“The Revenant” is directed by Alejandro Iñárritu and it stars
Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter and Domhnall Gleeson. This review
contains spoilers.
During
a hunting expedition for animal pelts, Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) sustains
injuries from a brutal bear attack. When his hunting team leaves him for dead,
Glass must utilize his survival skills to find a way back home. Grief-stricken
and fueled by vengeance, Glass treks through the wintry terrain to track down John
Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), the former confidant who betrayed and abandoned him.
Iñarritu delivers a
very unique film to say the least. “The Revenant” is a film not so much about
the destination but more about the journey. The will to overcome any obstacle
and reach your goal. While watching this
film I almost felt like it should have been called “The Resilient”. DiCaprio’s
Glass surpasses unimaginable situations fueled by anger and vengeance. From
what I know, by definition, the word Revenant roughly means a person who has
returned somehow. Especially from the dead. So while I teased about calling the
film “The Resilient”, “The Revenant” is in fact a very suitable title
considering how often you feel Leonardo DiCaprio does returns from the
dead.
The most important
plot point of the story is when Tom Hardy’s character, John Fitzgerald kills
Glass’s son Hawk, right after trying to kill Glass himself. Fitzgerald accepted
a deal on which he would get paid to take care of Glass for as long as he
survived and then give him a proper burial if and when he died. Glass is extremely
wounded by the bear attack and Fitzgerald just wants to collect the money and
leave Glass behind as soon as possible. Glass seems to be as good as dead and
Fitzgerald just wants to get it over with. Fitzgerald is accompanied by Will
Poulter, played by Jim Bridger, who in turn does not associate himself with
Fitzgerald’s selfishness and greed. He finds himself forced to leave Glass
behind when Fitzgerald cleverly fools him convincing him they are under attack
and must escape quickly. So, very reluctantly, he agrees to leave Glass half
buried also convinced Hawk, Glass’s son, is missing and not in fact murdered by
Fitzgerald. And so begins Glass’s long journey back from the “dead” and in pursuit
of Fitzgerald for revenge.
The storyline of
this film is extremely simple and it doesn’t need to be any more complicated
than it is. While engaging because of
its universal themes, like revenge, loss and survival. “The Revenant”’s biggest
strength is its execution by far. Iñarritu’s relationship with the camera and
its subject is remarkable. Very often you will see a wide shot with an extreme
close up of a character in the foreground. Always maintaining one of the film’s
most important characters in focus in the background, the wilderness itself.
The whole setting of this film is a character on its own and very much part of
the story. Another remarkable thing I loved about this film is the complex
set-pieces and the way Iñarritu does the coverage of the action taking place.
You feel every single shot was extremely well planned and staged. His camera
pans are masterful and always serve a very specific purpose moving the scene in
question along from point A to B. All executed very seamlessly and absolutely
wonderful to watch. I feel Iñarritu avoids as much as possible to stage scenes
in a manner that would have required more coverage and thus more editing. He is able to cover a lot of action and
dialogue in a single shot changing the scale with a traveling shot or a pan,
but always giving us the impression that there are multiple shots going by. A
technique I also find in Steven Spielberg’s work very often. But Iñarritu goes
a little further. Almost every scene seems to be one long take. There are cuts here
and there of course. It depends heavily on the type of scene in my opinion.
It’s masterful cinematography and staging to say the least.
Another aspect of
“The Revenant” I loved was the sound. The soundtrack alone is very good but
Iñarritu doesn’t solely rely on music. He uses the sound of nature constantly
to emphasize certain emotions and tension. The sounds of the wilderness are
very much a part of the film’s soundtrack so to speak. He frequently pushes the
levels of a specific sound from the wilderness and then abruptly cuts to the
next scene to absolute silence or almost absolute silence. This is a known
technique but knowing how and when to use it requires a lot of sensibility and
craft. One of the great examples I always mention when I speak about this is
“The Exorcist”. In that film you often see moments where the sound of shouting
and screaming is peaking and suddenly you cut to a dialogue scene where the
actors are whispering. This creates a very interesting contrast from scene to
scene and also builds up tension. “The Revenant” resorts to this very often.
And I love it. It’s very interesting to see Iñarritu use the sound of the
wilderness as part of the soundtrack. And not gratuitously, it’s very much
related to what is happening on screen.
It’s time for me to
talk about the elephant in the room. Leonardo DiCaprio. Once again he delivers
a mind-blowing performance and the screen doesn’t lie. He went trough hell with
this role and every inch and hair of his body is immersed in the Glass’s shoes. It’s absolutely wonderful to see an actor
work at this level and in such a harsh environment. I’m sure the environment
only helped and I’m glad it did. The very last shot of the film on which Glass
slowly turns to the camera and at the audience breaking the fourth wall is the
peak of Leo’s performance and also the film. So much is being said in that
moment. And it’s all thanks to DiCaprio’s outstanding performance. I would
stand up and clap in tears right now if I could. I’m sure this is one of the
roles he will be most remembered by in years to come. It’s one more step up in
his already vast contribution to film history as an actor. What a wonderful
actor he is.
Tom Hardy doesn’t
fall short in this equation. In fact he’s right up there with DiCaprio. Tom
Hardy is a heavy-weight actor to say the least. His John Fitzgerald is
delicious to watch. I don’t want to classify him as the villain of the film
because in my mind, the term villain belittles a film like “The Revenant”. This
film is far beyond good guys and bad guys. It’s about people. Tom Hardy is
brilliant all the way through. Just brilliant. I often found myself smiling and
almost laughing because of how brilliant this actor is in this film. The amount
of work you see on screen is absolutely amazing so I’ll say what I thought
while watching the film Fuck you Tom Hardy, you are fucking brilliant! Pardon
my French but some things are better expressed that way. At least for me.
Will Poulter and
Domhnall Gleeson also deliver great performances and are blessed with extremely
powerful characters. It was a joy to watch these actors on screen and witness
how well they serve the story with their contributions.
All in all, “The
Revenant” is obviously extremely well acted by everyone involved in the
project.
To wrap it up I can
only stand up and clap and firmly state that this film is a masterpiece that
will be part of film history. A brilliant director with a stellar cast manages
to tell such a simple story in the most creative and thought provoking manner possible.
It’s a film with so many layers and density, so well executed and acted that
you can’t feel anything else but awe when the credits roll. I say again. A true
modern masterpiece before our eyes.
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