History Film / TheRevenant

--> '''Bob Chipman''': Yes, the story of Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio as a frontiersman who crawls out of his own grave to hunt down the men who left him for dead after a brutal bear attack is sub-textually about the spiritual struggle of man vs nature set against [[SceneryPorn glorious naturalist cinematography]] and a [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic haunting orchestral score]]. But ''specifically'', it's about scalping, shooting, tomahawking, head smashing, [[AnnoyingArrows arrow shooting]], [[GroinAttack dick chopping]], hatchet fighting, stick fighting, gun fighting, knife fighting, and ''bear fighting'' through harsh wilderness fueled by pure white hot '''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge revenge]]'''.

--> '''Bob Chipman''': Yes, the story of Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio as a frontiersman who crawls out of his own grave to hunt down the men who left him for dead after a [[BearsAreBadNews brutal bear attack]] is sub textually about the spiritual struggle of man vs nature set against [[SceneryPorn glorious naturalist cinematography]] and a [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic haunting orchestral score]]. But ''specifically'', it's about scalping, shooting, tomahawking, head smashing, [[AnnoyingArrows arrow shooting]], [[GroinAttack dick chopping]], hatchet fighting, stick fighting, gun fighting, knife fighting, and ''bear fighting'' through harsh wilderness fueled by pure white hot '''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge revenge]]'''.

** Averted with [[spoiler:the ending to Glass and Fitzgerald's story. In the movie, Glass hunts him down and gets revenge on him. In real life, Fitzgerald ran off and joined the military before Glass could get to him, and as it would be a criminal offense to kill a soldier of the military, Glass had to let him go.]] We probably a more satisfying conclusion than what happened in real life.

* AnimalMotifs: After the attack and the death of his son, Glass begins to take on some of the same characteristics of the very bear he fought. He wears its hide and uses its claws as a necklace, sets out to avenge his son, and animalistically devours any kind of meat he can find (such as bone marrow, fish and bison liver). He also goes to kill [[spoiler:Fitzgerald]] the same way he did the bear: a shot near the left shoulder, then stabs him repeatedly, only to have him die (albeit at someone else's hand) after a prolonged struggle.

* AllThereInTheManual: The names of the important Native American characters like the Arikara chieftain and the Hunter the Glass encounters (Elk Dog and Hikuc, respectively) are not mentioned in the movie but listed in the credits.

* BadassBeard: Glass, Fitzgerald and Henry all sport some pretty impressive facial hair (though Henry shaves his off sometime after he gets back to the outpost).

--> '''Fitzgerald''': My Pa being one… wasn’t a religious man you, you know? If you couldn’t grow it, or kill it or eat it, then he just plain all didn’t believe in it and that was it. And this one time he hit on up the old Saber Hills. San Saber Hills… He joined up with a couple of Texan ranger buddies of his to hunt, you know. Pretty routine, you know, they done it like hundred times before. Should have been three days of kill, but on the second day, well it all went fucked. Somehow that night he got to lose his buddies… And on top of it all, the Comanches, they went and took the horses, so… He was starving, delirious… And crawls up into this motte, like the group of trees out there in the middle of nowhere… just sticking up in this ocean of scrub… And he found religion. At that moment, he told me he found God. It turns out...that God: He is a Squirrel. Yeah. They go meeting one... I found God, he use to say. While I was sitting and basking in glory and subliminal mercy... I shot and eat that sunna bitch.

* CruelMercy: [[spoiler: Fitzgerald to Glass. He explains he can make it quick for him, without any further pain and all Hugh needs to do is blink. After which he stands over him for over a minute, explaining that [[KickTHeDog he will finally have to blink]]]].

The film has become notable for its incredibly ambitious filming schedule, shooting on location in remote parts of the Canadian and South American wilderness and using only natural lighting for its cinematography. Music/RyuichiSakamoto and Alva Noto composed the soundtrack.

** Glass is given a half-Pawnee son as his MoralityPet (whose murder serves as a MoralEventHorizon for Fitzgerald), and a Pawnee wife as his [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore]]. That son, and rumors that Glass killed a U.S. Army officer to avenge that wife, make his trapper companions suspicious - and endear him to modern audiences, as Natives being victims of American expansion is a common theme in the movie. Though the real Glass lived among different Native American tribes, he had no known Native wife nor children, and suspicions about his pre-trapper days would have owed more to him serving under the pirate [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Lafitte Jean Lafitte]] for two years.
** Captain Henry lets the Arikaras be after surviving their attack. In reality, he led a punitive raid supported by the U.S. Army and the Sioux.
** The Arikaras are motivated by white men kidnapping the chief's daughter and making her into a SexSlave. In real life, the Arikara had been deeply hostile to whites for decades before and continued to be after that. Notably, the Arikaras would kill Glass ten years later, while in the film [[spoiler:they kill Fitzgerald and let Glass go]].

** The French trappers get what they deserve in the end. [[spoiler: The Arikaras were looking for daughter of their chief all the time, fighting the Americans and working for the French. Turns out the woman was held captive by the French all the time. As a SexSlave. From the account of the sole survivor of their party the Arikaras didn't take that offense lightly]]. Bonus points for Toussaint, who was busy [[spoiler: raping Powaqa]] when Hugh stopped him. [[spoiler: Pawaqa ended up cutting his testicles, ''just as she promised'', for raping her]].
** [[spoiler: Fitzgerald's demise from both wounds inflicted by Glass and Arikaras scalping him]].
** Beckett and Weston, the two volunteers who [[spoiler: set the barge back on the river as a bait for the Arikaras. Instead of jumping off the board and joining the rest of the expedition, they've decided [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere to stay and take their chances by the river]]. Two scenes later the barge is set ablaze by Arikaras and both of them are dead]]. Exactly as Glass predicted.

** Averted with Glass himself, who [[spoiler: saved Powaqa from the French trappers. This pays off in the very end, where he is spared by the Arikaras]].
* NoEscapeButDown: Completely unintentional. While being pursued by the Arikaras, [[spoiler: Glass' horse was shot and he himself didn't realise he's riding toward a cliff. Thus both he and his horse fall from the cliff. At least Glass had a tall pine to slow down his fall - the horse ended up a as meat source and a [[CarcassSleepingBag temporary shelter]]]].

** The Arikaras are able to effortlessly track down everyone in their territory, often after a few days and a blizzard. Most notably, they've managed to find [[spoiler: Hugh after he escaped for a few miles via river, thus not leaving any tracks behind]].

** The biggest example is the conversation between the leader of the French trappers, his translator and the chief of the Arikaras. Both leaders speak in their native languages.

* TrappedBehindEnemyLines: Almost the entire film is set in [[InjunCountry Arikaras' territory]].

* [[UngratefulBastard Ungrateful Bastards]]: Most of the expedition members, who are willing to leave Glass or outright murder him just to run faster from the Arikaras. A man who was their scout and the only person who knew the region, thus allowing them to survive till that point.

* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original version of Glass' tale, Fitzgerald's main source of villainy is abandoning Glass to save his own ass, and ultimately Glass has to spare his life because by the time Glass finally tracks him down, he had enlisted in the U.S. Army, and killing a U.S. soldier would have made Glass into an enemy of the United States. Here, Fitzgerald actively attempts to kill Glass, ends up killing Glass' son and later [[spoiler:Captain Henry and is ultimately killed by the Arikara in the finale]].

In the early 1820s, a [[HunterTrapper fur-trapping expedition]] is attacked by Ree (Arikara) Native Americans when they are only days away from returning to their base of operations with a fortune in furs. Escaping with only a fraction of their original numbers, their frontiersman and guide Hugh Glass (Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio) decides that their best chance of survival will be to abandon their boat and travel overland to reach safety. On the way, Glass is brutally attacked by a bear while on a hunting foray, and he is left behind with his son Hawk (Forest Goodluck) and two members of the party to expire and be properly buried without slowing down the rest of the escape. John Fitzgerald (Creator/TomHardy), deciding that it is too dangerous to wait even for Glass to die, kills his son and convinces Jim Bridger (Creator/WillPoulter) that the Ree are coming for them directly. He drags the still-living Glass into a grave--for the 'burial'--and then leaves him for dead. Glass is able to survive [[{{Determinator}} through sheer force of will]], and makes his arduous way back to their fort on a quest for justice, revenge, and redemption.

* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original version of Glass' tale, Fitzgerald's main source of villainy is abandoning Glass to save his own ass, and ultimately Glass has to spare his life because by the time Glass finally tracks him down, he had enlisted in the U.S. Army, and killing a U.S. soldier would have made Glass into an enemy of the United States. Here, Fitzgerald actively attempts to kill Glass, ends up killing Glass' son and later [[spoiler:Captain Henry and is ultimately killed by the Ree in the finale]].

** Also, [[spoiler:the Ree chief's daughter is kidnapped and made into a SexSlave, by the very men he had been doing business with.]]

* AllThereInTheManual: The names of the important Native American characters like the Ree chieftain and the Hunter the Glass encounters (Elk Dog and Hikuc, respectively) are not mentioned in the movie but listed in the credits.

* AnnoyingArrows: Terrifyingly averted. In the opening sequence, several trappers are killed instantly or left screaming in agony as they are skewered by the Ree's arrows.
* AntiVillain: The Ree chieftain. Despite the savagery and merciless actions of his tribe, his main motivation is to rescue his daughter who's been kidnapped.
* AnyoneCanDie: By the end of the story, the only survivors are [[spoiler: Glass, Bridger, the Ree chieftain and Powaqa]].

* ArrowsOnFire: Downplayed. We see these flying overhead in the opening scene as part of the Ree's attack.

* BaitTheDog: [[spoiler: The French group are first portrayed as reasonable men when dealing with the angry Ree Chief looking for his daughter. Turns out they were the ones who kidnapped the Chief's daughter while doing business with him behind his back. They lynched a Native American man who saved Glass' life. The leader of the group is shown raping the Chief's daughter, and who knows what other horrors they have done.]]

* BigBadassBattleSequence: The film opens with the trapping expedition being attacked by a band of Ree who storm their camp and force them to flee on their boat.
* BigBadEnsemble: Fitzgerald causes the revenge plot of the film but is hardly the only source of conflict as there is also [[spoiler:the French Trapper leader whose team kidnapped the Ree Chieftain's daughter]] and said Chieftain father of said daughter who goes on a rampage as a result mowing down anyone who happens to be near him, though he is arguably an AntiVillain, in motivation at least.
* BilingualBackfire: The French leader is surprised when the Ree chieftain reveals that he understood all that was said in French.

* CharacterWitness: [[spoiler:Glass helps Powaqa when she is raped by one of the French. In the final scene, when Glass encounters her again with the Ree, they spare his life in recognition of his good deed]].

* TheChiefsDaughter: After the initial Ree attack on the fur expedition, we learn through their conversation with some French traders that they are looking for the kidnapped Powaqa, the chief's daughter. [[spoiler:The fur expedition had absolutely nothing to do with Powaqa's kidnapping at all; it is actually the French who had her all along]].

* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: When Glass is being strangled by a Ree warrior in the opening battle, a members of his party comes to rescue him JustInTime.

* FauxAffablyEvil: The French fur trappers are introduced drinking and laughing and having a good time all around, with their leader even offering the Ree Chief a shot of whiskey whilst bartering. [[spoiler:They end up lynching the Pawnee who was helping Glass and are revealed to be the ones who kidnapped the Ree Chief's daughter Powaqa, whom they keep around as a SexSlave.]]

* FlayingAlive: Early in the movie, it becomes apparent that Fitzgerald has previously been victim to at least a partial scalping. He confirms that in a discussion later with Jim Bridger. [[spoiler:Finally, a group of Ree Natives finish the job while killing him at the film's conclusion.]]

* InevitableWaterfall: When Glass escape the Rees by entering the river, he is soon dragged away by the current towards a series of minor waterfalls.
* InjunCountry: Much of the film takes place in Ree territory, which borders Pawnee land and leads up to the fort that the expedition operates out of.

* {{Jerkass}}: As one can tell from the tropes listed on this page, Fitzgerald definitely counts as one of these. Greedy, selfish, rude and murderous are just a few of his personality traits. One scene that stands out is when Bridger finds out that he lied about if the Ree were approaching where they were at Glass' gravesite. When Bridger has a rifle pointed at him, Fitzgerald snatches it from him and threatens to kill him. He pulls the trigger but it turns out that the rifle was not loaded and then berates Bridger for not having a properly loaded rifle.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: The Ree chieftain. While his motive is very sympathetic (rescuing his daughter who was kidnapped by white men) he is completely indiscriminate in the chase, killing ''dozens'' of innocent men who happen to be nearby white men, not to mention causing the deaths of many of his own men and helping further poison relations between the Ree and Americans. Ironically the one group he doesn't suspect turn out to be the kidnappers and his daughter is rescued by a man his warriors tried very hard to kill.]]

** Glass almost has this as his default expression through several sequences in the film, from when the bear cubs show up to when he's forced to go down stream after the Ree find him.

** The reason behind the Ree Chieftain's attacks is to rescue his daughter, Powaqa, who has been kidnapped. One could even argue that he functions as a EvilCounterpart to Glass, as he doesn't care who gets hurt or killed, while Glass doesn't attack or hurt innocent parties despite his single-minded obsession with revenge and even goes out of his way to exonerate [[spoiler:Bridger]] from all accusations.

** Fitzgerald seems to have a soft spot for Bridger, deeply buried in his unpleasantness. He saves Bridger during the Ree's attack on the party, though he uses it against Bridger to force him to go along with his lies. He also tries to give him advice to help him deal with his guilt over leaving Glass. Though whether or not the last one was sincere, is highly debatable. He also offered Bridger some meat, during the "God is a Squirrel" scene.

* PoorCommunicationKills: The Ree attacked the expedition because they are searching for the kidnapped Powaqa. The expedition, however, had no involvement in her kidnapping and have no information to give to the Ree to help them on their quest. All of the deaths on both sides do not contribute anything. When they catch up with Glass, if they had just bothered interrogating him instead of attacking first, he could've told them he'd rescued the daughter, she was safe and nearby, and that he was just trying to get home.

* TheSociopath: Fitzgerald is a classic example. During the Ree's attack on the hunting party, his main priority is preserving the pelts rather than aiding the other trappers. He later requests staying with Hawk and Bridger to watch over Glass only after being promised a reward and then tries to convince Glass to let him do a MercyKill, only interrupted by Hawk whom Fitzgerald promptly kills and then lies to Bridger in order to evade suspicion. Later, when he returns to the fort, he spins a yarn about how he and Bridger were forced to leave Glass behind due to a Native American attack and that Hawk stayed with his father, which is enough to convince Captain Henry and offer him the reward.

* TactfulTranslation: During the trade talk with the Ree chieftain, the leader of the French group mentions he wants a woman with [[BuxomIsBetter big tits]] who can cook, but his translator kindly omits this part.

* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: After a long and harrowing quest to avenge his son, Hugh Glass finally catches and defeats Fitzgerald in bloody fight. But as he is about to land the killing blow, Fitzgerald smugly brings up this trope, [[WasItReallyWorthIt asking if Hugh Glass really came all this way just to kill him and saying he hopes Glass enjoys his revenge, "because nothings going to bring that boy back."]] Though this doesn't stop Glass from [[spoiler: pushing Fitzgerald into the river [[BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork to be killed by the Ree chief]]]], it does lampshade the PyrrhicVictory the film ends on.

* ConspicuousCG: The bison herd. Gets especially conspicuous when the wolfpack shows up.

--> '''Fitzgerald''': My Pa being one… wasn’t a religious man you, you know? If you couldn’t grow it, or kill it or eat it, then he just plain all didn’t believe in it and that was it. And this one time he hit on up the old Saber Hills. San Saber Hills… joined up with a couple of Texan range buddies of his to hunt, you know. Pretty routine, you know, they done it like hundred times before. Should have been three days of kill, but on Saturday, well it all went fucked. Somehow that night he has to lose buddies… And on top of it all, the Comanches they went and took the horses, so… He was starving, delirious… And crawls up into this mud, like the group of trees out there in the middle of nowhere… just sticking up in this ocean of scrub… And he found religion. At that moment, he told me he found God. It turns out...that God: He is a Squirrel. Yeah. They go meeting one....I found God, he use to say. Who was sitting and basking in glory in subliminal mercy. I shot and eat that son of a bitch.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Fitzgerald's initial argument that they should leave Glass behind; that the party is unnecessarily endangering themselves by burdening themselves with caring for a man who was very likely going to die from his wounds anyway, does have merit. After all that is what led the Captain to offer a huge reward to those who stayed back with Glass, instead of endangering themselves. Though his actions immediately following (Trying to murder Glass, [[spoiler:murdering his son when he tries to intervene]], and ultimately leaving him for dead), [[RightForTheWrongReasons proves that this is motivated more by his own cowardice and greed than the well-being of his associates]].

* NoEscapeButDown: Completely unintentional. While being pursued by the Arikaras, [[spoiler: Glass' horse was shot and he himself didn't realise he's riding toward a cliff. Thus both he and his horse fall from the cliff. At least Glass had a tall pine to slow down his fall - the horse ended up a as meat source and a [[ItMakesSenseInContext temporary shelter]]]].

The film has become notable for its incredibly ambitious filming schedule, shooting on location in remote parts of the Canadian and South American wilderness and using only natural lighting for its cinematography.

* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: The film supplies these aplenty, from moments of quietness and character building to Glass' flashbacks and hallucinations. One moment in particular that stands out is when Glass meets an Indian hunting Bison and for a good plus five minutes in the film, they become friends and the Indian helps him out with travel, food and first aid. They even catch snowflakes together at one moment!

* BaitTheDog: [[spoiler: The French group are first portrayed as reasonable men when dealing with the angry Ree Chief looking for his daughter. Turns out they were the ones who kidnapped the Chief's daughter while doing business with him behind his back. They lynched an Indian man who saved Glass' life. The leader of the group is shown raping the Chief's daughter, and who knows what other horrors they have done.]]

* DeadGuyOnDisplay: Glass finds his Indian friend stringed up on a tree.

* EvilCounterpart: The French trappers, who somehow manage to be worse than the [[BlackAndGrayMorality amoral, greedy and racist Americans]]. After all, they are buying back furs stolen from the Americans and setting the Indians against them, all of which [[spoiler: while secretly raping the kiddnaped daughter of the chief who is their temporary ally and casually hanging random Indians]].

* TheHeart: Bridger is the youngest and the most idealistic of all the expedition members. He is the only one who wants to stay with Glass because that's ''the right thing to do'', not because of money or family ties. [[spoiler: He clearly toils under the heavy guilt after realising Fitzgerald's lies]]. And then there is the scene in the raided Indian village, where he [[spoiler: secretly leaves a food ration for the lone surviving woman]], without even saying a word.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Fitzgerald really does not like Indians, even [[KickTheDog calling Glass' son a "half breed" and calling the tribes "tree niggers".]] He also makes a homophobic remark to Bridger when it comes to him being friends with Hawk, even calling the latter "your little boyfriend" at one point.

* RedRightHand: Fitzgerald was once captured by unspecified Indians. This left him with a very specific trophy - he was going through a scalping when he was saved. Now a sizable chunk of his skull ''lacks any skin'' on it.

* TheSociopath: Fitzgerald is a classic example. During the Ree's attack on the hunting party, his main priority is preserving the pelts rather than aiding the other trappers. He later requests staying with Hawk and Bridger to watch over Glass only after being promised a reward and then tries to convince Glass to let him do a MercyKill, only interrupted by Hawk whom Fitzgerald promptly kills and then lies to Bridger in order to evade suspicion. Later, when he returns to the fort, he spins a yarn about how he and Bridger were forced to leave Glass behind due to an Indian attack and that Hawk stayed with his father, which is enough to convince Captain Henry and offer him the reward.

* MadeOfIron: '''Good lord'''. Mauled and half-eaten by a bear. Swept away in a waterfall. ''Fell off a goddamn cliff''. Nothing can stop Hugh Glass.

* NatureIsNotNice: For all of its peerless beauty, Nature is presented more of some kind hostile wasteland than a land of wonder. From vicious animals, the rampaging Arikara tribes, deceitful and murderous Frenchmen to blisteringly cold and harsh environments, the North American Frontier is unflinchingly cruel to Glass and many other of its characters. As one of the [[WebAnimation/{{Spill}} Double Toasted]] guys put it, "even the grass looks miserable!".