Normally when stories of production woes emerge it spells
inevitable doom, but twice in 2015 we've seen two of the year's best films
emerge unscathed, if not better for having struggled to completion. One was
George Miller's Mad Max: Fury
Road; the other is Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's unforgiving, poetic tale
of reflection and icy revenge, The
Revenant. As a follow-up to his upbeat and brisk Oscar-winner, Birdman, Inarritu couldn't have
gone in a more stark direction. As wondrous to behold as it is punishing to
endure, The Revenant is Inarritu staking his claim to
the most unique movie of the year. Nothing else looks quite like it; no other
film puts you through the emotional wringer quite like it, either.
Maybe it's the merciless weather Leonardo
DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, and much of the crew were put through, but everything
about this film is brutal. The only thing more chilling than the raging
blizzard are the chilling acts of barbarism in a world without mercy; where
surviving is the only thing that can and ever will matter. DiCaprio, looking
shaggier than ever in his career, plays Hugh Glass, a tracker and frontiersman
in 1820 Wyoming, working for a fur company in the snowy Rocky Mountains. When a
Native American tribe attacks, it's every man for himself...as long as he
doesn't forget his bale of bear pelts. In fact, pelts are the only thing that
seem to matter to the cruel John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), a nasty, racist piece
of work who has a special dislike for Glass and his half-Pawnee son, Hawk
(Forrest Goodluck). The crew barely survives the attack, which is captured in
fluid chaos by DP Emmanuel Lubezki (winner of two Oscars for Gravity and Birdman), and it's up to Glass
to navigate everyone home.
Cruelty on top of cruelty is heaped upon
Glass, but it all begins when he's viciously mauled by a raging bear. The
attack itself might be one of the grizzliest scenes captured on film. But for
all of its ferocity, there's something beautiful about it, as well. The
technical wizardry of it, as DiCaprio is literally battered from tree to tree,
pummeled, bitten, and clawed, is remarkable. You'll spend the rest of the film
wondering how they pulled it off. With Glass near death, the scrupulous captain
(Domhnall Gleeson, who is in everything this season) figures they can't outrun
the pursuing Natives and carry him along. So he offers up a ton of money to
anyone that will stay behind with him until they can return with reinforcement.
The opportunistic Fitzgerald agrees, along with Hawk and the innocent
youngster, Jim Bridger (Will Poulter). But it isn't long after they are left
alone that Fitzgerald commits a heartless act, captured right in front of the
immobile Glass, which demands vengeance.
And vengeance is what he seeks; it boils
in Glass's savage blood. This is a DiCaprio we've never seen before, feral and
unwavering, agony and fury captured in his burning eyes. The level of
commitment he brings to the role is extraordinary, but the same goes for Hardy
who at this point can mumble villainy with the best of them. Both actors look
like they have an extra layer of bark on their rugged skin. Not everyone could
have endured the rigors Innaritu put them all through, shooting only a few
hours a day to capture the most natural light he possibly could. Much of the
crew quit; the delays stretched into weeks and months, but the results made it
all worth it. 
Admittedly, The Revenant sticks to such a grim note
throughout that it may be tough for some to handle. It's an endurance test, for
sure, but the darkness is broken up by Malick-ian dream sequences capturing the
expansive vistas in which Glass makes his painful journey. These scenes are
what drives him further than any man should be capable to go; to survive wounds
that would fell a regular man, to move on despite starvation and freezing
temperatures. They're key to the story even if they feel somewhat separated
from the narrative. DiCaprio gives this film its beating heart, while a
surprisingly good Poulter provides the slim strand of goodness coursing through
it. 
Rating: 4 out of 5
