I thought Biutiful was a better film than Birdman. Most critics didn't care much for Biutiful and, as we all know, Birdman was adored and won the Best Picture Oscar. I thought Birdman was the worst film of 2014, so I'm probably the only one on earth that thinks Alejandro Inarritu has redeemed himself with The Revenant, a nineteenth century Terrence Malick-esque revenge drama set in the frozen wilderness of somewhere cold (the film was shot mostly in Canada, though the film keeps this a mystery).
Inarritu has always been one of the directors I most admired. Even with misfires like Birdman (an ugly, hate-filled, confounding mess) and 21 Grams (a dull, depressing slog) on his resume, he at least always tries new things and his films surprise, excite, and intrigue you. I've always looked forward to seeing his new pictures. And The Revenant is his best picture since Amores Perros.
The film is based on the true life of Hugh Glass, a man that lived through such an outrageously wild ordeal during a fur-trading job out on the frontier that it's almost too ridiculous to believe. His story was told so much over the years that it became legend. Who really knows if most of it really happened or not, but certainly the book the film is loosely adapted from, The Revenant by Michael Punke, and the plot and characters in the film, are embellished for dramatic effect. And while it is a great story, the story really isn't the reason that this is a good film. Inarritu went Apocalypse Now on this film. Ten members of the crew either quit or were fired. The budget ballooned from $65 to $165 million. They filmed this in extremely cold, extremely far-off, Mountainous forests. They only shot with actual sunlight. The one big battle scene apparently took twenty days to set-up and shoot (most of the film is done in long takes). All of this craziness ultimately paid off. This is one of the most gorgeous looking films ever made. And it also features some of the best action scenes put on film. At two and a half hours, it's not entertainment for the masses, however. This is definitely an art-house Western. Inarritu must enjoy Terrence Malick's films, because it has Malick's fingerprints over the whole thing. The endless shots of trees, sunsets, rivers, animals. The hushed-voiced poetry. The moderately silly death/life/love dream sequences. What it does have that Inarritu has added, though, is brutality and ferocity. Amidst the beautiful frozen tundra is a bloody revenge picture. Arrows in heads, bear attacks, rape, raw fish devouring. This is as hardcore as it gets. Survival of the fittest!
Leonardo DiCaprio, as Hugh Glass, is adequate, but it's Tom Hardy as the villainous, half-scalped Texan that steals the show. He's about as unrecognizable as he usually is, but he just totally immerses himself in the tough, dirty, redneck. His voice slithers with evil and he's like that typical asshole you're stuck at work with and really want to punch in the face.
With a stellar performance by Hardy, some amazingly filmed action sequences, and a plethora of beautifully shot landscapes, The Revanant is truly one of the best films of the year. There's not a hell of a lot of story here, but if you like visuals then you'll agree that this is definitely a high water mark in the world of film making. Perhaps Innaritu got his Oscar a year too early? ***1/2
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