The Revenant (2015, dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)

"The Revenant" is a sprawling, intense tale of revenge on the frontier from the director of "Birdman", Alejandro Inarritu.  It is set in 1823 and takes place in Montana and South Dakota.  A party of trappers and hunters are hunting for pelts in the desolate, wind-swept winter.  There are constant danger involved with Native American tribes, one of which ambushes the party, leaving only a third to escape with their lives.  Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is respected for his tracking and hunting ability but when he is viciously mauled by a bear, he is not expected to survive for long.  Glass later seeks revenge for the murder of his kin and being left to die.

This is epic, period film-making at its finest.  The fight and action sequences are so well-choreographed you get a sense of living in the film and actually experiencing the tension, confusion and adrenaline-pumping warfare. 

There is a real heart and soul to this film found in minor details.  This meticulous attention to detail drives to the film forward.  One example, is Glass's meeting of a Pawnee Indian in his voyage.  The two meet when Glass comes across the Pawnee feasting on the entrails of a dead Bison that, in a previous scene has been surrounded and killed by a hungry pack of wolves.  The two develop an unspoken understanding and compassion for one another and the Pawnee helps Glass heal some of his festering wounds.  In another gripping scene, Glass must remove the innards of a deceased horse so he can use the warmth of the carcass's interior for a warmth during a blisteringly cold night.

DiCaprio's performance is awe-inspiring.  He somehow must convey the slow, gradual trajectory of his recovery from the brutal mauling that occurs near the beginning of the film.  He ever-so-slowly regains the use of his body and you get a real sense of the ordeal of this task all the while dealing with recent deaths of friends and family members.

When all is said and done, you are left with a film that burns into your imagination and speaks to the inextinguishable resiliency of man alone in nature.  It highlights the need to persevere and to step outside one's comfort zone.  It is a film that makes you feel uncomfortable and that can be a good thing.