It wasn't quite "Exit Leo DiCaprio pursued by a bear" in Alejandro Inarritu's winter's tale The Revenant at Cineworld yesterday but it wasn't far off in this epic western which has garnered no less than seven Academy Award nominations and includes a fiercely savage encounter with a grizzly. It's not difficult to see why it has been given so much acclaim as there are several exceptional scenes that are quite breathtaking in their execution. The film opens with an incredible confrontation between Leo DiCaprio's character Hugh Glass's party of fur trappers and a tribe of native Americans that surpasses any western I have ever seen (and I grew up watching John Wayne, Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone films). The film is worth the admission for this scene alone but there is plenty more to marvel at.
The cinematography is outstanding although by the end of the 156 minutes some of the views up into trees with a central sun started to feel repetitive. The Canadian winter scenery is magnificent and Tom Hardy's performance as the bad guy of the bunch is almost certain to win him his best supporting actor Oscar. As for Leo and his Oscar prospects? I thought he should have won one for The Wolf Of Wall St so I would love to see him win. His part in this movie, acted mostly on location in the harshest of sub zero conditions must have been sheer hell to play and he (and the entire cast and crew) deserve medals for their endurance in making the film.
We were lucky to see the film in IMAX which totally immersed us in the event. Such is the involvement of the IMAX experience that , as in Everest last year, we felt as if we too might get frostbite. Don't be surprised to see it win most of those seven Oscars.
After the movie we went to Ask, the Italian chain restaurant, in Cardinal Park by the cinema. We had a decent meal before going back to Cineworld to see Room. This movie also has Oscar nominations (4) but, I feel that Brie Larson, who stands a good chance of best actress, could be the only winner. She plays a young woman who was abducted as a teenager and raped on a daily basis over seven years in which she is imprisoned in a single room. During that time she has given birth to a son who is five when the film opens. I read the book a few years ago so the film held no surprises for me. It's not a pleasant story and it does have one plot device that I found unbelievable when I read it and is equally unbelievable on screen. After reading the glittering reviews, I expected more. Great acting from Larson and Jacob Tremblay as her son but that's about it.
Today we are off to Woodbridge to show our support for Framlingham Residents' Association at the appeals against the two big housing developments proposed. It's freezing today. Could do with one of Leo's bearskins.
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