The Revenant dir. by Alejandro G. Iñárritu (review)

ALEJANDRO IÑÁRRITU'S THE REVENANT is an unrelentingly violent exploration of both the power of nature and the horrors of colonialism and western expansion. Set in 1823, it is inspired by the real events of legendary hunter, tracker, and fur trader Hugh Glass, who was left for dead by members of his crew following a harrowing bear attack. Fueled by revenge, Glass made his way over two hundred miles to settle the score. Loosely adapted from Michael Punke's The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge, the film is widely heralded by critics for Emmanuel Lubezki's (Birdman, Tree of Life) hauntingly beautiful cinematography, shot in sequence to frame the harsh western landscape using only natural lighting. The Revenant was nominated for and has won a wealth of cinematic accolades, including Academy Awards for best actor, best director, and best cinematography.

The film opens with Arikara ambushing the Rocky Mountain Fur Company on an expedition up the Missouri River and killing over thirty trappers. Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson) and the few survivors depend on Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) to lead them through the wilderness. While hunting, Glass surprises a mother grizzly and is gruesomely mauled. Captain Henry employs John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and young Jim Bridger (Will Poulter) to stay behind with Glass's half-Pawnee son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck [Mandan Hidatsa/Tsimshian/Diné]), to await Glass's inevitable demise and bury him properly. However, he does not die. In Bridger's absence, Fitzgerald murders Hawk as Glass helplessly watches, and he drags the moribund Glass to a shallow grave, stealing his knife and gun before covering him with earth. Fitzgerald convinces Bridger of a fictitious imminent Indian attack, and the two leave Glass to die. Glass crawls from his grave to embark on a grueling journey to avenge his son's murder and bring Fitzgerald to justice.

The Revenant is a visceral examination of the brutality of Manifest Destiny. The screenplay, written by Iñárritu (Birdman, Biutiful) and Mark L. Smith, diverges from Punke's novel to move beyond historical narratives and carve out space for representations of Native peoples who are conspicuously erased or relegated to stereotypical savages in earlier accounts. The film creates a Pawnee wife (Grace Dove [Shuswap]) and a son for Glass. His wife is deceased, murdered by a soldier, and we view her as a specter through Glass's flashbacks, reminding him to keep fighting as long as he can breathe. It introduces Hikuc (Arthur Red Cloud [Diné]), a Pawnee who compassionately befriends Glass and heals his wounds with traditional medicines. Most notably, it develops a parallel storyline of an Arikara chief, Elk Dog (Duane Howard [Nuu-chah-nulth]), who is relentlessly searching for his kidnapped daughter, Powaqa (Melaw Nakehk'o [Deh Cho Dene/Denesulene]), who has been taken by traders. These two fathers—one seeking his daughter and the other searching for revenge—cross paths on their quests, with Glass eventually encountering the missing Powaqa.

The cast is extraordinary, and the performances are nuanced and compelling. Lubezki's long takes create a fluidly immersive experience that simultaneously heightens the drama and frames the isolating terrain. While wide-angle shots of the forests, rivers, and snow-covered mountains paired with Ryuchi Sakamoto and Alva Noto's alluring score are riveting, this is certainly not an easy film to watch. In a particularly difficult scene, Powaqa is raped by one of her captors and is able to escape with Glass's help after castrating her rapist. Such examples of unyielding violence against Native peoples, along with Hikuc's lynching and a massacred Pawnee village, expose the exploitation of Native bodies as inherently tied to the conquest of land. Yet even with rampant instances of Native victimization, Iñárritu importantly underscores Native humanity and agency: the Arikara's grief after the initial battle, shots of Indian families with children outside the fort, and Powaqa's reunion with her father and subsequent return to her people are indicative of Indigenous perseverance, not mere disappearance.

Although some contend The Revenant...