Movie Review: The Revenant

Leonardo Dicaprio as explorer Hugh Glass in the film The Revenant.

While I didn't make it to see The Revenant on the big screen, I still heard plenty about it.

Famously credited with finally winning Leonardo DiCaprio his Oscar, the film was much hyped at the time of release, yet friends' reviews varied greatly, describing it as everything from "magnificent" to "just lots of grunting".

Having now seen it, I find myself firmly in the "magnificent" camp.

The Revenant is a raw, captivating portrayal of one man's gruelling journey across miles of unforgiving wilderness.

When 1820s explorer Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is mauled by a bear and left for dead by a treacherous member of his group (Tom Hardy), we watch his battle for survival and for revenge.

The plot is simple but gripping. Glass' journey is a test of psychological strength as much as physical endurance - an insight into how far a person will go in order to stay alive, particularly when vengeance is the main driver.

There are many gut-wrenching scenes, including one where Glass sleeps inside the fresh, steaming carcass of a horse to escape the bitter cold.

DiCaprio's Oscar is well deserved; he gives his all, clawing and scratching his way across frozen terrain. Hardy's ferocious performance is also outstanding.

Hellish tales of the miserable on-set experience have emerged from the crew since the release, but their suffering has paid dividends in the form of sublime, haunting landscapes.

Director Alejandro G Inarritu paints a brutal yet beautiful picture of the extreme conditions that frontiersmen and natives endured.

You will find yourself shivering at the mere sight of DiCaprio's icy, wind-ravaged face.

In fact, the setting plays a prominent character in The Revenant - Glass' main adversary, possessing a blatant disregard for human life that forces the men living in it to be equally ruthless.

There's no denying that The Revenant is, at times, truly uncomfortable viewing, but surely this is testament to the enveloping power of the film.

Great cinema is an intense, immersive experience, putting you in someone else's shoes - in this case, very cold ones.