A spiritual journey from nowhere to beyond

Rating: 7/10 (10 April 2016)

Iñárritu's been a hot commodity lately, and his Birdman was a movie well deserving its fame, a perfect combination of intricate style, witty multi-leveled delivery and free spirit that made it such a unique joy to watch. A year later, the maestro is back with a new story, way gloomier and deeply rooted in symbolism.
In a way, The Revenant is the Birdman's dark twin. Both films concentrate on the problems of a person struggling with finding a new path in his life after the old bridges have been burned. This time, however, looking back is only a source of sorrow and grief which can hardly be a guide on your way forward. In fact, there is no way forward for Hugh Glass, just like there is no reason for him to live. And when the last tiny thread tying the hollow present to the beloved past is forcibly torn, Glass' will to live comes back once more - just to drag back to the void those responsible for it.
Throughout the film one can't shake off the feeling of illusiveness of everything that happens on screen. This time Iñárritu relies heavily on various visual tricks like filming through a fish-eye lens or a camera that dashes around the scene like a trapped animal. Combined with a dark troubled score, this produces a sense of discomfort that builds a glass (no pun intended) wall between the audience and the characters, not letting us too close to them and preventing an emotional participation in the events of the film. At times, The Revenant feels like a dream you got caught in, unable to wake up, and the only thing you can do is to simply follow the path charted by some grim mastermind.
However, the director's brilliant and truly Oscar-worthy intentions are constantly foiled by one thing this film has been praised the most for: Hugh Glass himself. The unnatural vitality of the character portrayed by DiCaprio requires some suspense of disbelief, but is not a problem per se since it's clear that he's drawn forward by something stronger than mere human nature. But Leo himself simply belongs too much to the world of the living to fit this role. He's been too alive through all his career, and this time, working so hard for that Oscar, he, in my opinion, simply failed to show us how it feels to be dead inside and be pushed forward by a greater mission. Unlike Tom Hardy's John Fitzgerald, who actually felt like a savage power with no real humanity inside, as if it went away with his scalp.
Can't say that The Revenant is a bad movie. On the contrary, it's a fine piece of cinema well-thought and well put together. However, in an attempt to take the place warmed by Dead Man by Jim Jarmusch, it kinda missed and fell into a pit nearby. But the pit is shallow, and Leonardo DiCaprio is so good at crawling, which allows the film to remain entertaining, albeit at the cost of a blurred concept.