Leonardo DiCaprio is Hugh Glass, scout for a fur trapping expedition under the command of Capt. Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson).
Indians attack, killing most of the party. Those who survive, including Glass and his half-breed son Hawk, flee to a boat and start traveling down the river.
But Glass is certain another ambush awaits if they remain on the water. So he convinces the captain to ditch the boat and make an arduous journey back to Fort Kiowa by foot, leaving most of the furs behind.
Then tragedy strikes again. Out hunting for food, Glass is attacked by a bear and severely — and likely mortally — injured.
The party tries carrying Glass back to the fort on a makeshift stretcher … until they reach the mountains.
Then Capt. Henry decides Glass will have to be left behind. After all, he’s dying anyway.
He offers three men a handsome reward to stay with Glass and provide a decent burial when the time comes.
Tom Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), one of those men, decides to hurry along the process. And kills Hawk when he interrupts.
Partly buried alive, Glass now has a new reason to survive: vengeance on the man who killed his only child.
Beautifully filmed and featuring fine performances from DiCaprio and Hardy, this movie was nominated for 12 Academy Awards.
It wound up winning three — Inarritu as best director, DiCaprio as best actor and Emmanuel Lubezki for best cinematography. It was nominated for best film, but did not win.
In terms of action scenes, Revenant features some of the best you’ll find. And it’s doubtful we’ll ever see another attack on a fur trapping party done as well as the opening scene in the movie.
But the resilience of Hugh Glass … well, the long list of obstacles he survives soars well beyond plausible and detracted from the film for me.
He’s mauled by a bear to the point where he can’t walk, left without food, weapons or transport, buried half alive, but begins crawling his way back to the fort.
Later, he rides a horse off a cliff to escape an Indian attack and spends a night huddled nude inside the carcass of that same horse to keep from freezing. Oh, and let’s not forget behind swept down the rapids.
Yet when it comes time for the climatic showdown, he’s leaping around, limber as a young man the age of his dead son, showing no signs of any of his previous injuries. Okay, then.
Directed by:
Alejandro G. Inarritu
Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio … Hugh Glass
Tom Hardy … Tom Fitzgerald
Domhnall Gleeson … Capt. Andrew Henry
Will Poulter … Bridger
Forrest Goodluck … Hawk
Paul Anderson … Anderson
Kristoffer Joner … Murphy
Joshua Burge … Stubby Bill
Duane Howard … Elk Dog
Melaw Nakehk’o … Powaqa
Fabrice Adde … Toussaint
Arthur RedCloud … Hikuc
Christopher Rosamond .. Boone
Robert Moloney … Dave
Lukas Hass … Jones
Runtime: 156 min.
Memorable lines:
Hugh Glass’s wife (In Pawnee): “As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight. You breathe. Keep breathing. When there is a storm and you stand in front of a tree, if you look at its branches, you swear it will fall. But if you watch the trunk, you will see its stability.”
Fitzgerald: “You’re forgettin’ your place, boy.”
Hugh Glass: “Far as I can tell, my place is right here on the smart end of this rifle.”
Hugh Glass, to his son: “If you want to surive, shut up. They don’t hear you’re voice. They just see the color of your face.”
Capt. Andrew Henry: “I can’t let you go back out there. Not again.”
Hugh Glass: “I ain’t afraid to die anymore. I done it already.”
Capt. Andrew Henry: “Is it true you killed an officer?”
Hugh Glass: “I just killed a man who was trying to kill my son.”
Fitzgerald: “I wouldn’t expect to find a man of your stature so far away from his stove on a morning as cold as this, captain. You lost?”
Capt. Andrew Henry: “I’m here to take you back to Fort Kiowa where you will be tried for murder.”
Fitzgerland: “That so? I ain’t crazy about your plan. Besides, I got one of my own.”
Hugh Glass: “You killed my boy.”
Fitzgerald: “Well, maybe you should have raised a man instead of a girlie little bitch.”
Fitzgerald: “You came all this way for your revenge. Well you enjoy it, Glass. Cause there ain’t nothin’ going to bring your boy back.”