DiCaprio bears up with superb performance in 'The Revenant'
The magnificently harsh “The Revenant” depicts nature's brutality with a poetic touch of visual grace, a work of such “you are there” immediacy that you might flinch as arrows whip through the air or grimace as an enraged bear rips a screaming man to pieces.
Two sounds will likely dominate every viewing of this movie. Gasp! and Arghh!
Two words already dominate practically every movie review written or broadcast since 20th Century Fox lifted its critics embargo on Dec. 4.
Visceral. Immersive.
Perfect adjectives to describe “The Revenant,” Alejandro G. Inarritu's dark and harrowing survival drama celebrating - or perhaps bemoaning - the power of raw vengeance to inspire a man to endure the unendurable.
Leonardo DiCaprio, never one to shrink from physically and psychologically challenging roles, plays real-life explorer Hugo Glass, who, near death after a horrific bear attack, sets out on a 200-mile quest through the 1820s Western wilderness to kill the man responsible for murdering his son.
That's the plot. Straightforward and simple. (Richard Harris' less graphic 1971 drama “Man in the Wilderness,” also based on Glass, possesses a similar plot.)
Inarritu, working from a sharp, dialogue-challenged screenplay (loosely based on Michael Punke's 2002 novel), reteams with his Oscar-winning “Birdman” cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki for a visually prowling motion picture experience.
In “Birdman,” Lubezki's seemingly seamless single-shot camera work called attention to itself in a self-consciously enjoyable way.
In “Revenant,” Lubezki's seemingly seamless single-shot sequences (aided by visual effects) drop us into the center of a scene and create the illusion we are in it with the actors, always aware and constantly looking around for danger.
The movie begins with dreamlike flashes of Glass' memories of his late Pawnee wife and son (fictional additions here) before a savage attack by Pawnee warriors almost wipes out a group of fur traders.
Glass escapes, as does his son (Forrest Goodluck) and several fur traders, among them young Jim Bridger (Will Poulter), judicious Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson) and the story's resident villain, John Fitzgerald (erstwhile “Mad Max” Tom Hardy, whose appearance, like his words, is barely recognized).
The restless natives want the traders dead. The hunt continues.
Fur is a huge business in America at this time, and Fitzgerald becomes the story's personification of raw capitalism, a corrupt character coldly caring only for cash.
Following Glass' run-in with a protective mother bear, Fitzgerald favors leaving the mauled explorer to die. He'll consider mercy killing, too.
Fitzgerald promises to care for the wounded Glass while the others take what few valued pelts they have and escape.
But once rid of witnesses, Fitzgerald murders Glass' son and leaves the explorer to die in his own shallow grave.
“The Revenant” (a dead person who comes back to life) gives DiCaprio a juicy, challenging character of few words, but many rich opportunities to go mad-dog crazy, grab viewers by their metaphorical throats, and finally nail the Best Actor Academy Award that has so far eluded him.
Sadly, the movie's two best stunner sequences have been blunted by trailers and TV commercials that show just enough to crush the element of surprise.
Still, Inarritu's gutsy, risky drama with its hard-boiled characters and vividly explicit acts of violence combines a classic Western revenge tale with the best camera work of the year.
Yes, it's visceral. And immersive.
“The Revenant”
★ ★ ★ ★
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Lukas Haas, Domhnall Gleeson, Paul Anderson
Directed by: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Other: A 20th Century Fox release. Rated R for language, nudity, sexual assault, violence. 156 minutes