Experienced hunter and explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his half Indian son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) followed Captain Andrew Henry to the deep forests of Louisiana to address trapping fur . Sudden raid of Indian warriors in the woods causes the whole convoy serious casualties, Glass got attacked by a giant grizzly bear and and was severely injured.
Realizing Hugh Glass has become a burden, Captain Henry decided to leave him behind and and his son and two other explorers also wanted to stay. One of the two members, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) has decided to abolish Glass to save himself. Hawk found out and tried to stop him, but, Fitzgerald during a struggle had accidentally stabbed and killed the young man. Buried alive with resentment when his team betrayed him and his son was killed, the hunter has mobilized the entire willpower to survive, fighting extreme conditions to seek revenge.
The story takes place in 1823 in South Dakota in the US, this wa the time when the conflict between colonists and Indian tribes was still very tense. The cruelty that humans have for each other is honestly portrayed as not being staged, viewers easily reassure themselves by telling themselves this is just a movie. However, Hugh Glass was a real historical figure, his journey “back from the dead” was his brutal experiences that the hunter still kept carefully in his log book.
Cinematography many times take on the theme of human survival, but stark, gritty and bloody as The Revenant is extremely individualized. One man stands between the boundary of life and death, has scratched the ground with both hands and feet to crawl bit by bit over enemy territory. Typically, there is a scene where the character Hugh Glass eats raw beef liver chunks, then in real life … DiCaprio also ate beef liver fo real. This is his own desire, though props team has prepared a jelly version of “beef liver”, he still wanted to swallow bitter and slimy things to bring visual effects. He was also subject to “naked” and get into the “belly” of a horse, when there is a segment which his character to do that to keep warm during cold winter nights.
One other interesting point is The Revenant, though based on a true story, there are many circumstances quite similar to the movie The Last Samurai, 2003. Both films revolve around a hero winning faction is lost in “hotbeds “faction they consider barbaric. Surprisingly, these people are also very decent, humane, caring and nurturing their hero as he was leaving his faction. The backbone is a revenge story seemed simple, clear intentions of the script is shown by the intersection of two cultures.
In parallel, as well as a counterweight to Hugh Glass is the character of Leonardo DiCaprio John Fitzgerald by Tom Hardy plays. British actor guy, after Bane in The Dark Knight Rises and Max “Mad” in Mad Max: Fury Road, continue on a role with hardly anyone hears voices … well. Only a very secondary character in the original story, but on film, he suddenly became a villain called the “gravity”. The mischief, cowardly and brave are evident in this Butchers, largely because of Hardy’s acting.