The Revenant (2015) review

Over the past few years, Leonardo DiCaprio has established himself as one of the best actors in the business, with plenty of great performances in films like ‘Inception’, ‘Django Unchained’, and his numerous collaborations with director Martin Scorsese in films like ‘The Departed’ and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. However, all of that success has yet to earn him a win at the biggest award circuit in the industry; the Academy Awards. He’s been nominated four times in the past, once for Best Supporting Actor for 1993’s ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’ and three times for Best Actor for 2004’s ‘The Aviator’, 2006’s ‘Blood Diamond’, and ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ in 2013, but has come up empty-handed every time. Leo’s unlucky streak at the Oscars has practically become a running gag amongst film fans on the internet to the point where some have joked that it’s more likely that someone else is going to get an Oscar for playing Leo in a film than Leo actually winning one himself. But this year could finally end Leo’s Oscar drought with his latest performance in ‘The Revenant’, inspired by the real-life experiences of frontiersman Hugh Glass in 1823 in the Great Plains. It certainly has the team behind it, as the film is directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu, who’s fresh off of winning the Oscar for Best Director for his work on last year’s Best Picture winner ‘Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)’. And while I can’t really say that this is the best of this year’s Best Picture nominees, primarily due to the film occasionally straying far from the actual story of Hugh Glass, DiCaprio truly does shine in this intense but beautifully shot tale of survival.

In 1823, frontiersman Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is part of a team of trappers led by Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson) hunting for pelts in the unorganized U.S. territory that would eventually go on to become the Dakotas. When the party is suddenly attacked and forced to flee downriver from a group of Arikara Natives, Glass recommends that the party return to their outpost, Fort Kiowa, on foot, which they do at the expense of having to ditch the pelts that they’ve acquired. But while scouting ahead, Glass is suddenly attacked and viciously mauled by a grizzly bear. Near-death and after being transported on stretcher by the party for a little while, he is left behind along with fellow trappers John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and Jim Bridger (Will Poulter) and Glass’ half-native son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) when Fitzgerald suggests that Glass won’t survive his injuries. But that only results in Fitzgerald trying to kill Glass himself, which then leads to him killing Hawk and lying to Bridger in order to help him bury Glass alive by telling him that the natives are nearby and that they must leave him there. Left for dead, the severely wounded Glass now finds himself on his own in the harsh forest landscape as he must now embark on a perilous journey in order to get back to his party and, more importantly, enact his revenge on Fitzgerald for both leaving him to die and for killing his son.

‘The Revenant’ is easily one of the most beautifully-shot films of the year. From the gorgeous landscape shots to the long takes that were a key part of Inarritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki’s last film ‘Birdman’ to the fact that the two decided to almost entirely shoot the film with natural lighting, this is one great-looking film. And while it meant that the film ended up being quite an arduous shoot that also went quite a bit over-budget, at the end of the day it was most definitely worth it if solely for this outstanding cinematography. This also results in a film that can obviously be very brutal at times in terms of its action, from the infamous scene where Glass is attacked by the bear to the climactic fight at the end which I won’t spoil the details of for anyone who hasn’t seen the film yet. These sequences are well-shot and put you right in the center of the action. Admittedly, though, for as well-shot as the film is, it does lack a bit in terms of emotional depth. Now don’t get me wrong, the film’s themes of survival are very prevalent throughout, which is most definitely admirable. But at the same time, the whole thing about Glass seeking revenge on Fitzgerald isn’t as strong, namely in regards to him avenging the death of his son at Fitzgerald’s hands. Spoiler Alert, the whole thing with the son is purely fictional. From what we know, Hugh Glass didn’t have a son or a wife, he was just pissed at Fitzgerald and Bridger for leaving him to die. So as a result, that part of the story feels pretty darn hollow because of the fact that it was 100% fabricated.

Leonardo DiCaprio has gone on record saying that this was ‘the hardest performance of his career’ and considering what happens in this film, I don’t blame him. After all, in this film his character goes through all sorts of hell and considering how rough the shoot must have been at times, the same could be said for what DiCaprio had to do while in the role. At one point he even had to eat raw bison meat while being a vegetarian in real life. This performance is no easy task and to put it simply, DiCaprio does endure to deliver an excellent performance as you’d expect from him nowadays. Equally excellent here is Tom Hardy in the role of Fitzgerald, who in a lot of ways is actually a much more layered character than one may think. While he may serve the role as this film’s antagonist given the fact that he’s the one who orchestrated Glass’ abandonment and was responsible for killing his fictional son, you actually do get where he’s coming from, as strange as that may sound. He clearly realized that the party wasn’t going to get very far carrying the critically wounded Glass through this harsh environment with a bunch of natives on their tail. So he did what he felt was the right thing to do; leave him on the grounds that he would probably soon succumb to his injuries in order to prevent the possibility of him and Bridger being killed by the pursuing natives. Because of this, Fitzgerald is more than just a straight-forward baddie and Tom Hardy handles this complex character perfectly. 

I’ll admit I didn’t actually read into the ‘true story’ behind this film until after seeing it and quite frankly, it’s a little disappointing that the film didn’t go all the way with it. Instead, the film adds in a fabricated story involving Glass and his fictional son which doesn’t really elicit as much emotional drama as it wants to. I for one feel that it would’ve be far more interesting for the film to be more focused on the true aspects of the story, especially in regards to how this conflict between Glass and Fitzgerald ultimately turned out. It’s different in the film and as cool as the conclusion of that conflict is between the two, I think the actual conclusion would’ve been much more thought-provoking, as it would’ve strengthened the moral predicament of Fitzgerald having to do what he did primarily due to the hostile environment that they were in while also showing that Glass never really did enact his revenge on Fitzgerald for leaving him to die. But on the bright side, ‘The Revenant’ does benefit from some amazing cinematography, solid direction from Inarritu, and terrific performances from its two leads, DiCaprio and Hardy. So in short, ‘The Revenant’ isn’t really my favorite of this year’s Best Picture nominees, mainly due to its issues in terms of its story. But at the very least, the film is still one of the best-looking films of the year so it does definitely deserve some Oscar attention from a technical standpoint. And who knows… this could finally be the film that breaks Leo’s cold streak at the Oscars. Seems like this year is the best opportunity for him to finally win that coveted golden man.

Rating: 4/5