visually impressive director's film

Rating: 9/10 (6 February 2016)

From the opening of the movie, you already have a good idea that the work is masterful. From the shots of the flowing water in the middle of the forest to the shots of the mountains and the sky, the technical achievement is impressive, most notably the camera work and the visuals. It started great, and then augmented by Leonardo's performance, it retained its strength towards the end. Although it's not much on the writing department, with some forgettable conversations, its driving force is the visuals, and perhaps it can be even told well as a silent film, although we might miss the aptly written film music. The point here is that this is one of the best directed films of the year and in many years. One notable scene is the raid of the American natives against a band of White hunters. Albeit small in scale, it felt grand and challenging to shoot, given the unique angles and action sequences. It was rather a gory scene, which Alejandro Inarritu masterfully mixed with artistic values.
There were a lot of other scenes with bloodshed and gore, and in terms of effective use of visual effects, it is the battle with the huge bear that stood out among the rest. If we talk about the most violent among them, one cannot rule out the combat in the last part of the movie. Although it is not really as violent as most of Tarantino's movies, one cannot help to notice the director's fascination of the artistic value of blood in the snow.
Apart from the direction, there were two other strong driving forces in the movie: DiCaprio's performance and the cinematography. The role was definitely challenging, but then it was a bull's eye. The other characters were not developed well, but you will not be bothered by it because the plot is simple. Miss some of their conversations and you won't miss a lot. It was after all a director's film about survival and revenge, impressively made.