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A revenant is another word for a reanimated corpse, or a specter, that haunts or terrifies the living. The film The Revenant shows that, and much more.
The film wastes little time in plunging the viewers into the heart of the American frontier, 1823. The grueling action starts off hard with a massive skirmish between trappers and Arikawa Indians, which is a dizzying sequence of death and mayhem as it is. From then on, the film maintains a grim and desperate tone, as the characters struggle against the elements, more natives, and eventually each other. Inevitably, it builds up to a simple revenge story - one man crawls his way across the harsh wilderness and defies death, until he comes face-to-face with his enemy, and a showdown is inevitable.
This is as much of a hellish journey as films like Apocalypto or Children of Men. These are all grim tales that underscores savagery, but they are also experiences that have to be witnessed to be fully understood. The Revenant is as powerful of an experience, thanks to its slick combination of style and substance. The style is a sight to behold - as gray and dark as the films looks, it is ordained with beautiful natural landscapes. It is all captured with the most impressive photography, with a camera that moves organically with each scene and often gets really close and personal with each character and object. It's a similar cinematic style to Valhalla Rising, complete with the occasional dream sequence or flashback that feels like a spiritual vision rather than part of the gritty reality the film is set in.
As far as the substance goes, it's pretty easy to follow Hugh Glass' journey. The camera sticks close enough to him that we can all the pain and suffering he endures, emotionally and physically. The distance is so intimate, you can almost feel the coldness of the snow or the texture of the dirt in his face - one can't help but to develop some kind of empathy for him. Through the man's figurative death and rebirth, strong themes are repeated, almost like a chant in some scenes - strength of the human body and spirit resonate through Leonardo DiCaprio's achingly-convincing performance. Tom Hardy is a guy so cruel, he becomes a loathsome villain we love to hate, which provides the materialistic and selfish counterbalance to the hero. As their conflict and pursuits continue through a living, breathing natural world, themes of vengeance are explored, and ultimately twisted in ways that highlight a greater spiritual truth. Like any good western, the film suggests a very thin line between civilization and savagery. In The Revenant, it may seem that everybody is a savage, but there may be some hope in the end that there is more to a human soul.
This film was crafted with exquisite digital photography, across multiple continents in real locations. Most of the lighting was natural. The actors trudged through real snow and dirt for nine months of shooting. DiCaprio, despite being a vegetarian, ate real bison liver in one scene, and crawled into a real horse carcass in another. That's how real and dedicated this whole production was. All of the props and costumes look so vivid and real, they could put Weta Workshop to shame. Few CGI effects are used, and they take little away from the film's immersion - one particular scene with a grizzly bear maintains incredible tension despite the effects. Performances are great, writing is not bad, and Ryuichi Sakamoto's music score is beautiful.
The Revenant may be long and pretty simple in its plot, and it bears nothing in common with the real-life events that inspired it. But it is a powerful, evocative experience the likes of which I've seen in few other films. It's just as intense as I imagined it would be, but I wasn't prepared for how beautiful it is, and how deep its themes and tone resonate. If you can handle the length and brutality of it, the film must be experienced.
5/5
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