The Revenant
Overview
The Revenant is a 2015 Western survival drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, based on the 2002 novel by Michael Punke, which was inspired by the true story of frontiersman Hugh Glass. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Glass, and it follows his harrowing journey for survival and revenge after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by his companions. The film is set in 1823 in the Dakota Territory, in the harsh, unforgiving wilderness of the American frontier. Glass is a guide for a fur trapping expedition. When the expedition is attacked by Arikara Native Americans, the survivors escape by boat. Glass is attacked by a mother bear protecting her cubs, and he is brutally mauled — the bear bites him, claws him, and drags him across the ground. The attack scene is one of the most intense and realistic ever filmed, and it was shot in a single long take. Glass is barely alive. The captain of the expedition, Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson), offers a reward to anyone who will stay with Glass and bury him when he dies. Two men volunteer: John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), a selfish, brutal trapper, and Jim Bridger (Will Poulter), a young, kind-hearted man. Fitzgerald tries to smother Glass, but Bridger stops him. Fitzgerald kills Glass's son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) and tells Bridger that Glass is dead. They leave him in a shallow grave. Glass crawls out of the grave and begins an epic journey of survival. He eats raw meat, sews his own wounds, sleeps inside a dead horse, and floats down freezing rivers. He is helped by a Pawnee man who shares his food, but the man is later killed by French fur traders. Glass eventually finds Fitzgerald, and they fight. Glass defeats Fitzgerald but does not kill him; he lets him float down the river to drown. He then has a vision of his dead wife, and he lets go of his anger. The Revenant was a critical and commercial success, earning over $533 million worldwide. Leonardo DiCaprio won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, his first Oscar after five nominations. The film also won two other Oscars for Best Director and Best Cinematography. The film is a brutal, beautiful, and unforgettable meditation on survival, revenge, and the human spirit.
