Acclaimed Mexican director Alejandro Iñárritu has stepped out from the canned stage lights and into the natural light. Going from the backstage existential crisis of BIRDMAN to the frigid survival in the wild of THE REVENANT is quite a change of scenery. In the months leading up to the film, it seemed that that was what everyone was talking about. Iñárritu and DiCaprio were teaming up and filming a raw and intense movie out in the middle of nowhere. What a drastic change of pace for them both. In interviews and featurettes, the physical and mental hardships surrounding the production were highlighted, occupying the spotlight more than anything else.
THE REVENANT truly is breathtaking. The snowy landscapes are awe-inspiring. The performances are palpable. The action is gritty and fierce. Emmanuel Lubezki’s camerawork catches every heavy breath on camera. Iñárritu rubs your nose in the mud for over 2 and a half hours. Take that as a warning if you will. To me, I say warning, not because most people can’t handle the violence or “the gritty realism” – because I think most absolutely can – but because that’s what you’re getting for 156 minutes. Is it well done? Yes. Is it a brutish film that revels in its wolfish journey? Yes; perhaps even a little too much.
While on an exhibition out West, American Explorer Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is nearly killed by a bear and left for dead by members of his team of fur trappers. Led by John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), the team deserts Glass in a shallow grave and ventures forth on their journey home. Injured but alive, Glass awakens and struggles to crawl, climb, and fight his way through the hostile wilderness, blanketed in a harsh winter. All this, in the pursuit of vengeance and redemption.
DiCaprio and Hardy could be sitting across from each other doing crossword puzzles and they would still be captivating to watch. Unfortunately for the two of them, THE REVENANT doesn’t give them as easy of a job as that. But as you would expect, both of these extremely talented actors are up to the challenge. You might need subtitles to understand some of what Hardy and his fellow fur trappers are saying, however, you can understand their sentiments through their facial expressions and actions.
The film’s intensity is astounding, but also, a smidge distracting. This is mostly due to the camerawork. Lubezki jumps between extreme close-ups of faces and upward camera shots (practically looking up the actors’ noses) to long takes that at times adds a heightened reality to the action, while other times it feels like a director and a cinematographer showing their hand too much. Some of it even becomes dizzying as some shots go on for several minutes at a time. I suspect some of this camera trickery is used to distract from the laborious affair of watching poor, injured Leo slowly trek across the landscape. Especially in the middle section, slow is the keyword. Leo’s journey across the icy landscape was so long that Morgan Freeman should have narrated it (and maybe adding a penguin or two couldn’t have hurt).
Mostly though, THE REVENANT is a revenge film masked as a deeper Terrence Malick character study. There’s no deep internal revelations or subtext at work, even though at times it makes you think there is. Long shots of our tragic hero are shown looking out into the distance, intercut with allusions of a past life. Moments like these attempt to add depth to his mission, but fail to add weight to the story. It’s a revenge film, but Iñárritu tries so, so hard to make it appear and feel like more than that. I could see this story as a Charles Bronson film from the 70s, but it wouldn’t have been over 2 and a half hours. Just call the film what it is. Don’t try to dress it up as something it’s not. Don’t attempt to recall Malick when you made a borderline exploitation revenge flick – complete with an unnecessary aftermath shot of a woman’s vengeful scorn on a male’s genitals and other gratuitous bloody shots.
There’s a Buster Keaton film from 1925 called SEVEN CHANCES. At the end of the film, the director/star tumbles down long dusty hills, jumps off a cliff into a tree, and is chased by an avalanche of boulders. He gets put through the ringer as “nature” almost stands in the way of our affable hero’s goal. You will most likely be slack-jawed at the physical exertion Keaton must have gone through to film it. That being said, the sequence is only 4 minutes long. THE REVENANT is a similar sequence but for much longer. Drawing out the thrills and spills for that long begins to feel tiresome. It’s visceral cinema done excruciatingly well. However, it’s a “B-movie” setup struggling with all its might to get in the “A-movie” spotlight.
