Hell is Cold as Snow, and Blood as Thick as Ice

Rating: 9/10 (8 January 2016)

For starters there may be some mild spoilers, I'll try to avoid that as much as I can though. This film is, in a nutshell, The Grey meets The Last of the Mohicans. And it's brilliant. Forget Star Wars, this is really the best film all year. I'm not ever sure where to start except for the fact that I don't write many reviews, unless I really feel moved to say something about a film. This film is beautiful and raw. With one of it's main draws being the cinematography being some of the most beautiful I've seen in years. (Every frame could be a picture worthy of being hung in your house as fine art, on par with Ansel Adam's photographs) It's shot by the same man who shot Children of Men (another beautiful and raw film). Anyways I digress. This film is a triumphs showing the resolve of the human spirit in as horrible a situation as ever put to film. Seriously leave the kids at home for this one, I've seen some gory movies in my days and this one made me uneasy at times. Hugh Glass is a fur trapper in the 1820s American West who's wife was killed by Americans prior to the film and his fur trapping crew by Indians. Shortly afterward they flee and Glass explores and scouts their surrounding area of their camp where he's attacked by a bear. It gets worse, after bandaging him up they leave him with his boy and two others to basically have a few men around to give him a proper burial. It gets worse, one of the men kills his son as he's basically paralyzed watching. It gets worse, he then is truly left for dead in a shallow grave where he isn't even fully buried. It gets worse.. but if I went on I'd ruin the movie. Okay spoilers over (even though you can deduct this from the trailers, I decided to play it safe with IMDb). The reason to see this film is one just how beautifully shot it is. Two DiCapprio's (most likely) Oscar Snub performance, as a man driven to his limits to survive and get revenge. Three for the most engaging film I've seen all year that demands your attention till the end. I was blown away by the rawness of this film. It's a difficult watch for sure, but one of the most engrossing films of recent memory. And with some neat symbolism, reoccurring motifs to give it some thematic heft, and riveting story it's hard to miss. While at deeper glance it might be a little light on story, as it is pretty straight forward. It's at heart a man v. nature, man v. self, man v. man conflict movie, and what else do you really need to have a good story. Most films only attempt a conflict around one of these ideas. While some of the dialogue seems too modern (mainly the swear words). And gunpowder muskets that never seem to be affected by snow or water. You'd be hard-pressed to survive a situation like this and not want to tell a hard boiled tale of survival of how you were a shining example of true grit and resolve.