The Revenant- Review

What kept him going, surviving the harsh wilderness, withstanding the soul destroying chill, fighting relentless savage Rees tribe and the brutish nature while staring at death every time as a 19^th century fur trapper Glass(Leo), who was all but left to die, all alone? How many deaths he must have died in his journey from ‘dead’ back to life (that’s what Revenant means) just so he could have some moment of tranquil  by exacting revenge?  Is it the searing revenge, so consumed that reared within him every time he faced life threatening condition in the merciless expanse of nature, with danger lurking at every step? Is it his vision of his dead native American wife and his son and their philosophical nuggets that kept him going? Whatever it is, Glass endured it all with his superhuman life-force.   We can interpret it the way we want to; however, none can deny, Revenant is Leonardo Caprio’s one of the most nuanced performance till date.  A movie, where he barely spoke, and spoke in a pained murmur and crawled in agonising pain for most part of the film, defying death at every stride, he surely takes the movie to lofty heights.

Being mauled by a wild bear, his companions left him for dead while 2 of ‘em stayed to give him a fitting burial. His death was just a matter of chance, they knew. Even Glass (Leonardo) must have given up. However, fate had something else stored.  Watching helplessly his Native American son being murdered by one of the comrades, Fitzgerald, as he winced and wriggled in pain, spewing blood,  the idea to avenge his son’s death got etched in him feverishly; every moment from there on defined his uncompromising spirit of survival even when perils lurked nearby. And then, of course, you know he went through hell while shooting the film, with rest of the cast and crew. He ate that famous raw bison liver, slept in a horse carcass, wore pelts and practically crawled through half the film.  And he’s bearded, soaked in blood, bitter and flailing in pain.

The film holds you with a vice like grip from the first scene and doesn’t loosen it for even a while. Glass, in the survival saga of a lifetime, does everything to live, even if it means removing the innards of a horse, stripping off his clothes and snuggle inside a dead horse to escape terrible deathly cold- one of the arresting scenes you can’t take your eyes off.

A one time watch indeed.