The Revenant: A harrowing adventure of survival driven by love and revenge

Adapted from the book "The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge" by Michael Punke, Academy Award winning director, Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu has beautifully captured the magnificence of an epic landscape mixed with the rough conditions of survival in a relentless cold environment.

I have not read the book but I am pretty sure that this story as told by Innaritu has been (overly) embellished and highly decorated.

It is highly unlikely for a mortal being to go through all the life threatening events in true life the way Hugh Glass did.

Personally, it feels like almost everything about The Revenant is OTT (over the top). Not that it is a bad thing, but there’s something odd about the mix of the OTT beautifully shot movie behind OTT gory action.

Undoubtedly, Leonardo DiCaprio is a grand and talented actor, especially so in this movie. One can tell after watching The Revenant, the hardship DiCaprio had to go through to be in this movie.

If devouring raw fish and raw bison liver and keeping warm in a horse’s carcass won’t land DiCaprio the shiny bald Oscar this year, then I don’t know what would; especially not after The Revenant is leading the race with 12 nominations.

Inspired by true events, The Revenant tells the heroic adventure of survival and the unbelievable power of the human spirit and physical being, driven by love and revenge.

The Revenant tells the harrowing adventure of Hugh Glass, a renowned explorer, played by DiCaprio. Glass with his son and some hunting team members went on an expedition to the unexplored American wilderness.

Things got serious when Glass, the only man who knows the backwoods like the back of his hands, got into a vicious duel with a bear.

Seriously injured and fighting for each breath to continue living, Glass got abandoned by his own team member.

If that’s not vexing enough, Glass has to endure a series of unbelievable anguish which include treachery of a friend, John Fitzgerald played by Tom Hardy.

Driven by pure will and real love for his family, Glass is pushed to hunt for revenge and survival in pursuit to carry on living in liberation.

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, Lukas Haas

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

Written by: Mark Smith and Alejandro G. Iñárritu, based on the novel by Michael Punke

Producers: Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, David Kanter, Keith Redmon, Alejandro González Iñárritu

Release date: 4 February (20th Century Fox)