Reverence for "The Revenant'

By Adam Pilskog

Beautiful, epic and glorious, "The RevenantGÇ¥ is unlike anything else you will see this year. It will be criminal if the Academy doesn't call its name for best picture, director and actor.

A revenant is a an apparition or corpse that returns after death to haunt the living, and is a fitting title for a story so hinged on the idea of nothing left to lose. Based on the novel by Michael Punke, its roots are nonfiction, but historical accuracy is speculative.

Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a frontiersman in the 1820s. Braving the elements and savage landscape, he leads a U.S. military group collecting fur, with high stakes and a minimal return.

Lives are lost daily through conflict with First People or the treachery of Mother Nature. In a shockingly realistic scene, a bear mauls Hugh, leaving him to either heal or die, with Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and Bridger (Will Poulter) left to tend to his fate. Strong personalities clash and Hugh is abandoned, and what transpires is one of the more visceral tales of survival and revenge that I have witnessed on film.

Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is in a class of his own. Having won last year's coveted Best Director statue for Birdman, he has done something unconventional and truly remarkable. Filming using only natural light, the setting of "The RevenantGÇ¥ is pure. Filmed in Canada and Alaska, there is a beauty and a chilliness that permeates through the screen, and with minimal visual effects, the actors take on the brunt of the harsh elements.

This is where it transcends film and becomes an epic tale. The actors are in bone-chilling water, trekking through snow, foraging through the forest for food in a primal, almost Neanderthal display of survival. Hardy is great, but DiCaprio is flawless in his method acting.

DiCaprio's performance puts him on the threshold of the greatest iconic thespians of our time. He is simply the best contemporary actor around today, at the level of Daniel Day-Lewis and no other. There aren't words to describe his range and commitment on this project, and the end result, when coupled with a compelling story and a visionary director, is nothing short of breathtaking. Whether he is swimming in an icy river, eating raw fish or buffalo liver, climbing into an animal carcass to stay warm ("Empire Strikes BackGÇ¥ comes to mind) or just staring with his cold, blue eyes, it is amazing.

From the opening scene, delivered sans cuts, it is a ballet of movement and sounds. The camera weaves through men just as an attack stirs them from their comfort. The nonchalance of violence gives the audience a taste of just how cold and callous the times were. This is Inarritu's gift. He conveys the emotions of the men, the time and place through the lens of his camera in a way that few can.

Not to marginalize the other actors, but this film will stand on Leo's performance. I can't possibly find anything flawed about the film other than there are some sequences that take a bit too much screen time. Terrence Malik would be proud of the effort, but otherwise, it is absolutely brilliant, all around. Hardy is also deserving of some praise, as the cynical and heartless fur trader who earns an enemy or two by the end of the story. I would put him in the supporting actor race, but it holds stiff competition this year.

After reading the novel, I was excited for this adaptation, but there were quite a few deviations that may or may not have enhanced the strength of the story. We will never know, but it truly doesn't matter. "The RevenantGÇ¥ is the best film of the year.