January 2016
The Revenant is a very good movie. But it is not worthy of its director. Or is the director not worthy of his previous miracles?....
This is the lowest of the Inarritu films I've seen, despite its glory. Yes, it is glorious-- the visual artistry is tremendous. I am completely enamored with the images Inarritu portrays; the sweeping camerawork, the gore, the brutal snowy landscapes... Then there's the heart-wrenching power of the whole thing. Truly this film is a tremendous experience. What fell alarmingly short for me was the dramatic element-- the characters, narrative, even the purpose of it all. After watching the flat ending I cannot see any purpose for the creation of this movie other than to destroy unprepared mainstream moviegoers. That's a little simplified... but essentially it seems that Inarritu made this picture entirely for the gut experience, and either forgot to tend to his weak story or simply didn't care to. I truly learned nothing by the end -- if there is an ideological purpose to this film it can only be as obvious as 'revenge never solves the problem'. I am confident that I would have picked up on any subtler themes or symbols, if they existed.
The dramatic arc truly seemed shallow. None of the characters had much substance. There were some lines that seemed poorly-written... It's truly surprising, coming from such a masterful and deep-digging filmmaker.
I loved the experience though, and could easily do it again. I felt the intensity. I would call this a tremendous film, very powerful and often beautiful. But not an excellent one.
(I apologize for my excessive use of a certain word --- it truly seems to be the best option in every one of those situations!)
No comments:
Post a Comment