“The Revenant” Review – Leonardo’s Amazing Evolution!
“The Revenant” is a great epic dimension film. There is a sense of wonder in the way Alejandro G Iñárritu unfolds the vast, beautiful and treacherous Dakota Territory in his fabulous film. The film, shot in natural light, evokes a sense of wonder when one can intensely feel the uncharted wilderness of 1820’s America! The film is about the mountain males of the time who traveled beyond the league of civilization! human!
Iñárritu borrows the story of legendary American hero Hugh Glass, the daredevil explorer and hunter who, on one of his expeditions with his band of fur trappers, is mauled by a grizzly bear. The hunter becomes the hunted when he is mortally wounded and abandoned by his own men. Glass is left to die amidst the brutal mountainous terrain in freezing cold. The three companions await his death.
However, the director transmutes this fable into a Survival Odyssey and gives it epic stature. Indeed, it is Leonardo DiCaprio who could do justice to the role of the beleaguered Glass with his stellar performance. Although the actor has already showcased his brilliant portrayal of different shades of characters in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Aviator, Blood Diamond and The Wolf in the Wall Street, nothing, so far, can match the originality he has displayed in playing the role of Glass with his visceral acting style that the movie demanded!
It is the lonely saga of a man who drags himself through a ruthless terrain of endless mountains and towering conifers by sheer force of will. Therefore, acting demands perfect body language to convey the anguish and resolve to fight to accomplish the mission of revenge! He undertakes unthinkable trials to make the long journey across the unforgiving landscape! He has made a promise to himself and is settling scores with Fitzerald. The latter is a dangerous man who is responsible for betraying Glass and brazenly murdering his only child!
Leonardo’s roles in his previous films have been quite eloquent. Here we are faced with a silent man who transmits the pangs of enormous physical suffering and torments of soul to him! The moans and groans of the mortally wounded frontiersman virtually crawling out of his grave create remarkable deja vu! This man meets the reality of his loved ones only in his haunting dreams of a troubled past. The sight of his late wife seems to whisper in his ears the wisdom of survival. In terms of filmmaking, Iñárritu makes a great transition from the usual revenge themes shown in other films of the same genre. Her introduction of his trend-setting “visceral acting style” matches Leonardo’s performance in the film so effortlessly!
After the initial dance of death in the bloody war scene between the native Indians and the white fur traders, the impact of the film is very physical because it tries to portray an uncompromising realism where the physical and mental agony of the protagonist reaches a life and death crisis! The question of survival and revenge of the mistreated protagonist in the midst of relentless Nature is the main concern of “The Revenant”. Nature appears so sinister and beautiful in the film! However, the theme of the film is not only about the brutality of nature against the indomitable spirit of man, but also about his spiritual journey. Glass struggles to overcome bodily pains to commit herself to his cause.
Leonardo suffers from his commitment to the “art of acting”. Given the dire circumstances, DiCaprio cuts open a dead horse, pulls out its bloody entrails to huddle for warmth inside the corpse, clutching the flesh tightly around him! He applies fire to his throat to heal his festering wounds. He may even go so far as to chew on raw bison liver or raw fish in order to live. In fact, it has to be an existential journey. So the whole crew had to shoot below -25 degrees in real locations: the snowy terrains of Argentina and Canada!
The audience is mesmerized by the visually stunning cinematography of Lubezki, Iñárritu’s longtime partner who creates magical effects with his camera while concentrating on nature! We find ourselves visually swept away by the vast white landscape; the rapids and mighty mountain rivers; the treacherous rock ledges; Sunlight glinting off menacing icicles and violent ambushes in superbly timed long shots across snowy forests, plains, air and water! The scenes leave a deep impact even long after the movie ends!
Lastly, we get a glimpse of the human side of Glass’s tough exterior as she identifies with the native girl who is about to be savagely raped and thus becomes her savior. Such humanity has been poignantly hinted at when the face of her half-native dead son seares her soul. So the film is also a historical saga of the colonization of redskins by white men. Above all, it is a soul-searching film about sin and the resurrection!