Must watch for cinematography!

Rating: 10/10 (8 February 2016)

The Revenant (2015) directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu is about survival in the extreme wilderness. It's also about: revenge, a man coming back from the dead, a historical interpretation of the first settlers in America with the French and Americans encroaching upon Native American territories, and an exploration of what it means to live, and why we live?
Watching this is a completely different experience from Iñárritu's last movie, Birdman (2014). Whereas the majority of Birdman was shot in narrow spaces with tight frames following around the central protagonist through narrow corridors and the backstage – which created a feeling of claustrophobia – here it's the complete opposite. The Revenant creates is expansive, with a lot of wide shots and sweeping images of nature, mountains, rivers, waterfalls, the woods, and demonstrates the awesome power of nature in comparison to humans. In some ways the Revenant reminded me of another of my favorite, Terrence Malick's Tree of Life (2011), particularly in the way sometimes beautiful random shots of nature interjects the film for a few seconds, but unlike that movie, Revenant contains a cohesive narrative structure that's much easier to follow. (Note: turns out my instincts were correct on the visual resonance to The Tree of Life. On checking IBDb it turns out that the cinematographer for this movie is Emmanuel Lubezki, who was also the director of photography for The Tree Life and multiple other Terrence Malick projects.)
My favorite parts of the movie contained shots of nature where a character, usually Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) was alone in the wilderness. They were without any dialogues, accompanied by just the sound of nature like a roaring waterfall, or sound of melting snow from treetops, or instrumental sounds (especially the drum beats) evoking something very primal. The use of drums in a few key scenes during the later half of the movie, sounded like it did in Iñárritu's Birdman (must be his signature style). Although, I think it's far more effective in The Revenant, since sound is used so sparingly that when it is utilized, you pay attention. For example, the thumping of the drums reminded me of racing heartbeats during crucial moments of life and death.
In this movie, the director constantly experiments with perspectives and innovative camera-work. A lot of the perspectives in this movie is really unusual. In the beginning, during an important battle, I found the camera angle so unsettling – it felt like the viewer was a child, standing very close and looking up to the characters. The shots were taken from the waist, and from an uncomfortably close proximity, as arrows flung, and people fell to their deaths unexpectedly. Also, a lot of the violence in the movie is captured from up-close that it looks real, and the viewers also experience the pain, shock, and surprise. This is a visceral, immersive cinematic experience. I also appreciated the fact, that you can literally see the camera lens get foggy when the camera zooms in at least 3- 4 from what I counted, and the viewer knows that it's really, really cold in actuality and the shot is not some CGI trick. I loved the soundtrack; combined with the visuals, it's probably the best marriage between video and audio I have heard in a long time. The Native American languages spoken in this movie, also sounded very melodic to me.
The cinematography with it's sweeping landscapes, and the exceptional soundtrack need to be experienced on a big screen to appreciate the grand scale of nature. If you are a student of photography, you will love this movie. I was so engrossed in the visuals of this movie, particularly the landscapes, and the way the cinematography captures the changing seasons that I kept missing some minor events that were happening to the characters in the movie.
For full review see: http://www.artspeaksy.com/the-revenant-movie-review/