Movies
[Review] ‘The Revenant’ is a Flawless Epic Poem Personified Through Grisly Vengeance
Loosely based on the true story of Hugh Glass, with material mainly derived from Michael Punke’s best selling book, The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge, Birdman helmer Alejandro G. Inarritu’s latest feature recounts the tale of a man wronged by those close to him, and set on vengeance. Hugh Glass is a nineteenth century American explorer who sets out with his son, Hawk, on a hunting expedition with a group of beaver trappers during the harsh winter of the early frontier. While out surveying the territory on his own one day, Glass undergoes a gruesome mauling from a gigantic grizzly bear, and barely survives his severe wounds. After his crew finds and sews him up, they attempt to trek back home with Glass in tow, but with the trying weather, and the long journey ahead, Captain Andrew Henry decides to leave Glass behind. Assigning three men to watch after Glass until he heals, and give him a proper burial if he doesn’t, Captain Henry and the rest of the men travel on, with hopes that Glass will soon follow.
Glass’ condition seems to worsen as the days drag on, and it isn’t long before John Fitzgerald, one of the men sworn to protect his fallen comrade, decides to speed up the inevitable, by declaring Glass dead and leaving him in an open grave. Fitzgerald silences Glass’ son with a blade to the gut, and coerces his partner Jim Bridger into abandoning Glass and Hawk and heading back to camp. Alone in the frost-bitten wilderness, without weapons, food, or proper medical supplies, Hugh Glass attempts to carry on, fueled by sheer willpower and boiling rage, as he slowly makes his way hundreds of miles across the frozen terrain to track down those who left him for dead, and avenge his murdered son.
Shot in the cold of Canada, and then moved later to the icy lands of southern Argentina, Inarritu scouted for years to find the perfect filming locations, which had barely been touched by man. With the rapidly shifting climate, and the choice to only use natural light, filming was limited to a mere few hours per day, stretching out the shooting schedule to nearly a year, and testing the patience of the already tortured cast and crew. Nearly two dozen crew members quit or were fired from production, and one even went as far as to go on record as calling the experience, “A living Hell”. While some may argue that forcing your collaborators to suffer through temperatures as low as -25 degrees repeatedly over several months may be too extreme to be considered morally acceptable, in the end, the result of the trails that the men and women of The Revenant faced is a nearly flawless film that is so incredibly authentic to the time period that it feels more like a peek into early settler life than a project filmed by elite members of the industry.
Inarritu warned his actors beforehand that he would be pushing them to their physical and psychological limits in order to achieve the desired effect, and he made good on his promise. The freezing conditions and remote filming locations no doubt made for a more stressful experience for the actors, and the pain each man feels bleeds through to the screen, creating a rough and honest depiction of the day-to-day challenges of the lives of American settlers in the 1800s, and their Native American counterparts.
This is especially true for Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Hugh Glass, the man riddled with deadly injuries, but determined to plow through the merciless cold in pursuit of his old trapping companions. DiCaprio’s strained yet subdued performance of a man brought back to life through the power of seething hatred is easily the best work he’s ever done onscreen, and clearly, a large part of that is due to the horrors Inarritu forced him to endure. Whereas DiCaprio is usually found displaying extremely vocal characters, in this film, he only utters around fifteen lines of English dialogue, and remains almost completely silent through the majority of the runtime. By stepping out of his comfort zone, and taking on the role of the strong, silent man with a dark and secretive past, the emotions well up behind DiCaprio’s eyes, as he is limited to portray his agony through his mad temperament and weakened but determined physicality. Finally, Leo truly provides the performance for the Oscar that he’s sought after all these years.
The brutal yet beautifully romanticized depiction of early America in the 1800s is so honest and unforgiving that it paints an extremely accurate illustration of the time period, while also helping to create sympathy for the characters that exist within this world. As Hugh Glass drags himself from his shallow grave, digging his nails into the blood-soaked snow, the viewers become witness to the excruciating path to redemption that he must face, and can’t help but become enthralled and empathetic to Glass’ daunting plight. He may have entered the forest as a simple trapper out on his latest endeavor to retrieve fur to sell back home, but the man who fights tooth and nail to claw his way out of the woods is not the same man who entered. Hugh Glass died in that grave, and from the charred remains of his ashes, a new man arose in his place; a stronger, colder, wiser embodiment of Glass’ spirit, who will not fall prey to trickery again, and will not stop until he hunts down Fitzgerald and puts a knife where his heart should be.
In his starvation-induced hallucinations and dream sequences, Glass’ Native American wife appears to him, and coos gentle reminders of the trees, and their ability to withstand even the toughest of blizzard winds. Glass is the tree, and though he wavers in the presence of starvation, Indian pursuers who seek to kill him, and the grating climate, he shall not falter. Like an epic poem, Glass embarks on his odyssey to return to his men and wreak his vengeance, carrying with him, literally and figuratively, the spirit of the bear which he killed and barely survived. His branches shake and tremble, but his trunk is strong, and not even Fitzgerald’s burly winds can keep him at bay. Once conquered by the forest, he has engulfed and become the forest, and is now too large a force to be swallowed by Fitzgerald’s fading breeze.
Overall, The Revenant is an incredible revenge story about the perseverance and sheer will of a wronged man out for retribution, in a breathtaking film that’s just as emotionally investing as it is visually inspiring. Inarritu’s merciless depiction of early settler life not only sheds light on the cruel conditions men and women had to face in the New World, but also represents Native Americans in a genuine fashion, and provides a heavy commentary on the imperialism of the white man and his never-ending need to conquer all that he comes across. In this man versus man and man versus nature angle perspective of betrayal, vengeance, and excruciating circumstances, it quickly becomes clear that even if Glass does eventually meet up with and defeat his enemy, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll have a satisfactory ending, or that it will ward off the pain of losing the only part of his family that he had left. Inarritu’s latest is as heartbreaking as it is rousing; his powerful portrayal of the human spirit making this film, at least so far, the best of the year, and an obvious Oscar contender.
Movies
SCREAMBOX Investigates UFOs and Extraterrestrials: Several Documentaries Streaming Right Now!
As someone who is obsessed with UFOS (or more recently known as UAPs) and the concept of extraterrestrials, I love a good documentary. Sightings have been on the rise since the 1940s, with the atomic bomb seemingly acting as a catalyst for new visitors. But what are these UFOs/UAPs? Is there an explanation or are they simply beyond our explanation? Why are they here? Who are they? How much do our governments know? The questions are endless and so are the documentaries that attempt to uncover the secrets behind decades of sightings and alleged confrontations.
Whether you’re a seasoned viewer or new to the rabbit hole, there’s always a handful of interesting documentaries to get your neurons firing and leave you with sleepless nights. SCREAMBOX is investigating with the addition of several docs, all streaming now on the Bloody Disgusting-powered service. Here’s the breakdown:
Aliens (2021): Beam into this unidentified streaming documentary for a glimpse into Extraterrestrial life. Aliens are hypothetical life forms that may occur outside Earth or that did not originate on Earth.
Aliens Uncovered: Origins (2021): Before Area 51, hidden deep in the desert, the military discovered a hidden gem that helped them create Project Bluebook.
Aliens Uncovered: ET or Man-Made (2022): The crash of Roswell wasn’t meant for New Mexico. In 1947, a neighboring state had 3 major sightings that were swept under the rug.
Aliens Uncovered: The Golden Record (2023): In the late 70s, the US government launched a message to our distant neighbors.
Roswell (2021): This high-flying documentary examines the July 1947 crash of a United States Army Air Forces balloon at a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. Theories claim the crash was actually that of a flying saucer, but what is the truth?
Also check out:
The British UFO Files (2004): Since the 1940’s the British Government has been investigating the Flying Saucer phenomenon. High-ranking military and government personnel, speak out for the first time, offering unique eyewitness accounts and inside information.
Alien Abductions and Paranormal Sightings (2016): Amazing Footage and stories from real people as they reveal their personal encounters of being abducted by Aliens.
And do not miss Hellier (2019): A crew of paranormal researchers find themselves in a dying coal town, where a series of strange coincidences lead them to a decades-old mystery.
These documentaries join SCREAMBOX’s growing library of unique horror content, including Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, Here for Blood, Terrifier 2, RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop, Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, The Outwaters, Living with Chucky, Project Wolf Hunting, and Pennywise: The Story of IT.
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