The Revenant (2016) - A Great Story Of Survival & Vengeance!

★★★★★

‘The Revenant’ is simply a spectacular in terms of boundary-pushing artistic camerawork by Director Alejandro G. Inarritu whose previous work ‘Birdman’ has proved that he’s a visionary guy who likes pushing the envelope to come up with something both extraordinary and revolutionary, plus the primal imagery and haunting score, ingenious actions, and raw great performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.

This is a story of survival and vengeance but it shows certain kind of beauty that you have to see it to feel it yourself. It wastes no time to get you in the action as it opens. It stays engrossing through and through, and leaves you a dramatic ending involving a brutal fight between two desperadoes so to speak, both physically and emotionally! The film’s of constant confident and accurate long takes swirling around the characters and over the snowy magnificent landscapes that make you feel like you’re not just watching it but actually in it experiencing the cold and harsh! On a technical basis, it’s superb and jaw-dropping, particularly the bear attack sequence that’s so absurdly real and excruciatingly terrifying that it’ll certainly stay in the back of your mind for quite some time!

I can’t help but wonder why some would give up on their lives so easily while there was this guy named Hugh Glass who had such a strong will to overcome the extreme and make it through the impossible. We’re all mentally troubled more or less. It’s true even if you don’t wanna concede it. But if you think of hurting either yourself or others as a solution to your problems, you’re in fact mentally ill already. You should seek professional help indeed. A mentally healthy being should have a will to survive no matter what, not to die!

We all must have something to hold on to and keep us going when shitty things happen and we’re losing heart, no matter if it’s something negative or positive. For DiCaprio’s Hugh Glass, it’s to avenge his son. But the truth is, a tooth for a tooth is never sweet. The sweetest revenge is, I guess, not to be like those you hate, but to set yourself apart from them. Pardon instead of punishment is the highest level of vengeance that only the wisest could really understand. I’m not sure if Glass has got it, but he seems to be awakening in the end!

‘The Revenant’ is a great story of men versus nature; of a man being pushed to embark on an unimaginably anguished journey to finally realize what revenge’s really supposed to mean, and what it would bring after all. What makes it greater is that it’s based on true events! ‘The Revenant’ is already a big winner at the Golden Globes, including the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor! Sure it’s gonna pull some off too at the Academy!