Pushing pain's limits

Rating: 6/10 (13 January 2016)

The bleak image from the trailer of Leonardo DiCaprio's face as he writhes uncomfortably on a cot, unable to speak or move, really sums up this film. Alejandro Iñárritu successfully contrasts the beauty of the American Western frontier with the ugliness of humanity, but forgoes embedding a solid narrative while doing so. Each piece of imagery is as striking as the last, but the narrative that drives these images forward made me wonder how many times Glass (DiCaprio) was going to be tortured before he accomplished his task. The audience at the theater around me cringed a little bit more with each new gash, contortion, and bone fracture, and rightfully so. The images of nature serve as brief respites between the intense pain that Leo must have actually physically gone through to act out this role.
Throughout the entire film, it is evident that Iñárritu wanted to de-romanticize the American Western film genre. By setting the film in the dead of winter, viewers are given insight on how difficult battling both man and nature must have been at this point in time. Without giving away too many plot details, the movie is a classic revenge story, but does not stay focused on the revenge aspect for too long. In fact, at one point Iñárritu explicitly reminds his audience that the movie indeed is a revenge film, and not just a montage of DiCaprio getting the crap beaten out of him. Even with sparse dialogue, Iñárritu manages to convey the emotions of the characters brilliantly with the use of some clever camera work and the outstanding acting of the cast. Most of the credit has to be given to Leo here, he breathes life into Glass, with every pained facial expression, and eyes hungry for sweet vengeance.
Though The Revenant manages to break new ground in visual storytelling, offering some of the most breathtaking shots I've ever seen in cinema, and yet something is lacking. The muddled flashback sequences did elucidate enough of the back story of Glass' character, and yet, we never feel the true extent of his plight. If the script was structured in such a way as to make the viewer care more about Glass and his son, I would have been doubly engrossed in this film, but the scenery and cinematography speak for themselves. I can only hope that Iñárritu returns to this style of film, because with a few tweaks to the screenplay, this movie could have been a must watch.