JANUARY 22, 2016
It would be an understatement to say that “The Revenant,” directed and co-written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, was one of the most anticipated movies of 2015. Iñárritu, after all, was the creative force behind 2014’s “Birdman,” which personally won Iñárritu 3 Academy Awards — Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay, the most ever for a Mexican filmmaker. Plus this time Iñárritu was working with a bona fide movie star, Leonardo DiCaprio.
However, during shooting, word began to leak out from “The Revenant” set that it was becoming a troubled shoot. From several reports, Iñárritu was a demanding director, putting his cast and crew through difficult conditions, prompting some to quit or be fired. Hollywood began to feed on such gossip, and vultures began to circle.
But then the film was finally screened, and the storyline that Iñárritu was an abusive director suddenly evolved to become that of Iñárritu as the uncompromising artiste. The awards campaign worked, as “The Revenant” won 3 Golden Globe awards (Best Picture – Drama, Best Actor – DiCaprio, and Best Director – Iñárritu). Better yet, the film has been nominated for 12 Academy Awards — the most of any 2015 film — and is currently favored to win the Best Picture Oscar next month.
If “The Revenant” is indeed the current favorite, it will be one of unlikeliest front-runners in Oscar history.
Set in 1823 in the area of the Louisiana Purchase, the film focuses on Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) a tracker working for a trapping company anxious to obtain valuable fur pelts. When their party is set upon by Indians (in a terrifying single shot, a specialty of Iñárritu and his ace cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki), Glass and what remains of his party escape downriver, dump their pelts and try to flee on foot.
Glass, on his own, is attacked by a grizzly bear (in the film’s most celebrated and horrifying sequence), and though he finally kills the animal, his own wounds are nearly fatal. The survivors can’t go on with him, so he is left in the care of his half-breed son Hawk (Forest Goodluck), naive young trapper Bridger (an excellent Will Poulter) and, most ominously, Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy, who received an Oscar nomination for this performance) who has no use for Glass or his son. Fitzgerald, anxious to get back to the group, buries the injured man alive. Glass manages to claw his way out of the grave and sets out to trek back across the snowy vastness to the trapping company fort to get his revenge.
First of all, “The Revenant” is an amazing technical achievement. Shot over three continents, the film’s imagery in Lubezki’s hands is at times downright stunning in its beauty. And it works as storytelling as well — you could turn off the audio in “The Revenant” and still understand the story completely, thanks to the power of the images. In fact, “The Revenant” may win him his third consecutive (!) Oscar for cinematography next month.
Iñárritu has assembled a first-rate collection of character actors to round out his cast of trappers and Native Americans, highlighted by Poulter and Domhnall Gleeson as the kind hunting party leader. (Gleeson has had an amazing year, with “Ex Machina,” “Brooklyn,” “Star Wars” and now this.). Then there’s Tom Hardy, who is (full disclosure) one of my very favorite film actors. His Fitzgerald is both thoroughly believable in his motives, yet such an awful person that, within moments of meeting him, you want him to die. And die painfully.
But “The Revenant” belongs to Leonardo DiCaprio. Gone is the Leo who used to look like a boy dressed up in his father’s suit. His Glass is a man of few words, and once the bear attacks him in the throat, he can only communicate through his facial features. Watch his eyes in the film’s mid-section, and they tell you all they need to know about what’s going on in this man’s mind. It’s a masterful performance, probably his best work on film ever.
But then there’s the script. If you look past the exotic setting, the great performances and the amazing camerawork, you’ve pretty much seen this movie before. It follows the plotline of almost every revenge-based Clint Eastwood revenge saga to the letter. What dialogue there is (and there’s not much of it) moves solely to propel the story and spends little time on character. There’s a reason that, of the film’s 12 Oscar nominations, Best Screenplay was not one of them, and if “The Revenant” manages to win Best Picture next month, it will be only the 3rd film in the last 50 years to do so without a screenplay nomination.
Iñárritu has never been known for his light touch. With the notable exception of “Birdman,” he has shown very little inclination toward humor, and there’s absolutely none here. It’s a long film at 158 minutes, and most of it depicts suffering and deprivation, so it’s not an easy sit. But if the screenplay is lacking, the craft displayed in the film, from the music score to the sound design, is dazzling enough to carry you through. If you’re looking for a date night movie, you may want to look elsewhere. But if you’re looking to watch skilled craftsmen at the height of their powers, “The Revenant” is for you.
GRADE: B+
