  I know, that sounds like something a hack critic would say in order to get their blurb mentioned in a TV ad.  But, in this case, it really is true.  I haven't felt this connected to a movie in a very long time.  I knew I was watching a truly great movie when I started reaching for my coat placed on the seat next to me, because I was starting to feel cold during the course of the film. 

This is the rare studio movie that can truly challenge its audience.  Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu shows here that he not only refuses to repeat himself (a reputation that has been made clear for quite a while, actually), but that he is truly one of the great film artists.  The Revenant is not just an experience, it is an experience that should not be missed.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

0 comments