Harrowing, Yet Deeply Rewarding

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2015)

This Alejandro González Iñárritu directed masterpiece was under immense pressure after the director's victory in the Oscars for direction and best film last year. Him uniting with one of the industry's best actors, Leonardo Di Caprio, invited even more buzz. Well, the film more than delivers. The story in all its familiarity is about survival, the protagonist has to deal, post being left to die by his mates after getting attacked by a grizzly bear. It though tries to include elements of love and pain of loss, but keeps its focus towards having minimal layers.
The film is another epitome in cinematography. In certain parts, the camera work and execution is so out of the world, I missed few dialogs purely enchanted by Emmanuel Lubezki's work. This man is in the middle of the most towering run ever achieved by a cinematographer. No other cinematographer has won three straight Oscars, and Lubezki, who won the Oscars for Gravity and Birdman, is the most eligible winner for yet another, thanks to his sky faced- wide lens-natural light portrayal of the main character's journey. With how much difficulty, Alejandro prepared for such long shots, where the camera almost turned anywhere, is near beyond anyone's idea. Though Lubezki already has a similar experience with Children of Men, this definitely must have been much tougher taking into the account the extreme sub zero degrees of the locations, loosely also helping it achieve the tag of being one of the most difficult films to be shot. The film reportedly faced countless obstacles not only related to weather but also due to number of staff either quitting in the middle of the production or being fired by the director (could be also due to weather). On several occasions he was asked to use technology instead of real locations due to seasonal changes which didn't help with the consistent look of the film. But Alejandro stayed firm on his stand of not using a green screen, only to let the actors feel the chill to their bones in order to generate authenticity. And for this he had to shoot in 12 different locations including US, Canada and Argentina. Without divulging much, the Bear attack scene and one other Horse chase is shockingly real for its closeness and the quick multiple movements of the camera, to ultimately provide audience a raw almost first hand perspective of the whole. These scenes are such, if not prepared, will most definitely make you spit a loud "FUCK!" Acting is top notch, though I really hope Tom gets at least an Oscar Nomination nod since he was snubbed in the Golden Globes, he is totally electrifying as the villain. I am sure, had he been given more scenes he would have gone past Leo. Leo gives another stellar performance to decorate his body of work, the filth scale he plays with is on par with Kill Bill sort of films though this is much higher in its aesthetic presentation. The writing doesn't quite match to its cinematography or acting, though that is not to say, its bad, but just that the standards set by those two other departments is so high, it makes others, difficult to get there. I'd definitely rate Alejandro's Birdman higher in screenplay. In all, this film is an intense, raw yet beautiful portrayal of a simple story backed with engaging pace and masterful direction. Easily on the top, along with the best films of the year.