Home Uncategories 'The Revenant' : A person who has returned, especially supposedly from the dead.

'The Revenant' : A person who has returned, especially supposedly from the dead.

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"I ain't afraid to die anymore. I done it already."

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Alejandro González Iñárritu's The Revenant as I had no indication as to what the story line would be about, or what revenant even meant. The trailers didn't suggest much as all I took away from it after seeing it for the first time was that it was an adventurous thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. So upon much research, I was eventually able to find out what revenant means, as shown in the title of this review! The nine month shooting period for this film caused quite a bit of controversy among crew members; many of which ended up quitting or being let go by Iñárritu. The shoot was described by crew members as a "living hell" and "the worst experience of their careers."With ridiculous demands for the film to be shot chronologically and only in natural light, it's really not surprising the expected eighty day schedule ended up lasting nine months, and therefore causing the production to cost thirty five million dollars over budget. However, this all seems to have been worth it in the end as it rises to the top of the UK box office only five days after it's release; taking the top spot from Star Wars: Epsiode VII - The Force Awakens. Set in 1820's Colonial America, 'The Revenant' portrays one man's struggle to survive a vicious winter; after being attacked by a bear, he is left for dead by a member of his own hunting team and therefore seeks revenge.

As Iñárritu teamed up with Emmanuel Lubezki again for The Revenant, the use of long shots was imminent, making it quite reminiscent of their 2014 production of Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance  which was shot of almost entirely long shots. With the use of a wide ranged lens; an almost fish-eyed effect is created when shooting close ups as seen in the images below. These sequences are significant to me because it adds to the illusion of realism and creates an incredible immersive atmosphere when watching it. The use of long shots and wide range that the new 6.5k ARRI camera captured, was able to make the film just look incredibly detailed and distinct; Robert Hardy noted how, "the combination of a massive 65mm-sized sensor, paired with some extremely wide Hasselblad 65 primes, creates an immense amount of depth in the frames." Needless to say that the equipment was put to good use, as we see some incredible establishing shots of the scenic mountains of Argentina. As aforementioned, the film was shot entirely using only natural light, which no doubt added to the captivation, as I know how tiresome and tedious lighting a scene can be; so to sustain an even harder struggle just to use natural lighting, most definitely deserves its praise.

Close up example in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)  
Close up example in The Revenant
One thing to note about the film, is that it is most definitely not for the fainthearted. There are many gruesome and blood-soaked scenes. Some of the most significant of these being a scene where DiCaprio's character named 'Hugh Glass', has to sleep in the hollowed out carcass of a horse, and another included his character eating the liver of a freshly slaughtered bison, which also was completely real as DiCaprio stated that, "when the scene came for him to eat the bison liver, they gave him this red gelatinous "pancake" that looked so unrealistic that he decided to eat the real thing in the scene. He admitted that he "would never, never do that again".

The editing of the film stood out to me; specifically in one particular scene towards the beginning of The Revenant where DiCaprio's character is laying beside his son and his breathing starts to cloud the camera lens; it then cuts to a slow moving shot of the clouds over the snowy mountains and the breathing becomes more prominent. This scene was totally engrossing as it created a calming yet beguiling ambiance. The heavy breathing from DiCaprio's character became a theme which became a representative of  the characters willingness to survive and endure whatever threatens his adventure through the harsh winter.

The main actor I believe needs praised for his role in The Revenant, is Domhnall Gleeson. Domhnall is an up and coming actor recently has starred in many big films including Ex Machina and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. His role as the Captain, was a character that lacked respect from the men who accompanied him yet he actively put their needs before his own. However Domhnall's performance added depth and significance to the character and he was able to make it believable. Domhnall is a fantastic actor and he most definitely derserves recognition. Leonardo DiCaprio has most definitely taken method acting to a whole new level for his role in The Revenant. There is no doubt that he put a tremendous effort into this role as he performed the majority of his own stunts, some of which included him learning to shoot a musket, build a fire, speak two Native American languages (Pawnee and Arikara), study with a doctor who specializes in ancient healing techniques and as aforementioned, eat a raw bison liver. Mark Kermode described these actions in his article for the observer saying: "Academy voters like to see their actors suffer, and there’s a tangible mondo tinge to scenes of Leo plunging into icy waters, being buried alive, chomping down on raw bison liver, and crawling into a still-warm animal carcass to sleep." However, although DiCaprio endured all these hardships for the making of The Revenant most of his role wasn't heavily dialogue based; all we saw was a lot of heavy breathing and grunting, and this doesn't portray the best of his acting abilities. Tom Hardy's role was a lot more dialogue based and therefore more meaty and the contrast in portraying their characters shone through because of it. Hardy was able to play the antagonist so well and Cassam Looch illustrates this in his article for the Metro: "His character manages to convey justifiable motives for some of the most horrendous actions imaginable...In their stand-offs, the Legend star draws you in and and leaves you on the edge of your seat. DiCaprio feels more like a passenger when on screen with others in this film."
I'd give The Revenant a 4/5 stars overall as it was a genuinely incredible experience as a film and I don't often feel that sense of inclusiveness. It was a two and a half hour immersive and captivating experience which is majorly due to the cinematography and editing. The film is not the thrill ride I had anticipated but I am glad it wasn't.  The fact that it wasn't heavily dialogue based allows the experience to become focused on the audio/visual aspect of the film which I believe should be given the praise it deserves.

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