Saturday 5 March 2016

The Revenant, Mr.DiCaprio and one Academy Award.


Last Monday morning (India Time) a beaming Julianne Moore put a million fans , sitting on the edge of their seats (not me obviously, cause it was Monday morning and I was in Court) , all over the world, out of their misery when she presented the Oscar to Leonardo DiCaprio. It was an epic moment which was almost 12 years in the making and it reduced the world into a sobbing proud mess, just like Leo's darling BFF, Kate Winslet. Well about time, I say, cause this "LEO DESERVES AN OSCAR" mania reached its peak this year, and we all know about the little Android (?) game that was doing the rounds in the weeks preceding the Academy Awards. 


Most girls my age in India were introduced to "Jack", a long time ago in the James Cameron epic, Titanic. From then on, I made it my mission in life to try and watch as many of his movies as possible, and I must say I was not disappointed. Whether it was Jack, or King Louis XIV, or Frank Abagnale Jr. or Howard Hughes (which earned him his first Oscar nomination), he lived and breathed every role and made it all extremely believable. I suppose with him, its always been 200% every role, and every movie. 

Then came 2006, the year DiCaprio showed everyone he can act in two very different movies and also master two extremely different accents in The Departed and Blood Diamond. Yup, let me start gushing about Blood Diamond, believe me, I cant ever stop raving about that movie. Leo played the role of Danny Archer a cut throat mercenary who in the end gets a change of heart and ultimately helps a fisherman reunite with his family. His performance left me sobbing at the end, when he says, "I am exactly where I am supposed to be". I also almost sobbed when he dint win the Oscar that following year, but I must admit Phillip Seymour Hoffman deserved it for his scintillating performance in Capote. 
 

 
So when he finally won the Academy Award on Monday I resolved to go watch the Revenant and come home and write out a post dedicated to Leo. However, after the movie, I realised that writing about Leo and not writing about the movie would leave this post incomplete. The Revenant is a gripping tale of revenge, it is a tale of what happens when one man decides to brave all that nature has to throw at him and almost come back from the dead to avenge his son's death. It's intriguing, its primal, and it shows man at one with nature, and the lengths one man would go to just survive. The movie is not for everyone. It's one of those movies where you'll either love or completely hate. 
The story, the locales and the acting are brilliant. Alejandro G. Iñárritu who directed last year's Birdman gave us an epic, man vs. nature, thoroughly captivating trip. Kudos for that, and he deserved all the Awards he picked up.

Tom Hardy deserves a pat on his back for the wonderful potrayal of John Fitzgerald. He was the perfect anti-hero to Leo's bear fighting Hugh Glass. Will Poulter (that stuck up kid from the last Narnia movie) provided great support to the leading cast in his supporting yet, extremely crucial role of Bridger.

Leo deserves this year’s Academy Award not for braving the cold temperatures, not for eating raw Bison liver, not for sleeping inside an animal carcass, not for sitting through hours of make- up everyday, but for the sheer grit, determination and passion with which he became Hugh Glass. His eyes reflected the anguish a parent suffers when their child is murdered in front of their eyes while they lie helplessly unable to do anything. He, practically, rose from the dead, like a revenant, to avenge his son's death, with only his dead wife's memories hauntingly egging him on. This powerful story needed telling and I am glad it was told. Also a special Honorable Mention here goes to the Bear, my dear, you were magnificent, truly magnificent, and also DiCaprio and Hardy's Beards.

Watch this movie only if you are absolutely sure that you can stomach it. It is rated A for a reason, and the reason is not 'sexual' at all. 

I give this movie a 4/5. 

And finally, OMG OMG OMG Leo won!! 

Come on internet, next up we have one Mr.Depp (who was nominated this year for Blackmass, an amazing watch btw) and one Mr.Cruise.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

james@mail.postmanllc.net