Released in 2015, The Revenant is based on Michael Penk's novel of the same name, directed by Gonzalez and starring Leonardo. It is another masterpiece that won the Oscar for Best Film and Best Cinematography after the film "Birdman" directed by director Gonzalez, and it is also a masterpiece that Leonardo finally won best actor after being nominated for oscars many times.
The film tells the story of a large number of white people entering the American Midwest in the early 19th century to hunt wild beasts and make a profit from their furs. Grass, a fur hunter, was attacked by a wild bear during a reconnaissance, abandoned by his companions, and killed his son. In order to avenge and survive, Glass miraculously survived with a firm intention and tenacious will, and completed the revenge plan.
This reminds me of Jack. London's novella Love of Life. Placing the protagonist in a sinister natural environment, exposing him to hunger and death, arousing a strong will to overcome adversity, and showing the strong vitality of human beings bursting out of difficulties. At the same time, it is also reflecting on the impact on the environment caused by the expansion of human desires and the excessive plundering of primitive resources in modern industrial society.
The film "The Revenant" has the same effect. Different from the novel, the film starts from the story alone, and cannot fully appreciate the charm of this good film, so this article will explore the charm of this film from three aspects: lens language, expression method and theme expression.
Interpret the charm of the revenge movie "The Revenant" from the lens language, expression methods, and theme expressions
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >1.Lens language: Placing people under beautiful natural scenery, using medium and close-range and large depth of field half-body shots to show killing and fighting, bringing the audience an intense and real viewing experience</h1>
After watching "The Revenant Hunter", I believe that many viewers are impressed by the vast and majestic natural scenery in the film, and the director uses a large number of long shots and empty shots to shoot the natural scenery of the Rocky Mountains, showing a picturesque mood. At the same time, the living environment created by the beasts, glaciers, and blizzard belts in "The Revenant" is almost a "hopeless situation", and the visual effect brought about by the contrast between the cruelty of survival and the magnificence of the beauty is also shocking.
(1) The use of long lenses: Aesthetic, magnificent and realistic pictures provide the audience with an immersive viewing experience
The film is filmed in Alberta, Canada, and southern Argentina at minus 30 degrees Celsius, where snowfields and rivers are native locations. The director shoots with a large number of long shots and empty shots, all using natural light, showing the cool gray-black tones of the cold winter.
From cloudy skies to mysterious and quiet primeval forests, from snow-covered wilderness to rolling rivers. The costumes of all the female characters do not have a single bright color, the only warm color is the campfire in the snow, and the beautiful and magnificent picture creates a feeling of oppressive gloom.
On the one hand, in line with Glass's inner painful survival, he witnessed his son die in front of him, abandoned by his companions, buried alive, and his heart was full of pain and hatred. At the same time, it also laid the groundwork for Grass's later starvation and cold, dangerous survival process, and the bone-piercing cold that was transmitted to the audience reached the bottom of people's hearts.
Glass, on the other hand, had a hard time speaking and swallowing because he had been injured in the neck by a wild bear. Therefore, except for the silence of Grass at first, there was basically no excessive dialogue after the injury. At this time, the image is particularly important, and most of the emotional and plot development needs to be expressed and promoted by the picture. Thus, the heavy themes of the film are expressed both through a cold mirror image.
(2) In the face of the surprise attack of natural forces and the siege and interception of the enemy, grass's tenacious vitality in the face of life and death is shocking
"The Revenant", which means a soul returner, or an undead on the verge of death, can be seen from the title of the film that this is a story about survival.
The most impressive thing in the film is the desperate struggle between Glass and the wild bear, which is also the starting point of the story. A team of fur merchants encountered the attack of the Li people, Glass, as the guide of the leather goods team, strayed into the territory of the wild bear when surveying the situation, causing the wild bear to attack, Grass reacted quickly, gave the wild bear a shot, but not fatal, but provoked it, and was madly retaliated by the wild bear.
Glass's back chest and neck were blurred by the flesh and blood torn by wild bears. He immediately calmed down, suppressed the severe pain in his body, and tried to pretend to be dead to avoid the disaster, allowing the heavy bear paw to step on his head. The black bear learned that he had been deceived and fought back again.
This fight between man and bear can be described as thrilling, and the original strength and advanced weapons have made this originally disparity of strength struggle have an unpredictable direction, and tightly grip the hearts of the audience. In terms of strength, it seems that the beast is several times that of man, and man looks small under its huge size. However, human beings have advanced weapons, which makes up for the gap in strength. Later, the bear was wounded in the struggle, and Glass did not have the opportunity to use the weapon again, and the strength was balanced again.
Then, in close combat, the beast grabbed Glass by the throat and tried to crush him, and Glass stabbed the beast with his dagger, and finally rolled down the hill with one man and one beast. Glass's eventual rescue hints at the spirit of humanity never accepting defeat in the face of adversity.
After being abandoned by his teammates, the injured Glass walked alone in the wasteland, trying to survive as much as possible. The snowstorm is coming, in order to resist the cold, he cuts the horse's belly, hides in the cold, eats live fish raw, eats animal offal raw to preserve physical strength, falls off a cliff with serious injuries when dodging enemies, and drifts in an ice river, every scene is shocking.
In ancient times, human beings faced this harsh natural environment, and with the help of natural gifts, they survived and were able to live endlessly. Through the protagonist's challenge to the limits of human existence, the film shows the tenacity and persistence of human beings for life and ideals. On the road of pursuing survival and ideals, people will always encounter various difficulties and challenges, and they need to have the spirit and will to never accept defeat to achieve.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > 2. Expressive technique: Expand the extended tension of the film with symbolic images such as birds flying out of the chest, flames falling from the sky, and murals</h1>
Propp said: "Rituals, myths, primitive forms of thought, and certain social institutions are all pre-stories, and I think it is possible to explain the stories through them." ———- Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp
In "The Revenant Hunter", involving the ancient and primitive race of Indians, the director uses many things with religious overtones and symbolic significance to intuitively show the inner world of the protagonist and expand the ideological connotation of the film itself. For example, at the end of the film, Glass says that "the right to revenge is in the hands of God", which has obvious religious overtones.
In my opinion, the other things that appear in the film: birds flying out of the chest, flames falling from the sky, and women who rarely appear also have their own meanings, not the director's casual actions, the following will be read one by one.
(1) The bird that flies out of the chest symbolizes the hope of death and rebirth.
After Glass's wife died, a bird flew out of her chest, symbolizing the freedom of her soul. In the cave after Glass's injury, a small bird was also eaten away by his side, and the remains of the bird lay beside him. When he was a child, his son was playing with a bird in his hand, and his family was happy at that time.
It seems to me that the birds represent his memories of his wife and children. After the death of his son, the dead bird appeared next to Glass, symbolizing the disillusionment of Glass's inner hopes.
(2) The flame that falls from the sky symbolizes the excessive desire of mankind under industrial civilization and the final outcome of Fitzgerald
The meteorite that fell from the sky burned with flames, representing the Greek myth of "Icarus", in which he made a pair of feathered and wax wings to fly into the sky, and finally because he was getting closer to the sun, the wings were melted, and finally fell into the sea and drowned.
On the one hand, this symbolizes the inflated desires of human beings, which will eventually be swallowed up. Human beings only seek material benefits, excessive plunder of natural resources, it seems that industrial civilization to obtain temporary benefits, but will eventually be eaten by nature.
On the other hand, it also symbolizes fitzgerald's ultimate fate. It echoes the "right to revenge is in God's hands" at the end of the film. Glass gave up the opportunity to hand blade the enemy, and everything was left to Heaven.
(3) Reflections on the status of women
There is not much ink on the female characters in the film, but their presence is crucial to the development of the plot, symbolizing the concept of equality between men and women.
The first was Grasse's wife, who was an indigenous native of the area, and had a son, Hawke, with Glass, but died of white aggression. Whenever Glass fell into a coma, she appeared again and again, guiding him and propping him up. She symbolizes the spiritual pillar of Grasse.
This was followed by the daughter of the patriarch, who was plundered and humiliated by French caravans. She had a heart of gratitude to Glass, who said that the right to revenge was in God's hands. The last moment helps Glass complete his revenge and save his life. She symbolizes the "hand of God" in Grass's path to revenge.
In the end, the woman who survived the slaughtered village, she only appeared for a moment, but she was the only person alive in the "dead" village, as long as someone was there, she could continue, she symbolized the "hope" of survival.
These three women occupy important positions in the family, society, and nature, but they are in a very weak position. The film's arrangement of the plot of women is intended to highlight the importance of women in the process of realizing their ideals and express the concept of equality between men and women.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >3. Theme expression: Through the tenacious vitality of the protagonist in the harsh environment and the conflict between Indians and whites, the meaning of life is explored, and people are reminded of the environmental impact of industrial civilization</h1>
The film is based on revenge, but it is not to promote the greatness of revenge, but to put people in a difficult environment, showing a strong sense of survival, and the war between Indians and whites also arouses people's thinking.
(1) The meaning of life: Glass's experience of "resurrection from the dead" in the face of extremely harsh natural environment and enemy pursuit and interception has triggered people's thinking about the meaning of survival
The phrase "As long as there is a breath, continue to fight" is said throughout the film, appearing many times when Grass is in a death crisis. In this film, Glass's life goes through three stages of rebirth, each representing a different meaning.
Grass's first rebirth was after being attacked by a wild bear, covered in blood and flesh. At this time, his son was with him, and in his mind he remembered what he had said to his wife: As long as you are still breathing, you will always breathe. Pulling Glass back from the brink of death, he lived for his son.
Glass's second rebirth was to rise from a pit after he was buried alive. Graves, who was seriously injured, was buried alive by irresponsible teammates, and Glass, who had already decided to give up his life, stubbornly crawled out of the pit when he saw his son being killed alive, crawled to the side of his son's body and told him: I will accompany you, I am here, I am here. Then Goras goes through a series of difficult circumstances to find the enemy who killed his son, and he lives for revenge.
Glass's third rebirth was when he put the right to revenge into God's hands. After a desperate battle with his enemies, the exhausted Glass finally won with the support of hatred in his heart. Just when he was ready to take revenge, he chose to give up and told the enemy that the right to revenge was in God's hands. Sending the enemy before a group of Indians, Glass saw the apparition of his wife again, this time without speaking again, but smiling and leaving.
In my opinion, Glass was able to survive in poor physical condition and harsh natural environment because he had faith at every stage. This belief supported him to overcome the pain of his body and survive in extreme circumstances. The film ends open-ended, with Glass's belief in survival, his son, his revenge, and his wife gone. So what should he live for next?
(2) Reflection on the destruction of the natural environment by modern civilization
It's not just a simple story of survival and revenge, wrapped in a critique of modern industry's excessive destruction of primitive resources.
The film begins with the war between the modern and indigenous peoples represented by Glass, which is also a struggle between human races.
Glass went out to investigate the situation and accidentally stepped into the territory of the mother bear. In order to protect the cubs, the mother bear launched a fatal attack on the male protagonist. The bear's counterattack is not out of its penchant for attack, but for the safety of its cubs.
Indians could brutally cut off the scalps of their enemies as a symbol of honor, but merchants who claimed to be civilized hanged Indians under a tree and hung wooden signs that read," "We are all barbarians." The plot is full of critiques of human "egocentrism."
The whole story is set in a pristine, unexplored wilderness. After the protagonist Glass loses his gun, he has to light a fire, fish, and even drink blood in the most primitive way. Because of the injury, he could not speak, and could only make the most primitive panting and moaning sounds. The arrangement of these plots is to convey to the audience the idea that without advanced weapons and civilized language, all living things are in the same state.
Whether it was a fierce mother bear or a brutal Indian, they were fighting out of the instinct to survive. I once heard such a story, some people complained that there are too many spines in fish, too many bones in rabbits, and it is inconvenient to eat, and some people ask: Are they born to eat for you?
In my opinion, the director is reflecting the natural environment through the contradiction between races. Humans also exist as a kind of life in the natural environment, and in the eyes of other species, they share resources with them. However, when industrial civilization is overdeveloped, human beings often excessively rob other organisms of space and resources. Through the contradiction between Indians and whites, the film expresses a series of problems caused by the plundering of primitive resources and the destruction of the natural environment by modern industry, and calls on people to protect the natural environment on which they live while ensuring their own survival.
epilogue:
Although "The Revenant" is a film with survival and revenge as the main line, its connotation is not limited to this, but also contains the philosophy of how people get along with each other and between people and nature.
Therefore, to truly understand this movie, if we only interpret it from the content of the story, we can only see the hatred and evil presented in the movie, and we cannot see the profound philosophy of life contained in the film. Therefore, this article analyzes the uniqueness of the film from the lens language and expression method of the film, and expresses some of my thoughts and thoughts on the ideological connotation conveyed by the film in the third part.