6 ae@technewsiit.com

| Tuesday, january 26th, 2016

 

‘The Revenant' gains critical acclaim, 12 Oscar nominations

Austin Gonzalez
OPINION EDITOR

“The Revenant” is a great story
adaptation that has a lot to offer as a film, but is
it deserving of its 12 nominations for the 88th
Oscars?

In this movie, we follow a group of
fur trappers in 1823. After a disastrous raid by
Native Americans, the survivors of the camp
are forced to flee in to wilderness. Hugh Glass
(Leonardo DiCaprio) is a guide who means
to lead what remains of the group back to
a frontier fort. While scouting ahead alone,
Hugh Glass is mauled by a bear in one of the
most gripping and overwhelming scenes in the
movie. His compatriots do their best mend
his numerous gaping wounds, but ultimately
are forced to abandon him. Glass faces only
sorrow and hardship from then on. What
follows is the harrowing tale of the man who
died and came back, The Revenant.

 

The story is truly gripping and
overwhelming at times, but what has this
135 million dollar picture done to deserve
nominations for Leading Role, Director,
Cinematography, and ultimately Best Picture?

DiCaprio shows his excellence in
his craft once again with this movie. What
are otherwise rather flat and one dimensional
characters are made endearing through superb
performances by both DiCaprio and Hardy.

I think their performance was
helped by director Inarritu’s decision to shoot
entirely on—location. The entire movie is shot
using only the natural light available, making
for a challenging and limited conditions on
set. As far as cinematography is concerned,
someone certainly carefully crafted the
experience for the viewer. Imagine a shot of a
mountain overlaid with the belabored breath
of the protagonist; with each breath, the clouds
grow around the peak. This is followed by a

 

match cut of wisp of smoke trailing off a pipe
of a separate group. It’s difficult to call Best
Picture in any year, but The Revenant has a lot
going for it.

If Revenant wins all 12 nominations,
it will set a new record. The current top Oscar
movies of all time are “Ben—Hur,” “The Titanic,”
and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,”
which all tie with 11 Oscars each.

By all counts, “The Revenant” is
a good movie that makes great use of the
medium of film to create a work of art. This is
one of the few movies, in our spectacle driven
world, that I left without complaint.

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/ A mm av ALEJANDRO 6. INAHRITU

  

BLOOD LOST. LIFE FOUND.

THE REVENANT

INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS

Image courtesy of collider.com

 
   
    

Photos by Kori Bowns