The Revenant (directed by A.G. Iñárritu)
starring Domnhall Gleeson, Tom Hardy and Leonardo DiCaprio (etc.)
2015
This film contains a rich trove of contemporary talent. Of its many scenes, each as diverse and poignant a vignette as those which precede or follow, not one lacks character. They saunter and stretch among one another with supple ease, like the bellows of an accordion, each accorded a role to specially galvanise the audience with its invaluable visuals and each fixedly and faithfully remaining in its allotted space, therefore forming a series of shots which could not be appreciated in any other order. From scenes in which there are but moments of silent, skyward-bound views of forest canopies and brittle, frost-cloaked fields to those which teem with primitive tensions and the raw, beautiful dramatics of nature, there brews a singular, unified voice of a man who is just as much fighting to survive as he is surviving to fight. Played by the wonderful DiCaprio, Hugh Glass is forced to not only trudge through harsh seasonal conditions and unimaginable, unfortunate events, but equally through the torturous and often unseen turmoils of human nature. The film illustrates his journey in various shades dependant upon Glass’ state of mind, something which is nearly always fringed with a shadow of hopelessness, however slimly. The shades are brilliantly translated through subtle cinematic effects such as focused lighting or detail, snippets of muffled, distant dialogue and even stills of complete stillness. The Revenant is a work of art in that it behaves as an open threshold to pure, un-trimmed emotion. Its creation is composed of a pool of efforts which pay homage to one whose personal conviction to avenge the loss of his wife and son deserves nothing less. As the last scene suggests, Hugh Glass chooses to live beyond death so long as he faces it directly and fearlessly, and so long as he strives to breathe.
