Week in Film #9: 2/22/16-2/28/16

Week in Film #9: 2/22/16-2/28/16

Film of the Week: The Revenant
   Year: 2015
   Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

       It may not have taken home the oscar, but I believe that The Revenant may be the single most impressive cinematic achievement of 2015. Every year I find myself losing more and more faith in the Academy Awards. Partly because my perspective on film is being greatly widened beyond the confines of Hollywood, but also because they keeping making the wrong decisions (Mark Rylance? Seriously?). I think years from now, as they will with last years disappointment, people will look back and realize which picture was truly the best of the year. Spotlight is very, very good, and culturally important, yes, but The Revenant is a masterpiece of vision and execution. Not perfect, but pretty damn great, and certainly a greater film than this years winner by quite a few yards.

       It begins with a group of fur trappers hunting, and being hunted, in the wild, and like all river boat odysseys (i.e Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Apocalypse Now, Fitzcarraldo), it soon turns into an exploration of obsession and the struggle of people against the indomitability of nature. Where the other films obsessions lied in murkier, more complicated waters, this one is as straight forward and ferocious as the rapids: the pursuit of vengeance. This may in fact the most caustic and visceral depiction of the strive for vengeance I've seen on screen. It all shows in Leonardo DiCaprio's award winning, intense, and enduring performance. Enduring in the most physical sense of the word, as the actor drags himself around on the ground and eats raw fish and bison for the role. It's a rebirth for Hugh Glass when he emerges from the grave (in fact there are arguably a few "rebirth" moments), and it's a rebirth for Leo, going farther than he ever has before for a performance.

       If there is anyone in danger of stealing the show from DiCaprio however it is Emmanuel Lubezki, with absolutely stunning cinematography. This is, easily, the most beautiful film of the year, and that's really saying something in an oscar season featuring the visual splendors of Mad Max: Fury Road and The Hateful Eight. Nature is as gorgeous as it is deadly, and it's apparent in every breathtaking sequence and shot. The direction itself, by Alejandro G. Innaritu, is top notch stuff, and it is evident that the back to back best director winner is truly carving about a name for himself in the analogs of great filmmakers. Pretty much every scene is handled with insane technical ingenuity and mastery, so much so that you are often amazed by the fact that he hasn't broken a shot yet (although, to be fair, not as amazed as you may have been when he didn't break a shot for all of Birdman).

       The Revenant has it's detractors. People say it is shallow, that it's self serving and pretentious, that it doesn't know what it wants to say, and that Innaritu is just showing off. These people seem to misunderstand the film, and to an extent, dare I say it, misunderstand film in general. Is it shallow? it isn't because it isn't striving for depth. This is a film about people being reduced to animal instincts, and trying to survive in an incredibly dangerous, hostile world. Yes, there are moments of spirituality and humankind's relationship to nature, but at it's core it wants to explore whats at our own core: violence and animal impulse. People looking for the message are apt to miss it; it's message is more primal than some malickian musings on creation. Is Innaritu just a self serving showoff? No, he's just a goddamn master of the craft. He knows how to wield a camera and isn't afraid to use it to create magnificent cinematic moviemaking. I wonder if the people who complain about supposed pretentiousness and style and technique without substance go and watch Godard films and rank them as high art worthy of awards and prestigious honors.

       This films power lies in the very thing many critics seem to lament about it: how basic it seems. But this shouldn't be translated as "shallow". It should be recognized for what it is: animalistic, primal emotion. This is a movie that hurts. On an emotional level, but more so on a voyeuristic, visceral level. When DiCaprio is being brutally mauled by a bear you empathize in a way that is rare I fell. You empathize with his physical pain. It's not a cringe/nervous laugh moments, or an "ouch, bet that hurt". It's a bleary eyed, aghast, and torturous feeling for the man. The same goes for when he watches his son murdered before him. You watch in Leo's eyes as his stomach turns, and you feel it in the pit of your belly as well. Film has always been a massive conveyor of empathy, and this film works wonders in that realm that movies are so well fit to express.

   Rating: A-

The Rest: 

Brooklyn

   Year: 2015

   Director: John Crowley

       The story of a young Irish woman starting a new life in America, and almost starting another new life back in Ireland. It's the quintessential oscar bait of the year, next to Bridge of Spies that is. Does that make it a bad film? No, it just makes it standard. I have to admit I was engaged, and I enjoyed the performances, but overall there was simply nothing new or exciting or awe inspiring here. You could say that a film doesn't have to have those qualities to be great, and you'd be right. But I think at this point in in the history of cinema you have to do something a little more interesting, and a little less conventional, to at least get my full appreciation.

   Rating: C-

Spotlight
   Year: 2015
   Director: Tom McCarthy

       And the oscar goes to Spotlight, the wrong decision, but not one so wrong as to seem entirely unjustifiable. For the second year in a row, the academy nearly makes the right choice, after last years Boyhood lost to the still great but less deserving Birdman. This, however, shouldn't take away from what an achievement Spotlight is. Working on the opposite spectrum of The Revenant, the film utilizes a sort of barebones, no frills approach that lets the amazing performances take center stage. Every now and then camera and music will be used just perfectly to highlight the tension or emotion, but it's never intrusive, and it never takes away from the main stars of the film: the story, and of course the stars themselves.

   Rating: A-

The Martian
   Year: 2015
   Director: Ridley Scott

       Strong performances, direction, cinematography, writing, special effects, and all with an engaging plot and a good amount of humor. Always captivating and interesting, and a nice touch having everything explained with real science, and the filmmakers are to be applauded for avoiding cliche. A winning formula with nothing to complain about, missing some little x-factor to make it truly great though.

   Rating: B