NFL
By: Matt Overton
Imagine my luck, that the day after I returned from an international vacation, The Revenant was celebrating its tenth anniversary with an IMAX reissue. Of course, I stumbled upon the showtimes a few days beforehand. Even when I’m on a tropical island, my eyes gravitate towards the AMC Theaters app. Alejandro Iñárritu’s 2015 film is still a pretty big deal. Personally speaking, the fact that I have vivid memories of its release speaks to how big a deal it still is. Specifically, before my third eye [grasping the magic of cinema] was opened. The Revenant is especially notable because it scored Iñárritu back-to-back Best Director wins following Birdman in 2015. In addition, it serves as Leonardo DiCaprio’s singular Oscar.
We all know and love Hugh Glass at this point, right? An early 19th-century fur trapper, the man liked to live life RUGGEDLY. In an interview for this anniversary reissue, it was interesting to hear Iñárritu speak of Glass more as a historical figure than as his protagonist. He claims that, for the most part, he knows about the man, and much of his persona is mythology. The historiography on Glass is sparse, but there is enough to at least base a 160-minute film on, duh.
At first, The Revenant is a straightforward revenge film, but Iñárritu’s hand in it turns it into something more spiritual. If you know anything about its storied production. However, it quickly becomes clear why this film turned out to be so moving. The intense natural conditions, dedication to authenticity, real-world danger, and the extreme constraints imposed on the project. Many more factors contributed to the film’s unbelievable craft. The hardcore production matches the final product, too. I forgot how completely relentless and brutally bloody this film is throughout its runtime.
The execution of Iñárritu’s vision here is one of the most impressive directorial feats in cinema. Backing him up is an impressive ensemble of artists. In front of the camera, you have DiCaprio trying—and succeeding—so hard to win an Oscar. I mean that in jest, but the physical rigor of this role is truly astonishing. Like After Hours levels of comedic bad luck and misfortune. Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, and Will Poulter round out the leading characters. Each brings something distinct and engaging to the narrative. Behind the camera, legend Jack Fisk was designing the production around the most gorgeous natural environments, and Emmanuel Lubezki captures all that immaculate beauty perfectly.
One of the nice things about seeing such a significant film only once is that so much is forgotten in the interim. I was reminded of DiCaprio eating raw meat and then the Star Wars horse scene. Hopefully, no one was looking at the cameras and misinterpreted the giant smile on my face during that sequence—it was pure cinema, and I was in awe. So The Revenant validated its looming stature in my opinion, which has persisted since my first viewing ten years ago. Iñárritu accomplished something truly spectacular with this film, and it made for a thrilling IMAX experience.
