Coming off his Academy Award wins for Best Director and Best Picture for “Birdman,” the sky’s the limit for celebrated director Alejandro González Iñárritu. In "Birdman," his cinematic conceit was one long tracking shot throughout the movie—a visual trick, but the movie did stich together perhaps only a dozen or so shots, each around 15-20 minutes long. For his next trick, Iñárritu steers his Academy cache towards “The Revenant,” a revenge drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio that he had been developing for several years. His clout has earned him the right to make the film his way: shooting in chronological order—abnormal for 90% of filmmakers— and shooting entirely in all natural light, in the wintery wilds of Canada and its freezing, sub-zero temperatures.
Given the continuity and weather demands—if you’re shooting au natural and in order it’s extremely difficult to make the environment match—“The Revenant” has been filming for more than six months. The long, contradicting schedule is the reason Tom Hardy had to drop out of “Suicide Squad."
The film is about a bear trapper left for dead by his friends in the early 1900s who seeks murderous revenge. It’s also a survival narrative, and a dark exploration of the obsessive and relentless male psyche. Here’s the official synopsis:
Deep in the unchartered American wilderness, hunter Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is severely injured and left for dead by a traitorous member of his team, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). With sheer will as his only weapon, Glass must navigate a hostile environment, a brutal winter and warring tribes in a relentless quest to survive and exact vengeance on Fitzgerald. Inspired by a true story, THE REVENANT is directed and co-written by renowned filmmaker and Academy Award-winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman, Babel).
The movie co-stars Will Poulter (“We’re the Millers”), Lukas Haas (“Inception”), and Domhnall Gleeson (“Ex-Machina,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”). 20th Century Fox is releasing the movie on Christmas Day and has high hopes for the picture, both commercially and Awards-wise. Watch the first trailer below and let us know what you think.
i hope this will be in 3D
I don\’t get the negative comments on this, it looks unreal.
Top contender for top prizes, again Inarritu and Lubezki, hopefully this does it for Dicaprio who honestly I never liked as an actor, by i respect a lost his wanting to work with great directors and great choice of films.
wow! the hate for Chivo is so evident, but i expected the backlash since he is the best cinematographer in the industry right now, but Chivo does not mind, he just keeps doing what he does, which is being a masterful DP. 3 OSCARS in a row for lubezki? now that\’ll be something.
Take off of the classic Jeramiah Johnson!
We saw this movie 41 years ago. It was called "Man in the Wilderness" and it starred Richard Harris and John Huston. Shouldn\’t this be referred to as a remake?
i spelled a cinematographer\’s name wrong! agh! the embarrassment!
This looks amazing! Like a weird love-child of The Edge (Baldwin, you badass) and Malick\’s The New World!
"in the early 1900s" – REALLY?
Go to bed Jay. "Stock photography" lol
And, Jay, it´s Newton Sigel.
If you admire them so much, have the respect to check their names.
This footage resembles a History Channel re-enactment segment in one of their documentaries. For them, it´s fine. And expected. Not for a medium thayt should draw the viewer in.
Go digital!
Not.
your comment seems to be spammy
Perez, it´s ´au naturel´. And it refers to the subject, the person or thing being naked. Not the surroundings. That´s just ´in the wild´.
Not only is the spelling wrong, but the context, too.
Stick to Spanish. It should be easier for you.
sad but true… I was genuinely excited to see a near-silent totally uncompromising movie where a half-mauled Dicaprio clawed his way through some stunning vistas… but it seems that\’s not what they\’ve gone for. Fair enough I suppose.
oops, i meant expectations of the latter, i.e., visual transcriptions.
i think we have to view films as adaptations and not visual transcriptions of novels. if you watch this film with expectations of the former, you\’ll always be let down, imo. you\’re right about what sells movies, though.
read the novel — the battles play a tiny part. The rest is Hugh Glass crawling through the wilderness reflecting on his past, plotting his revenge etc. But that\’s not what sells movies I suppose…
Birdman was so edgy and unique, but IMO Leonardo in a story about the obsessive and relentless male psyche is at risk of heavy ponderousness, I mean the guy\’s a self styled playboy so he should do what comes naturally and play more, have fun, and if we need evidence of that there\’s WOWS, which he was great in. The problem seems to be that LDC can be in anything he chooses while this feels like it maybe needs more inventive casting to lift it.
crazy, people are being buzz killing cunts. Who would have known…
how is this poorly shot, Doris? i won\’t play the \’this cinematographer is better than that one\’ game b/c it\’s insipid and subjective, but saying the battle sequences shown in the trailer are poorly shot is ludicrous.
the novel is incredibly atmospheric, subtle and nuanced… selling it with this poorly-shot battle sequence seems obvious and dull. Someone like PT Anderson, John Hillcoat or Andrew Dominik could have done this right. And agreed: Chivo is totally insipid compared to Elswit, Pfister, McGarvey and Libatique.
wow, that was amazing. immersive, beautiful, tense. don\’t know what you guys are complaining about. awesome trailer.
Man, this was my most anticipated film of the year, but after this trailer, I don\’t know. I agree that Lubezki\’s work is annoying. It\’s that fisheye type lensing that all the Malick films have lately. It does not service a film like this that should have more wide shots to show off the epicness. This is too in your face.
i hate to say it but lubezki is one of the most overrated DoP\’s ever. his stuff looks like stock photography or something you\’d see framed in ikea. less hyped DP\’s like newton siegel, larry smith and laurie rose should be receiving the ass-kissing lubezki gets.
Wow! You rarely if EVER see films shot like this! It looks as if you were actually on set of the movie. The natural lighting and location is amazing! Can\’t wait to see
liked the Punke novel… was excited for the movie, but this trailer is pretty awful
Once again, Chivo\’s style is the standout. Not sure about the rest, though…