Watched The Revenant (a person who has returned, especially supposedly from the dead. You're welcome.) by Senor Alejandro G.I. A ruthlessly violent, insanely brutal and chillingly intense period revenge drama set in the forbidding yet breathtaking American frontier. One can, I suppose, call it a Western revenge story -- it is exactly that at the heart of it -- for purposes of categorization. But that would be like calling the Porsche Carrera a 4-wheel automobile: factually correct but descriptively inadequate.
As with any revenge story, you are comforted by the knowledge that good will ultimately triumph over evil. Yet what keeps one riveted is the narration. And in the hands of Alejandro, this story comes alive and holds you tight in a slobbery bear hug (pun intended). (*Spoiler) The good in this movie - Leonardo Di Caprio - suffers serious carnage through most of the 156 minute-length to triumph over evil - played by Tom Hardy. He comes back, quite literally crawling out from a shallow grave, from the dead to mete out justice in the good old fashioned way. (*End spoiler) There are other characters too - the noble captain, the unwilling accomplice, the Indian Chief looking for his daughter, the soulless French captain, etc but they hardly register for this one is about Leo DC and his travails in pursuit of revenge.
The Revenant goes for the jugular from early on with a fantastically choreographed attack scene (if you liked the Normandy beach landing in Saving Private Ryan, this one will leave you with goosebumps) drags you through the frozen frontiers (shot in Alberta and Argentina), plunges the viewers into frigid rapids and leaves you exhausted on the bloody snow. But the piece de resistance (I have always fancied using this phrase) has to be the bear attack scene. The animal tries to make a meal out of Leonardo and even comes back for second servings. My wife had to actually turn her head away from the mauling going on the screen. Even after reading about it's making, the magic of the scene hasn't worn off. There is no shortage of blood and gore throughout the movie yet this was the most visceral of them all. No bears were harmed in the making of this scene but many viewers may now be permanently scarred. Chilling.
The landscape is forbidding and frozen. Men -- when they are not soaked in blood or coated in grime -- are wearing hides, consuming raw meat, cauterizing their gaping wounds and being brutes. The weather is unforgiving and makes living difficult and survival nearly impossible. And animals - dead, alive, cooked, uncooked, carved out - play a role throughout the movie. There is an unmistakable tone of rawness about the whole movie, perhaps as a vehicle to reflect on the times this is set in. And this helped lure me into the narration and set up an intimacy with the characters and their situations.
It must have been hell making this movie in the locales and the weather. And on the strength of this performance, this is perhaps Leo's best shot at taking home the best actor award at this years Academy Awards. Instead of a gift hamper, give him a piece of soap and run him a hot bath please. He needs it.
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In a strange coincidence, I happened to visit a museum of History of the American Southwest, the day after I watched The Revenant. The visit served up yet another reminder of the decline of the native American culture at the hands of more powerful invaders. Once free and proud to near extinction: a sad story. The visit added to the residual effects of the movie that were still gripping me strongly. I also happen to be reading The Masque of Africa - Glimpses of African Belief by V. S. Naipaul, my first VSN experience, by the way, that explores the effect of imported faiths - usurping, subverting and wiping out - on native religions and belief systems. Talk about coincidence!
As with any revenge story, you are comforted by the knowledge that good will ultimately triumph over evil. Yet what keeps one riveted is the narration. And in the hands of Alejandro, this story comes alive and holds you tight in a slobbery bear hug (pun intended). (*Spoiler) The good in this movie - Leonardo Di Caprio - suffers serious carnage through most of the 156 minute-length to triumph over evil - played by Tom Hardy. He comes back, quite literally crawling out from a shallow grave, from the dead to mete out justice in the good old fashioned way. (*End spoiler) There are other characters too - the noble captain, the unwilling accomplice, the Indian Chief looking for his daughter, the soulless French captain, etc but they hardly register for this one is about Leo DC and his travails in pursuit of revenge.
The Revenant goes for the jugular from early on with a fantastically choreographed attack scene (if you liked the Normandy beach landing in Saving Private Ryan, this one will leave you with goosebumps) drags you through the frozen frontiers (shot in Alberta and Argentina), plunges the viewers into frigid rapids and leaves you exhausted on the bloody snow. But the piece de resistance (I have always fancied using this phrase) has to be the bear attack scene. The animal tries to make a meal out of Leonardo and even comes back for second servings. My wife had to actually turn her head away from the mauling going on the screen. Even after reading about it's making, the magic of the scene hasn't worn off. There is no shortage of blood and gore throughout the movie yet this was the most visceral of them all. No bears were harmed in the making of this scene but many viewers may now be permanently scarred. Chilling.
The landscape is forbidding and frozen. Men -- when they are not soaked in blood or coated in grime -- are wearing hides, consuming raw meat, cauterizing their gaping wounds and being brutes. The weather is unforgiving and makes living difficult and survival nearly impossible. And animals - dead, alive, cooked, uncooked, carved out - play a role throughout the movie. There is an unmistakable tone of rawness about the whole movie, perhaps as a vehicle to reflect on the times this is set in. And this helped lure me into the narration and set up an intimacy with the characters and their situations.
It must have been hell making this movie in the locales and the weather. And on the strength of this performance, this is perhaps Leo's best shot at taking home the best actor award at this years Academy Awards. Instead of a gift hamper, give him a piece of soap and run him a hot bath please. He needs it.
------
In a strange coincidence, I happened to visit a museum of History of the American Southwest, the day after I watched The Revenant. The visit served up yet another reminder of the decline of the native American culture at the hands of more powerful invaders. Once free and proud to near extinction: a sad story. The visit added to the residual effects of the movie that were still gripping me strongly. I also happen to be reading The Masque of Africa - Glimpses of African Belief by V. S. Naipaul, my first VSN experience, by the way, that explores the effect of imported faiths - usurping, subverting and wiping out - on native religions and belief systems. Talk about coincidence!
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