The Revenant was an interesting film for me to watch because of the exposure to a different perspective on Westward expansion. I felt that the frequent use of blood established a sense of cost of empire and also kept the viewer intrigued. The use of nature was also very eye-catching and the acting by Leonardo Dicaprio really made me connect with the character’s struggle. I felt that the grand value of life was greatly established throughout this film.
Blood was often depicted throughout the film during battle scenes. The opening battle scene was extremely gruesome which kept me in anticipation for what was going to happen next. The dragging of a naked dead body in this film was especially eye-opening because it showed man as bare and an easy victim to the claws of war. Man’s mortality is seen as much more prominent in this film because of the many deaths that occurred from both the indigenous people’s side as well as from the settlers.
The protagonist’s struggle with the bear also emphasized on the notion of bloodshed and how fragile man really is when in the hands of nature. However, nature also serves as a healing force as we can relate back to when Leonardo Dicaprio utilizes weeds to heal his wounds. We see the mixture of blood and nature when Dicaprio took shelter in the dead horse’s body to survive. He seemed to be reborn from the horse, a symbol of nature. The river could also be viewed as an example of nature being a healing force since it kept him alive when he drank from it, hydrating him and cleansing his wounds.
The images of the vast landscape also added to the drama of the protagonist’s struggle. Dicaprio was often depicted as very small in size against nature, whether it was his shots in the river or climbing the mountains. It seemed almost impossible for him to survive in the harsh weather conditions, dramatizing his struggle for survival. We could argue that nature emits elements from the Sublime in this movie because of its depiction as being grand and infinite in abundance.
Overall, this film established a connection between man and their original natural state, something we widely discuss in Humanities Core. I believe that it defines man maneuvered by the force of nature and a reminder that civilization cannot overpower the will of nature, because it is wild and unpredictable. Although nature works sometimes in favor of humanity, we do not have control over it and can merely do our best to regulate it.
jgdominion 