Film Illiterate, wherein the proprietor records movies seen, and sporadic progress through assorted lists of the "best". Originally started after regretfully renting something forgettable for the third time. I've forgotten what, but never again! A tedious endeavour since 2005. Hello. 🙂
Frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is left for dead after a bear attack but struggles, through rough terrain, hundreds of kilometres back to what passes for civilization.
Alejandro G. Iñárritu said that his film "deserves to be watched in a temple" and it's clear why: Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography is breathtaking amd Glass's story is an almost mystical epic. It's the kind of imagery I've become more used to in science fiction films, tiny figures insigificant against powerful, terrible alien landscapes.
Manohla Dargis had an insightful review in the NYT:
It's a lurid, pulp spirituality, that ultimately rings a little hollow despite the grandeur of the imagery. Glass's character is never well fleshed-out, and Dargis is right that the attempts to add depth -- e.g. through references to a love affair with a native woman -- fail to engage with the historical background (the exploitation of the workers, the destruction of the native population and so on).
It's an experience and a half, and perhaps the best attempt in film at exhibiting the savagery of nature at rest: no fearsome earthquakes or tornadoes here, just winter. And it exhibits man's capacity to resist.