“THE REVENANT”
FILM SYNOPSIS: While on a danger-laden journey through the American wilderness in the early 1800s, frontiersman Hugh Glass is badly mauled by a grizzly and abandoned by his fellow trappers. Barely surviving his wounds, Glass is driven by thoughts of his family and a desire for revenge as he endures the frigid winter and pursues the men who left him for dead.
Before I get too far, let me note that I will be pulling for “The Revenant” to win Best Picture this year, because it has been my favorite of the films so far this year. It is positioned well enough to possibly upset over “Spotlight” and “The Big Short,” which could split votes, if to allow “The Revenant” to win. It also won a Golden Globe for Best Picture, so Academy members could already see what it looks like as an award winner. That could potentially work against it, as the Academy often tries to differentiate itself from other voting bodies and often offers up some surprises.
Nominated the most of any other film this year, “The Revenant” has a total of 12 nominations. It is a passion project from director/writer/producer Alejandro G. Iñárritu with an interesting shooting schedule. Though it had some budget issues, the film is absolutely stunning and is even doing well at the box office, aiming to be the number one film at the box office after its third weekend. With those nominations come some potentially big wins, with actor Leonardo DiCaprio and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki being front-runners in their particular categories. In other categories, like Costume Design, Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design, the Sound categories, and Visual Effects, the possible winners are completely up in the air, where the support of the Academy will or will not sway in favor of “The Revenant.” The odds are severely against Tom Hardy in the Best Supporting Actor category and the fact that Alejandro G. Iñárritu won last year for his directing of “Birdman” puts the chances of him winning back-to-back years as very slim.
But everyone likes a success story and everyone likes to be apart of history, so this does not completely turn down the odds of “The Revenant” winning. Even if this is a split year like many of predicting, with pundits leaning towards George Miller (“Mad Max: Fury Road”) to win directing and something else (perhaps “Spotlight”) to win Best Picture, “The Revenant” still has a chance without having to completely overcome history. If anything at all, we can count this among the final four, with “Spotlight,” “The Big Short,” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” containing certain odds that make them strong in this category. All I can say is it’s an absolutely stunning and rich film, with a huge attention to detail, a visceral momentum, some of the best acting all year, and a labor of love from everyone involved. This is the film I’m most proud to stand behind and which I believe will stand the test of time as one of the best films of the year.
Previous nominations? These are the first Academy Award nominations for Mary Parent and Keith Redmon. This is the second Academy Award nomination for Arnon Milchan. He was previously nominated for:
- L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997)
Nominee, Best Picture
Including his nomination this year for Best Picture for SPOTLIGHT, this is the third Academy Award nomination for Steve Golin. He was previously nominated for:
- BABEL (2006)
Nominee, Best Picture
Including his nomination this year for Directing for THE REVENANT, this is the seventh Academy Award nomination for Alejandro G. Iñárritu. He was previously nominated for:
- BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE) (2014)
Winner, Directing - BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE) (2014)
Winner, Best Picture - BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE) (2014)
Winner, Writing (Original) - BABEL (2006)
Nominee, Directing - BABEL (2006)
Nominee, Best Picture
// Produced by Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon //Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu //
// Dated Viewed: Sunday, January 17th, 2016 // LAEMMLE NOHO 7 // 37 films – 43 days //
