A 'revenant' is someone who came back from the dead, and boy, what a comeback from the dead that was!
I thought I was done seeing blood and body parts in movies this month. Last week, in Quentin Tarantino's Hateful Eight, in almost every other scene, there was spilling of blood from Type A to Z, and I was relieved when that movie was over.
But I guess my quota for spilt blood wasn't reached yet. On the first few minutes of The Revenant, the Arikara Indians had their own version of a real killing spree of 'white' men, which made Tarantino's bloody scenes look like a high school reunion. Ha-ha-ha! And those Arikara Indians really knew their bow and arrows. Catniss Everdeen would have been relegated to a beginner, unless she could shoot while riding a galloping horse half-naked.
The Revenant is a real story of Hugh Glass, played by Leonardo diCaprio, who was a hunter, explorer and frontiersman in the 1800s, and who was left for dead by his companions in the wilderness. His torturous journey back to his outpost half-dead, full of broken bones and covered with Frankenstein's monster-like stitches in order to avenge the murder of his son makes up the core of the film. Yes, you will be cringing in your seat, too, but it will be worth the cringe because The Revenant is a must-watch movie. With all its 12 Oscar nominations, including best picture, best actor and best director, it will become one of the all-time best.
His journey back to the outpost over mountains, rivers and merciless Indians included crawling, swimming, walking, riding a horse and begging for food, which all made Reese Witherspoon's thousand-mile trek along the Pacific Crest Trail in the movie Wild look like a stroll along Rodeo Drive.
In this film, Leonardo got mauled by a grizzly, got sown together without anesthesia, forced to swim in the freezing rapids and fell of a cliff. So, if this performance doesn't win him an Oscar, I don't know what role ever will.
He'll win; don't worry, together with Tom Hardy, the bad guy, for best supporting actor.
So, if you have time to squeeze in a movie this freezing weekend, The Revenant it should be.
I don't know if this movie is too rough for me to see; you make it sound excellent. We enjoyed The Martian and Matt Damon may be up for an Oscar too.
ReplyDeleteMatt Damon was so very good in The Martian, which I found very funny. But I suggest you watch The Revenant; you can just close your eyes during the scenes with the grizzly bear and a few minutes after that.
DeleteNicely done and entertaining review, and I can't wait to see it. Sometime I wish I could've been an explorer in the American West back in the early 1800's, but I am sure all the dangers kept the average lifespan pretty low. Looking forward to reading more of your blog, I can't wait till the next time my wife and daughter and I get back to the Philippines.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Those frontiers movies like 'Dances with Wolves' and 'The Last of the Mohicans' educated me on how it was in Colonial North America.
Delete