Post by Sgt. AWOLaLot on Jan 29, 2016 21:46:27 GMT -5
So last night I finally had the chance to see The Revenant, a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. In it, a man (Hugh Glass) is left for dead by his fellow hunting/trapping party after being mauled by a bear. However, his son is killed, so he sets out for revenge.
I left the theater amazed with the film. The director had a very interesting style (particularly with his camera work) that I hadn't experienced before. I think the best way to describe it is personal, intense, and beautiful. The visuals were stunning, and the film would often times slow down to let you take in the scenery.
The action sequences were very intense as well and wonderfully shot. There's a battle scene at the beginning that was probably one of the coolest battle scenes I've seen. But what really makes them more intense is the close-up, personal camera worked mixed with the fact that there was little (if any) music during these scenes. Because of that, it helped it to feel more real. The bear attack scene in particular was a thing of brilliance. The way some of the scenes were handled reminded me of the knife fight with Mellish in Saving Private Ryan, where you could sense the desperation and intensity. Man on man, skill against skill.
And as for the actor performances... I thought DiCaprio gave a stellar performance. If this doesn't get him an Oscar, I don't know what will. Even though he doesn't have a whole lot of dialogue, watching him as Glass was enthralling. You could tell he committed himself to the role. Tom Hardy was also great, sporting a great Southern accent (or at least something similar).
And as I said above, the movie is pretty violent. But it's one of those films that mixes savagery with beauty very well (The Thin Red Line comes to mind). I also like that the director went all out to make it seem authentic. The violence isn't there for the heck of it. It helps tell the story.
The soundtrack itself was pretty minimalist, but I thought it was a great fit for the director's style and what he was going for. It accomplished what it had the film.
And one last thing I liked was its theme of fighting to live. It emphasizes breathing, something so simple, yet so important. The importance of this theme is expressed in one of the quotes, "As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight. You breathe... keep breathing." It even goes as far as to have DiCaprio's breathing fog up the camera. It's a beautiful thing when you think about it, and a cool thing to add. And the climax at the end... Many of you can probably guess how it ends, but the way it does is unexpected and beautiful in itself.
So there's my review. I've noticed in the last year or so that my love for film music as extended to films as a whole and I'm sort of becoming a film nut. But it's fun to geek out on something.
I left the theater amazed with the film. The director had a very interesting style (particularly with his camera work) that I hadn't experienced before. I think the best way to describe it is personal, intense, and beautiful. The visuals were stunning, and the film would often times slow down to let you take in the scenery.
The action sequences were very intense as well and wonderfully shot. There's a battle scene at the beginning that was probably one of the coolest battle scenes I've seen. But what really makes them more intense is the close-up, personal camera worked mixed with the fact that there was little (if any) music during these scenes. Because of that, it helped it to feel more real. The bear attack scene in particular was a thing of brilliance. The way some of the scenes were handled reminded me of the knife fight with Mellish in Saving Private Ryan, where you could sense the desperation and intensity. Man on man, skill against skill.
And as for the actor performances... I thought DiCaprio gave a stellar performance. If this doesn't get him an Oscar, I don't know what will. Even though he doesn't have a whole lot of dialogue, watching him as Glass was enthralling. You could tell he committed himself to the role. Tom Hardy was also great, sporting a great Southern accent (or at least something similar).
And as I said above, the movie is pretty violent. But it's one of those films that mixes savagery with beauty very well (The Thin Red Line comes to mind). I also like that the director went all out to make it seem authentic. The violence isn't there for the heck of it. It helps tell the story.
The soundtrack itself was pretty minimalist, but I thought it was a great fit for the director's style and what he was going for. It accomplished what it had the film.
And one last thing I liked was its theme of fighting to live. It emphasizes breathing, something so simple, yet so important. The importance of this theme is expressed in one of the quotes, "As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight. You breathe... keep breathing." It even goes as far as to have DiCaprio's breathing fog up the camera. It's a beautiful thing when you think about it, and a cool thing to add. And the climax at the end... Many of you can probably guess how it ends, but the way it does is unexpected and beautiful in itself.
So there's my review. I've noticed in the last year or so that my love for film music as extended to films as a whole and I'm sort of becoming a film nut. But it's fun to geek out on something.