The Revenant

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Alejandro Inarritu/Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, Forrest Goodluck, Duane Howard and Melaw Nakehk'o

Another eagerly-anticipated film from late 2015, which is only now making its way to screens nation-wide, is Alejandro Inarritu's extraordinary The Revenant. The trailer alone promised adventure, amazing visual sweeps of snowy mountains and frozen frontier, as well as a juicy revenge tale; not to mention a harrowing bear attack (more on that later). I am pleased to say Inarritu has delivered one of 2015's very best films. He is on a roll now; his preceding effort being the excellent Birdman. Though Tarantino's The Hateful Eight was filmed in 70mm--very few scenes in that film warranted a higher film gauge--The Revenant would have been a more suitable candidate for that visual format.
As for the story itself, Inarritu's film is a compelling depiction of nature's dual personality; its beauty and savagery.

Based partly on actual events and Michael Punke's novel of the same name, Inarritu's film tells the story of the legendary Hugh Glass (Leonardo Dicaprio), a guide and trapper during the early 1820s' who joined a fur-trapping and trading expedition along the Missouri River, which spans Montana and North and South Dakota. Hired as the expedition guide, Glass' knowledge of the terrain is prized by the expedition leader Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson), as well as other trappers. Accompanying Glass and the expedition is Glass' half-Pawnee son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck).

When the story begins, the expedition's camp is a bustle of activity as we see animal skins being severed from carcasses and stored thereafter in large sacks. While the men busy themselves about the camp, Glass and Hawk hunt in the forest. Unbeknownst to them, the camp has been attacked by Arikara tribe warriors, whose angry leader searches for his abducted daughter. Glass and Hawk return to camp to join the fight. Aware they're outnumbered, the expedition's survivors make haste for their boat just before being overrun.

Racing away down river from the Arikara, Glass advises the Captain that the boat must be abandoned for an overland trek back to the fort. The plan is mocked by John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), the expedition's malcontent. Knowing the journey back to the fort will be impossible with the large sacks of animal pelts, the Captain advises the men to hide their take until they can return for them. The men set the boat back on the river to drift downstream to deceive the pursuing Arikara.

Though the Arikara seem to be the story's hostile antagonists, we also see events from their point of view as Elk Dog's (Duane Howard) violent actions are prompted by valid motivations. Allied with the Arikara is a competing French fur-trapping expedition. In a scene where Elk Dog pleads with the French expedition leader for more guns and horses, we get a sense of how native tribes were bullied and exploited. When Elk Dog's request is met with a petulant refusal, he reminds the French leader how the white men have taken so much from them.

While the American fur-trappers set out for the fort, Glass encounters a pair of grizzly cubs in the forest. Before he can wander away he hears an ominous sound which turns out to be a charging mother grizzly. What may become the most talked about sequence in the film is Glass' mauling, which is interrupted when the hulking, ursine attacker becomes convinced of his prey's death. As Glass lies still; battered and beaten; the grizzly rests a massive paw on his head, which elicits a groan. When the mother grizzly returns to her young, Glass reaches for his rifle. When she returns, Glass shoots her in the shoulder, inciting her to greater viciousness. Seeing her wound, Glass plunges his knife repeatedly into her wound until she stops her attack. He rolls down the hill into a gully, where the dead grizzly follows soon after, pinning Glass to the ground.
The party finds him soon after, only to become aware of his severe and life-threatening wounds. Fitzgerald, hardly a compassionate soul, suggests they put him out of his misery; a comment that elicits disgust from the Captain, who draws on his medical experience to treat Glass' wounds. The Captain nearly executes Glass until his conscience gets the better of him. Needing to press onward to escape the wintry cold and the Arikara, the Captain asks for volunteers to remain behind to bury Glass if the need arises. Though Hawk's decision is a given, both Bridger (Will Poulter) and Fitzgerald stay behind. But we see Fitzgerald has no intention of sticking around to watch over Glass. When Bridger and Hawk step away from Glass, Fitzgerald sees an opportunity to kill him but is thwarted by Hawk. In trying to fight off Fitzgerald, Hawk is stabbed to death while Glass looks on helplessly; unable to speak or be heard. Fitzgerald hauls off Hawk's body into the forest to hide his treacherous act. When Bridger returns, Fitzgerald lies to him about Hawk's whereabouts. He also lies about an advancing party of Arikara, which prompts a quick departure but not before Fitzgerald drags Glass' body into a shallow grave previously dug, where he shoves a thin coating of dirt over the body; leaving the face exposed. Bridger, feeling pangs of guilt and remorse for leaving Glass behind, reluctantly joins Fitzgerald in his flight; believing all he is told about Hawk's disappearance and Glass' imminent death.

Though his condition be dire, Glass survives and begins to crawl away; a bleeding wound in his neck and a broken leg his most salient problems.

Eager to exact revenge for his son's death, much of the film becomes Glass' struggle to return to the fort and survive, which is made all the more difficult by his lack of survival gear; his gun and supplies having been lifted by Fitzgerald. His journey back to the fort is nothing less than harrowing and thrilling, as the pursuing Arikara, the bitter cold and the absence of food all conspire against him.
Along the way, Glass is haunted by the specter of his deceased Pawnee wife. We see in flashback how she and her tribe were slaughtered by French soldiers while Glass and a young Hawk manage to escape.

Some of the film's most indelible images are seen in Glass' journey; spectacular mountains; staggeringly beautiful shots of the snow-covered landscapes and the grim images of European and American depredations. A startling shot of Glass standing before a pyramidal mound of perfectly-placed bison skulls is eloquent commentary on the rapaciousness of white hunters and an ominous harbinger of what awaits the American frontier. Glass' desperate efforts to return to the fort make for some of the film's most gripping moments, as narrow, death-defying escapes and the constant search for food provide searing drama.

Fitzgerald's deception is eventually discovered after he and Bridgers return to the fort, which prompts his flight and a robbery of the safe in the Captain's office. The search for Fitzgerald serves as the film's riveting, climactic finale.

I thought I had already seen the year's best films until Inarritu's made an 11th hour appearance. Not a tedious, gratuitous moment is to be found in its formidable 158 minutes. Accompanying the striking images is a brilliantly plotted story that never flags for a second.

Though excellent performances are a norm in the film, it is difficult not to single out DiCaprio and Hardy's acting. Much of DiCaprio's performance is physical. Crawling through snowy production locales in Canada, Argentina and Montana couldn't have been easy. It isn't often that we see Native American actors in any films but they too make a tremendous impact. Forrest Goodluck's Hawk is fully Pawnee in appearance but is very much American in manner and expression. Duane Howard's Elk Dog shows terrific nuance; his seeming violent implacability is tempered by his compassionate resolve.

My earlier comment about Terrence Malik is apt. Inarittu's cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki also served as cinematographer on Malick's Tree of Life and The New World; other films where his powerful aesthetic was in evidence. The Revenant would be worth seeing for the images alone.

Inarritu's film is masterful. I haven't been able to shake it since I saw it recently and I doubt I'll be able to forget it anytime soon. It will be necessary to see it again on the big screen; one viewing seems woefully insufficient.