The Revenant ~ Film Review

by: Uel Ceballos

Before you watch The Revenant, make sure you’re in a good emotional condition, neither going through a stress nor any sort of depression. The film is as beautiful as the snowy wilderness, yet as cold and unforgiving as the hail storm. Leonardo DiCaprio has given so much for this film, more than enough to deserve him an Oscar award. The material itself is already devastating and having good ensemble to deliver the story is close to the perfection of a masterpiece. 

There are so many remarkable scenes in the film that will break your heart; at the same time make you praise the excellence that Leo had delivered for his acting. Leo is a good actor and we all know that. But what he did in The Revenant is something bigger. He certainly went through a deep internalization of his character, dig for the strongest emotion that he could get, and swam through surges of emotional pain just to get it all done with mastery. And not only Leo, but all the casts have showed a good performance. Hats off to Forrest Goodluck here for his amazing performance as Leo's son, where they nailed together the heart-melting father-son scenes in the midst of cold and tragedy. And of course Tom Hardy who made everyone hate his character so much, playing as Fitzgerald, Tom made me forgot my fangirl crush on him. 

The last White-Indian film I appreciated was the Dance with Wolves, of which novel I read first before watching the film adaptation. I read lots of novel that featured the struggle of the Native Americans and my heart goes out for them, always. But I know the white men also had their stands and reasons, and I could only go as far as sympathizing with the beaten and abused because they weren’t my own race and I couldn’t judge because I didn’t know the full history. However, I’m always sympathetic and in watching The Revenant, I became emotional with the truth that we are all victims of the territory war – no side can win, no side will ever win. 

I have researched about the real story behind the person played by Leo, who was Hugh Glass. His story, recounted many times in novels and books, had now been mixed-up by fictional events. Nonetheless, a good story was always created out of Hugh Glass’ widely known story of survival and retribution – there is so much to pull out from it and Michael Punke’s novel of The Revenant is one example. Haven’t read the full novel yet, but with Inarritu’s film adaptation of the novel I have a sure vibe that it’s equally superb. 

Aside from cinematography and good casting, two other elements worthy of praises are the scoring and the surreal sequences. Both remarkable and appealing to the audiences, these elements gave the film a separate goose bumps; aside from the suspense account of the natives and the thrilling survival of hunger, colds, and wilderness. The surrealism of Glass reminiscing the past, delivered a beautiful scene – juxtapose of the world’s ruthlessness and the love’s power over any ugly truths. The surreal, mystifying memories of Glass’ wife always break the icy cold moments in the film, those parts with restrained emotions wherein only hatred, chase, and battle are the highlights. The scoring is a great work. It didn’t spice up the scene, but the scoring is the scene itself that is reborn through the notes. Beautiful, engaging music – appealing and provoking, I love The Hateful Eight’s scoring but The Revenant is a strong contender even to this category. 

The Revenant is a great work. Kudos to director Alejandro Innarritu and to the whole production team and cast ensemble. Every scene is worth watching!

P.S. I believe this year is Leo’s year, it ought to be Leo’s year. 

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GREAT GATSBY IN ACTION by: Uel Ceballos

Based from the novel The Great Gatsby written by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, the 2013 The Great Gatsby movie was the fifth film adaptations of the said book since 1926. The most recent Gatsby film was casted by Leonardo Di Caprio as Jay Gatsby and Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, of whom I could say, were well fitted for their roles. They both did a great portrayal here, especially Leo, who had excellently brought Jay Gatsby to life from the most dominant to the least details of him. It wasn’t a surprise at all that Leo had given us here a marvelous act, aside from the fact the he was my teenage crush, nothing could be really denied about his greatness as an actor. Like in his other movie performance, he had given his self away here in The Great Gatsby to provide room for the role he would be playing, which is the role of Jay Gatsby – who was distinguished for his peculiarity, sophistication, lavishness, and mystifying charm. Leo had justified the sometimes firm and sometimes dithering attitude, the presentation of sugar-coated personality and the bared one, the unmatched passion and effortless charm that all contained in Jay Gastby’s unpredictable nature.

The film as told in the book concerned the story of young millionaire Jay Gatsby and his undying love for Daisy Buchanan. The entire story was looked through the perspective of Daisy’s cousin, Nick Carraway who was also the narrator in the movie. By following in precise details on what were being described in the novel, the viewers would surely enjoy the extravagant sights of the gaudy and fanciful Long Island where Gastby’s mansion was located.

The developments of the characters were carefully made from the physique features to the clothing fashion and the manners that should be acted. Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker here were depicted as perfectly as they were described in the book – satiated with grace and elegance, Daisy and Jordan were the perfect epitome of the sweetest and posh ladies who belonged in the superior society of their era.

The film was created to be a complete parallel movie version of the book, delivering the story through Nick’s views. This brought both the good and limited effects though – good to the sense that the film balanced the standpoints of the audiences, who were seeing through Nick’s spectacles. Nick was the type of person who tried to reserve his judgments for as long as he could stand it – and this in turn, influenced the audiences’ notion as well. However a balanced viewpoint quiet has the tendency to spoil the emotions that are being built up along the progression of the movie. Also, the narration style limited the film on its great potential to bring the chronicle in its stunning climax, because it somewhat subdued the supposedly peak of the story. Nevertheless, that was really how the story went in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, and the filmhad just followed  it accordingly.

I have watched the movie first before I got to read the book. After I finished the novel I noticed some parts that weren’t included in the movie’s ending – appearance of Jay Gatsby’s father and the funeral scene that really made me feel so heavy at heart while I was ready it. Maybe, if they have included it in the film as well, they could have done probably a more sensible ending because the father’s appearance and statement in the novel had shown small but significant details on the other side of Jay Gatsby’s personality.

For this wonderful movie inspired by one of the most remarkable piece in the history of literature, I will give it a rate of 7 Espresso Shots!