Movie Review:The Revenant- a pure, visceral experience

Story: Fur trapper Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is abandoned by his comrades after he is mauled by a bear and has to use every resource to survive in the wilderness. Set in 1823, this film is loosely based on a true story and outlines his tale of loss, survival and revenge.

CRITIC'S RATING:  4.5/5

AVG READERS' RATING: 4.5/5

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Forrest Goodluck, Will Poulter, Paul Anderson

 

Direction: Alejandro González Iñárritu

 

Genre: Thriller

 

Duration: 2 hours 38 minutes

Review: Is that really Leo? It's a question you might ask yourself about a half hour or so into this movie. And probably several times after that. Because DiCaprio's greatest achievement in The Revenant is that he makes you forget that it is him you're watching on screen. His degree of character immersion - bearded, bloodied, bruised and more - has arguably never been better.

But this film isn't just a Leo vehicle. Tom Hardy plays John Fitzgerald, also a fur trapper and a part of the fur trapper party led by Captain Andrew Henry (Gleeson). Fitzgerald is equally experienced in the outdoors as Glass. As a man who is almost single-handedly responsible for the ordeals Glass has to endure, Hardy's performance is also brilliantly nuanced.

This is also a film that has the least amount of dialogue from Leonardo. In fact, you can probably count the number of times he utters some words or sentences. Instead, you get to see him ride off a cliff, have frequent flashbacks of his Pawnee wife, eat raw animal organs and almost get ripped apart by a grizzly bear. That aside, Inarritu has also tried to inject a spiritual angle into the narrative.

Beauty and brutality are balanced equally well in this fable, set in a time when America was still the Wild West. The wilderness is depicted amazingly by cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity, Birdman), who along with Inarritu reportedly insisted on shooting only when natural light was available. 

Actor performances aside, you can tell that the visual canvas of this film is the work of perfectionists. And those visuals gel excellently with the graceful score, courtesy Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto. From the first frame, you know you're in for something special and it's pretty clear that Leonardo has given his everything to this film. 




source:timesofindia

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