Un rêve? Non!

Rating: 5/10 (2 February 2016)

I made the mistake of reading up on the life of the real Hugh Glass (the character portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio) before seeing the film. What I saw on-screen was a very distorted/Hollywoodized version of his story with lots of unnecessary racism thrown in (because, you know, Hollywood just can't pass up the chance to bash Whitey whenever possible). Inarritu takes a simple survival story and turns it into a violent, gory revenge story. Sensationalism for the sake of sensationalism abounds. So do clichés.
There is some speculation that the real Hugh Glass may have married a Pawnee Indian woman during a period (which ended a couple of years before the events depicted in the film) when he lived with the tribe. However, there is no surviving documentation, either public records or correspondence to/from Glass, that mentions a wife. In the film, Glass has a Pawnee wife who we see in flashbacks getting murdered by an evil, White soldier because, you know, White people are horrible and Hollywood wants you to know that.
The real Hugh Glass had no children. Movie-Glass has a half-Indian son who he coaches to act "invisible" because the (racist) White men they work with will only see his skin color. His son later gets murdered by an evil, White man because, you know, White people are awful and Hollywood wants to make sure you understand that.
Real-Glass never killed an army officer. Movie-Glass, it is revealed in flashbacks, once killed an evil, White lieutenant who was trying to murder his very young son because, you know, White people are just terrible and Hollywood will not let you forget that.
Real-Glass did not rescue a woman during his arduous journey back to the fort. Movie-Glass not only rescues an Indian woman but he rescues her while she's being raped by an evil, White, French guy because, you know, White people (no matter where they're from) are just horrid and Hollywood will remind you of that as often as possible.
Real-Glass was helped along on his odyssey by some friendly Sioux Indians, none of whom were killed by White people in the process. Movie-Glass is helped by one Indian who is later murdered by evil, White, Frenchmen because, you know, White people are reprehensible and in case you still weren't sure yet Hollywood will BLUDGEON YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH IT AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN!!!
Fabricating a bunch of racist scenarios in order to move the story along and provide impetus for the main character is cheap and lazy screen-writing.
Real-Glass did not get any revenge on John Fitzgerald, other than getting his rifle back. Movie-Glass gets a very violent, bloody revenge. Real-Glass eventually let go of his anger and forgave Bridger and Fitzgerald. Movie-Glass has a weird quasi-redemption where he stops short of finishing Fitzgerald off but then sends him on to certain death at the hands of another. So, is that redemption, really?
The film goes way overboard depicting Glass as a super-man. I'm sure men were made of sturdier stuff back in the 1820s but when he and the horse hit that tree I just thought, "Oh, COME ON!!" The guy wasn't even fully recovered from getting mauled (and rolled on) by a 300-400 pound grizzly bear yet! And, no, he did not fall off a cliff in real life. Did I mention that the bear attack actually happened in August and Glass reached the fort in October? So, there was no crawling through snow or wading through icy water in freezing temperatures either. How would he not have hypothermia and/or frostbite after weeks of that?!
Movie-Glass occasionally has dreams where he hears his dead wife murmuring analogies about trees because nothing screams, "This movie is really, really deep!" like whispered dream-guidance from a dead Native-American.
Yes, there is lots of striking cinematography of beautiful scenery. Much has been made of the fact that Inarritu used only natural light and it does work well with the tone of the film.
The bear attack is both impressive and horrifying. If you know anything about how to react to a bear attack you will cringe in horror at Glass' stupidity. (Note to screenwriter: bears HIBERNATE in the Winter!)
The music is good.
I was surprised that DiCaprio won the Golden Globe and I'll be disappointed if he wins the Oscar. He gives a good performance in the film but I just don't think it's an Oscar-caliber role.
"The Revenant" is sensational but not in a good way.