In early 19th century North
America, Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall
Gleeson) has lead a pack of pelt
hunters from the Rocky Mountain Fur Company across the frontier wilderness
along the Missouri river. Under the expertise of experienced tracker Hugh Glass
(Leo DiCaprio), they have come to
the end of their expedition and are preparing their haul for transport back to
the outpost, when nearby Arikara warriors looking for their kidnapped
chieftain’s daughter attack them.
Glass and Henry lead the few survivors –
Glass’ son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck),
a young Jim Bridger (Will Poulter) and the selfish John
Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and others –
down the river on a boat to escape.
Further down the river they set up camp, only for Glass to get into a
horrific accident whilst searching for food.
After tending to his seemingly fatal wounds, Henry leads the survivors
back to the outpost, leaving Fitzgerald in charge of Hawk and Bridger to look
after Glass until his final breath. A
decision that everyone will live to regret…
In comparison to last year’s absurdly
satirical masterpiece Birdman,
director Alejandro G. Iñárritu has
completed changed tack with this year’s The
Revenant. Whereas Riggan Thomas
(AKA. Birdman) was trying to resuscitate his life in the media eye as a serious
actor and get revenge on his critics, Hugh Glass is trying to literally
resuscitate himself in the unforgiving American winter and get his revenge.
DiCaprio delivers a painful performance
as he, quite literally, crawls back from the grave, his body broken and rotting
from the cold. At times having to make
as much use as possible from the harsh landscape and hostile animals as he can
to survive. Hardy, on the other hand, is
captivating not because of the ordeal he has to endure but for the character
that he embodies: a dark and ugly manifestation of American exceptionalism.
As the characters negotiate the brutal
topography and climate of the unchartered (by Western souls) land, Emmanuel Lubezki’s camera sweeps
effortlessly across the tundra and forests with a chilling score by Antonio Sánchez. The camera cuts between harrowing close up of
the pained faces of the desperate men, to long spectacular shots of miles of
bleak nothingness as far as the lens can see.
Shot almost entirely without CGI and with natural light, the production
team had to cross the globe in search of locations as far apart as Canada and
Southern Argentina – yet the result is nothing but breathtaking. The cold ice glares out of the cinema screen
chilling your bones as you watch…
Film buffs were (rightly) left in awe
last year at Birdman’s deceptive
single-take editing achievement, yet during the many expansive action sequences
of The Revenant the lingering hand
held camera shots amongst the warring tribes and stampeding buffalo are astonishing.
As desolate and agonizing as the film is
to experience, the natural beauty of the locations are blinding and the narrative
fascinating. At a time of increased
attention on America’s obsession with immigration, this film reminds us all of
the brutal birth of the nation and the horrors that the First Nation American’s
endured at the hand of Western explorers.
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