There’s lots of reasons to love “The Revenant,” or at least anticipate it highly. It’s directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (“Birdman”), it stars Leonardo Di Caprio and Tom Hardy, it’s shot by Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki in all natural light which is probably going to earn him his third Oscar nomination in a row, and its production designer is the legendary Jack Fisk (all of Terrence Malick’s movies, many David Lynch films and Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” and “The Master” to name a few.
In a recent Yahoo interview, Fisk revealed that DiCaprio, a vegetarian, was so deep in character he ate real meat in a scene depicting his character surviving off a wild bison’s liver. “He had to eat the liver,” Fisk said. “I think he threw up afterward… he was so into it. It made me really appreciate the extent to which he’ll go to make things right.”
And yes, it’s been shooting forever, all year, delayed myriad times due to the weather and shot on location in the wilds of Canada and southern snowy slopes of Argentina. Everyone practically froze every day and the shoot was some kind of madness. Of course you wanna see it, or should.
Since most of the film uses natural light, most filming took place between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. “We’d be scrambling at the end of the day to film the last few hours of daylight,” he said. Here’s the official synopsis:
Inspired by true events, THE REVENANT is an immersive and visceral cinematic experience capturing one man’s epic adventure of survival and the extraordinary power of the human spirit. In an expedition of the uncharted American wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is brutally attacked by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. In a quest to survive, Glass endures unimaginable grief as well as the betrayal of his confidant John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). Guided by sheer will and the love of his family, Glass must navigate a vicious winter in a relentless pursuit to live and find redemption. THE REVENANT is directed and co-written by renowned filmmaker, Academy Award® winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman, Babel).
Fun fact: Christian Bale was once going to star in this (way back in the day) and John Hillcoat (“The Road”) was once attached to direct too. "The Revenant" co-stars Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter and opens in theaters on December 25, 2015 (limited) and then expands January 8, 2016 (wide). Watch the new trailer below.
