The Revenant

The Revenant is beautiful, and epic, and glorious unlike anything else you will see this year. It will be a criminal shame if the Academy doesn't call its name for Best Picture, Director, and Actor.

The Revenant refers to a return after death. An apparition, or a haunting. A fitting title for a story so hinged on the idea of nothing left to lose. Based on the novel by Michael Punke, its roots are non-fiction, but historical accuracy is speculative. Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a frontiersman in the 1820's. Braving the elements and savage landscape, he leads a US Military group collecting fur, and the stakes are high for such a minimal return. Lives are lost daily through conflict with First People, or the treachery of Mother Nature. In a shockingly realistic scene, Hugh is mauled by a bear and left to either heal or die, with Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and Bridger (Will Poulter) left to tend to his fate. Strong personalities clash, and Hugh is abandoned, and what transpires is one of the more visceral tales of survival and revenge that I have witnessed on film.

Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is in a class his own. Having won last year's coveted Best Director statue for Birdman, he has done something unconventional and truly remarkable. Filming using only natural light, the setting of The Revenant is pure. Filmed in Canada and Alaska, there is a beauty and a chilliness that permeates through the screen, and with minimal visual effects, the actors take on the brunt of the harsh elements. This is where it transcends film and becomes an epic tale. The actors are in bone-chilling water, trekking through snow, foraging through the forest for food in a primal, almost Neanderthal display of survival. Tom Hardy is great, but Leonardo DiCaprio is flawless in his method acting.

DiCaprio's performance puts him on the threshold of the greatest iconic thespians of our time. He is simply the best contemporary actor around today, at the level of Daniel Day-Lewis and no other. There aren't words to describe his range and commitment on this project, and the end result, when coupled with a compelling story and a visionary director, is nothing short of breathtaking. Whether he is swimming in an icy river, eating raw fish or buffalo liver, climbing into an animal carcass to stay warm (Empire Strikes Back comes to mind), or just staring with his cold, blue eyes, it is amazing.

From the opening scene, delivered sans cuts, it is a ballet of movement and sounds. The camera weaves through men just as an attack stirs them from their comfort. The nonchalance of violence gives the audience a taste of just how cold and callous the times were. This is Inarritu's gift. He conveys the emotions of the men, the time, and the place through the lens of his camera in a way that few can.

Not to marginalize the other actors, but this film will stand on Leo's performance. I can't possibly find anything flawed about the film other than there are some sequences that take a bit too much screen time. Terrence Malik would be proud of the effort, but otherwise, it is absolutely brilliant, all around. Tom Hardy is deserving of some praise as well, as the cynical and heartless fur trader who earns an enemy or two by the end of the story. I would put him in the Supporting Actor race, but it holds stiff competition this year.

After reading the novel, I was excited for this adaptation, but there were quite a few deviations that may or may not have enhanced the strength of the story. We will never know, but it truly doesn't matter. The Revenant is the best film of the year. 10/10.