I saw The Revenant a few days before the Oscar ceremony, but am still trying to come to grips with it.  Technically it is an amazing achievement; I would have only eliminated two specific shots (both of which involve Leonardo DiCaprio being too close to the camera or looking into it).  Shot with natural light, on location in the middle of nowhere, seamlessly integrating computer effects (the bear, for instance) into story, this is a great example of how great cinema can be realized when artists dedicate themselves to the craft.

On the other hand, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s film is not one that I enjoyed, or ever wish to see again.  To be frank, it’s a nasty piece of work, a sort of spiritual revenge flick, as brutal and elemental as can be, with little in the way of uplift or message.  Maybe that is entirely appropriate; it is what it is, without trying to attach a phony moral to its story of base survivalism — yet I wanted something more after two-and-a-half hours of watching Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) and John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) circle each other like wary predators before a final, bloody confrontation.

While I can applaud the actors (and crew, of course) for committing themselves to their art, for braving freezing conditions in far-flung Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Arizona, and for embracing the primitive aspects of the story (DiCaprio, a vegetarian, actually ate raw bison liver and a fish fresh from the river), I also recognize that the filmmakers took huge liberties with the true story the film is based upon.  The real Hugh Glass was attacked by a bear and left for dead, but he never married nor had a son, and never exacted revenge on the men who left him.  The real story is, in many ways, even more remarkable.

So what to do with The Revenant?  I greatly admire the movie, yet I cannot widely recommend it.  People who love challenging cinema should definitely see it; more sensitive viewers can safely pass it by, knowing that it is brutal, ugly and disturbing.  But life is brutal, ugly and disturbing, one may argue; why should a movie be any different?  Because movies, as they are made in America, emphasize entertainment over realism, and this one reverses that equation.  It’s great that movies like this can be made, but they are not for everyone.  Know what you like to see, and decide based on that.  The Revenant is a great film, but it isn’t, at least for me, a great experience.  ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆.  6 March 2016.