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The Revenant
a Alejandro G. Inarritu film
Plot (Spoiler Alert)Set in the 1820s, Hugh Glass gets attacked by a bear and gets seriously injured and then sets out on a path across American wilderness through hundreds of miles after John Fitzgerald kills his son in front of him and leaves him for dead. Hugh Glass lost his wife years ago and now he has lost his son too and the only thing that gives him a reason to stay alive is to find John Fitzgerald and make him pay for what he has done. 
Blaine: Alejandro wanted to find something new that was outside his comfort zone. He feels you would have to be crazy to embark on a film like this. The physicality, the settings, the nature as a transformative experience is what he was looking for. Alejandro said everything about “The Revenant” was difficult because like the characters in the film, they had to go through very difficult weather while shooting, but they were rewarded by solving every problem of every day and that was a privilege to do. The first time I saw that bear scene and the bear would breath on Hugh Glass’ face, it felt like it was breathing on me. Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the most talented actors I know of and this character he plays, Hugh Glass, doesn't have a whole lot of dialog, moves like a predator, is badly wounded and he has vengeance in his system after seeing his son murdered right in front of him. Leonardo said “The Revenant" was the most challenging role he has ever done in his career because it was shot in location far from a the comforts of Hollywood studio. Leonardo DiCaprio said it took six months for him to grow the beard he has in the film and he stuck with it for a year after that. Leo’s character eats a bison’s liver in the film which was a real liver from a bison. What Leo wanted was it to look as real as it should. Leonardo would eat a raw bison flesh because a Native american actor he worked with would do that during rehearsal. My dad likes at the beginning of the film when it shows the flooded water running through trees, the shot looks down at the water and you can see the reflection of the trees. Then all of a sudden you see feet and guns come into the shot and they’re moving, the camera pans up to were you see the guys walking through the water and looking back. A lot of the cinematography work in “The Revenant” is handheld camera stuff like with a steady cam so they’re moving as the people are moving. My dad remembers seeing the TV trailers for “The Revenant” before we saw it and just being blown away by the shots and you could just tell that there was some incredible cinematography and some incredible action. When we saw the movie in the theater it was amazing to see how well done and beautiful it is. It’s hard to stop and say that’s a good shot because everything is a good shot. It’s cool how they make the shot in the first fight scene one long take. Director Alejandro G. Inarritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubenski had experimented on that kind of work when they did “Birdman” and like “Birdman”, they had to choreograph where they would be and move to and while the camera is running all the action has to come to it. There’s one shot in the film where DiCaprio is jumping up then jumping onto a horse and then the shot breaks away to a further distance shot of him riding away on the horse. There’s a shot with twilight on the mountains and snow is dimly lit, but as part of the scene you see light coming out of the snow cave where Hugh Glass is resting. There’s a large number of men on horses holding torches with flames crossing the stream, covered in snow in twilight. There is still kind of a blue sky, but you have all there torches reflecting to the water bellow them. At the very end when I see the blank look on Hugh Glass’ face, it makes me feel an empty feeling inside because that is probably what Hugh Glass is feeling inside him. The only two people he cared for so much in his life are gone and he got his revenge, now there’s nothing left for him to feel and I think that’s what you’re supposed to feel. My rating on “The Revenant” is five out of five stars. Alejandro G. Inarritu directing “The Revenant” 
Many thanks to my dad for helping me with this review The Revenant Cinematography Shots on Page 2 |