'The Revenant' - Movie Review

The RevenantA ActiondramaDir Alejandro Gonzalez InarrituCast Leonardo DiCaprio Tom HardyRatingThe dictionary meaning of The Revenant is a man who returns and thats true of this movie in more ways than one The story based in part on the novel by Michael Punke is epic in nature and allows for an indepth reverence to one man mdash Hugh Glass Leonardo DiCaprio the fur traderexplorer who works for the Rocky Mountain Fur Co skillfully guiding beaver trappers deep into hostile terrainLeonardo DiCaprio in a still from the filmThe film is about endurance survival skills and the extraordinary power of the human spirit to sustain through the most variable conditions The screenplay by Mark L Smith goes well beyond the book to fashion a trial by fire so to speak in order to make its hero emerge both triumphant and near impregnableBut Glass is not the only one who returns with this film Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu too after the huge critical success of Birdman last year has another Oscar awaiting him this year while DiCaprio as Glass has come up with a performance of such magnitude that even the Academy might not dare to show him the doorInarrittu stages an assault in the opening moments itself Glass and his group of fur trappers who are on an expedition of the uncharted American wilderness are attacked by Native Americans looking for their leaders kidnapped daughter Hawk Forrest Goodluck is Glass halfnative son so his affinity with them does manage a reprieveThe expedition is now low on men and being hunted by the enemy to boot so Andrew Henry Domhnall Gleeson the leader decides to backtrack to base mdash a fort set in a snowy wildernessMeanwhile Glass is attacked by a bear which is the highlight of the film and left for dead by members of his hunting team The conditions are close to unendurable and the killers are close so Fitzerald Hawk and Bridger Will Poulter are assigned to stay with him and give him a decent burial when the time comesEgged on by his indomitable will and love of his family he finds a way to survive the challenges that both nature and his compatriots throw at him Punkes 2002 factbased novel is set in 182324 inthe territories that now make up the Dakotas Montana Wyoming and Nebraska The film keeps the timeframe and geography vague while faithfully rendering the heartstopping experience of that battle with deathInarrittu fashions a narrative that is both artistic real as well as viscerally haunting Imannuel Lubezkis camerawork is strongly atmospheric and conveys the harrowing experience in an artistic halo conspired from nature itself That realism permeates through the screen right into the theatre The visuals are simply breathtakingDiCaprio gives the film his all conveying courage desperation steely determination and unceasing resilience making it look like he himself was going through that struggle The other troopers in the film do well in their smallish roles too The music by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto lends a beautiful undertone to the moments on screenWe have seen many man versus nature endurance films in the past including recent ones like Everest The Martian and In The Heart Of The Sea The Revenant however scores much higher in terms of depth vision adventure and extraordinary circumstance The film has such stunning impact that it can leave you reeling several hours after its runtime