ACHIEVING SEAMLESS FILMMAKING IN “THE REVENANT” from 20th Century Fox

Academy Award®-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu brings the legend of Hugh Glass to the screen with “The Revenant,” an epic adventure set in the unchartered 19th century American Frontier. Immersing audiences in the unparalleled beauty, mystery and dangers of life in 1823 America, the film explores one man’s transformation in a quest for survival. Part thriller, part wilderness journey, The Revenant explores primal drives not only for life itself but for dignity, justice, faith, family and home. 

Known for such films as “21 Grams,” “Babel” and the Academy Award®-winning Best Picture “Birdman,” “The Revenant” is Iñárritu’s first historical epic. He brings his distinctive mix of visual immediacy and emotional intimacy to a story that transports audiences to a time and place that have rarely been experienced through visceral modern filmmaking.

The film’s wilderness-based production mirrored the harsh conditions Glass and company actually lived through in the 1800s. Iñárritu and his whole cast and crew were up for all that was thrown at them, welcoming the challenges of shooting in Canada and Argentina, regions known for unpredictable weather and untouched wilds, in order to fully understand the experience of fur trappers in the early 19th century.

Coming on the heels of “Birdman,” director Alejandro G. Iñárritu takes his passion for seamless filmmaking to a new world with “The Revenant.” He and his long-time cinematographer, Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki, made several key decisions early on that set the rules for the production. First, they decided to shoot the film chronologically, to maintain the natural flow of Glass’s journey. Second, they committed to shooting the film relying on only the sun and firelight, bringing in no artificial lighting from later centuries, and working with the light of nature in creative ways. Finally, they wanted to explore the long, fluid, continuous shots they’ve become known for to a very different kind of effect than in Birdman.

Iñárritu always envisioned the look of “The Revenant” as a chiaroscuro painting, full of light and shade, come to visceral life. “Much as Birdman was inspired by music,” says Iñárritu, “this film was inspired by painting. Chivo has played an incredible role in creating this film as a visual work of art.”

Working with the cutting-edge Arri Alexa 65– the brand new large-format camera from the pioneering digital camera company -- Lubezki utilized a range of wide lenses, spanning from 12mm to 21mm, to create extreme depth. The flexibility of the system lent itself to camera movements that often go from extreme close-ups to panoramas in synch with the film’s action, dreams and emotions. The team mixed three approaches -- telescoping cranes, Steadicams and hand-held work – to allow Iñárritu to later sequence the visuals like a choreographer with Academy Award®-winning editor Stephen Mirrione.

Bringing long shots to a wholly unpredictable wilderness shoot was completely new for everyone. The challenges were mind-boggling in the beginning. Because the crew was in wintry Calgary where daylight hours are already preciously short, the window of opportunity for shots was brief and extremely high pressure. For any shot, no one could ever be sure if a second or third take would be possible.

“We had to choreograph all the beats and rhythms, find the right time of day and then pray weather conditions would hold,” says Iñárritu. “It was challenging and fun but it took a lot of time, thought and rehearsal to get it right. There was a certain patina and atmosphere we wanted to sustain. The conditions we established were so specific, we had to be very patient or push it and create it. I think we became trappers in our own way – trappers of circumstance.”

The Revenant took Lubezki not only into the West but also into the dreamscape of Glass’s subconscious mind. Iñárritu explains, “During Glass’s journey, when he is alone with his body collapsing, the only way to know who he is as a man is through his visions and dreams, which inform us of his state of mind and his past.”

All of the actors were enthralled by Chivo’s photographic style, which pushed them further. “Chivo’s photography is intrinsically a part of Alejandro’s process,” observes DiCaprio. “Together, they completely immerse themselves in the material and then work with the actors to coordinate incredibly complex movements and shots. What they quite uniquely achieve in this film is a virtual reality where you really feel like you’re out in the elements with these characters. You get Glass’s visual perspective to the point that it feels almost like you are part of his subconscious.”

DiCaprio did many of his own stunts: he was buried in snow, went naked in minus five-degree weather and jumped into a frigid river, each moment bringing him more in touch with Glass’s will. But as he makes his way, Glass does not just abide – he also changes profoundly, something DiCaprio reveals in a multi-hued range of subtle details that add up to the film’s stirring climax.

The director emphasizes that DiCaprio faced tests no actor could fully prepare for in his performance. “Leo was working in the toughest of conditions, under a challenging wardrobe, in extreme make-up, going to the most emotionally uncomfortable and dark places. But no matter what he is going through, something immediate comes to life when Leo is in front of the camera. There’s an incredible power,” Iñárritu observes. “The way we were shooting demanded an enormous amount from him in terms of rhythm, timing, momentum and silence, yet Leo makes it all work because he is so present.”

In turn, DiCaprio says he gave Iñárritu his full trust. “What I really love about Alejandro’s approach is that he’s an old-school filmmaker who believes in the art of creating something on the screen -- and he’s also kind of an outsider, even though he works on the inside. He understands the industry as it is now, but he’s been influenced by an entire lifetime of studying cinema history and developed his own uncompromising style that is now synonymous with his name. There are very few filmmakers out there who can escape the Hollywood mold and yet accomplish a film like this one on such an epic scale.”

Check out the following cinemas where “The Revenant” will have its return engagement starting March 2, Wednesday – Powerplant, Robinson’s Galleria, Eastwood, Festival Mall, Gateway, Gaisano Davao and SM Megamall. from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

LEONARDO DICAPRIO’S “THE REVENANT” RETURN ENGAGEMENT IN PHILIPPINE CINEMAS – MARCH 2

“The Revenant,” which bagged this year’s plum awards at the Oscars - Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Director (Alejandro Iñarritu) and Best Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki) will return in select Philippine cinemas starting March 2.




DiCaprio’s Best Actor award for his winning performance which the domestic and global audience have been rooting for in his work in “The Revenant” has finally been realized at the recently concluded Academy Awards. While Iñarritu has for two years in a row have also won Best Director last year for his work in “Birdman” and Lubezki for the third time since his win in 2014 for “Gravity” and last year’s “Birdman.”



“The Revenant,” meaning someone who came back presumably from the dead tells of the highly-inspiring true story of Hugh Glass (DiCaprio), a fur trapper on his impossible survival during the 1800s. Inspired by true events, “The Revenant” is an epic story of survival and transformation on the American frontier. While on an expedition into the uncharted wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass is brutally mauled by a bear, then abandoned by members of his own hunting team. Alone and near death, Glass refuses to succumb. Driven by sheer will and his love for his Native American wife and son, he undertakes a 200-mile odyssey through the vast and untamed West on the trail of the man who betrayed him: John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). What begins as a relentless quest for revenge becomes a heroic saga against all odds towards home and redemption.



The film’s wilderness-based production mirrored the harsh conditions Glass and company actually lived through in the 1800s. Iñárritu and his whole cast and crew were up for all that was thrown at them, welcoming the challenges of shooting in Canada and Argentina, regions known for unpredictable weather and untouched wilds, in order to fully understand the experience of fur trappers in the early 19th century.

Check out the following cinemas where “The Revenant” will have its return engagement starting March 2, Wednesday – Powerplant, Robinson’s Galleria, Eastwood, Festival Mall, Gateway, Gaisano Davao and SM Megamall.

“The Revenant” is a 20th Century Fox presentation distributed by Warner Bros.

Now Showing: THE REVENANT from 20th Century Fox [R16]

“The Revenant” is NOW SHOWING in Philippine cinemas

 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. 

CAST AND CREW ON SURVIVING REAL DANGERS IN SHOOTING “THE REVENANT”

The history of the American fur trade is brief, yet pivotal, full of tales of daring but also grave destruction. Though the fur trade forged the romantic image of the mountain man – idealized loners purportedly as rugged as the wilderness they felt beholden to tame -- the fur trade was also very much a business. In a sense it ushered in the first emergence of the archetypal Western entrepreneur, the visionary iconoclast who forges ahead answerable to no one but himself.

This is the era of “The Revenant,” where trappers go into pristine landscapes among indigenous populations to extract resources – and the question that comes up is: at what cost? Based on few written and memorabilia of Hugh Glass who is considered “The Revenant,” one who came back from the dead and played by Leonardo DiCaprio (this year’s SAG winner as Best Actor, Drama for Revenant role) in the titular role, is centric to the movie’s powerful theme. By the 1820s, the fur trade had reached the Rocky Mountains and become intensely competitive, with traders battling one another as well as Native tribes. Hugh Glass worked for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, then newly on the scene. The company utilized the “rendezvous system,” which meant they built no cabins or forts. Instead, their trappers were expected to hunt their own food, build their own shelter and fight their own battles, enhancing their stoic reputations.

Shooting outdoors in Canada and Argentina, in snow, wind and often at high altitude, the cast and crew of “The Revenant” faced remnants of the same dangers and conditions that people would have faced back then. Dangers in production ranged from avalanches to bears - the production even had a Bear Safety Coordinator on set every day. While cast and crew had a justified concern about local bears, no actual bear was used in the grizzly attack sequences. That was one of the few places Iñárritu utilized CGI.

Another major threat, as it is for Hugh Glass in the story, was weather. At one point, a blizzard brought minus-27 degree temperatures, and the need for crew members to keep an eye on each other for the signs of frostbite. “I have learned that there is no bad weather, there are only bad clothes,” Iñárritu jokes, but he notes the intense cold gave the film a shivery reality shooting in tepid conditions could not.

Typical of the film’s extremes, a record-busting hot spell (the warmest Canadian winter in 23 years) turned the filmmakers into snow diviners. “Alberta is very susceptible to radical climate changes,” says Iñárritu. “You can have seven different kinds of weather in a single day. In the beginning, we struggled with low temperatures and blizzards. Later on, we struggled with no snow. It was a winter of record high temperatures, and we went from chasing Chinooks to chasing ice.”

When the film ultimately came full circle, Iñárritu assembled cast and crew just as he had in the beginning. He said to the group, “To make a film like this is the journey of a lifetime. It’s been a journey of wonder with challenging moments and tough ones and beautiful ones. I feel honored, thankful, humble, happy and sad that we achieved what we achieved. What we achieved is amazing. Every single day of the production was difficult, but I think this has been the most fulfilling artistic experience of my lifetime.”

“The Revenant” is now showing (opens February 3) in cinemas nationwide from 20th Century Fox distributed by Warner Bros. Also available in IMAX screens.

“THE REVENANT” ADVANCE SCREENINGS FEBRUARY 2 NATIONWIDE, SCHEDULED AS LAST FULL SHOW [R16]

Leonardo DiCaprio’s award-winning and acclaimed film, “The Revenant” from Academy Award winning director Alejandro Iῆarritu holds its public advance screenings in Philippine theatres (2D and IMAX screens) as last full show nationwide on February 2, Tuesday – hours ahead of its opening (following) day on February 3.

Based on true events from legendary Hugh Glass’ accounts on surviving the wild, uncertain times and even returning from the dead, “The Revenant” is this year’s most awaited cinema event. In THE REVENANT, the highly anticipated film from 20th Century Fox, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Hugh Glass, a fur trapper and frontiersman who is left for dead deep in the unchartered American wilderness by a traitorous member of his team, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). With sheer will as his only weapon, Glass must navigate a hostile environment, a brutal winter and warring tribes in a relentless quest to survive and exact vengeance on Fitzgerald. Inspired by a true story, the film is directed and co-written by renowned filmmaker and Academy Award-winnerAlejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman, Babel).

Glass’s mythology began in 1823, when he was among thousands joining the fur trade, a driving new force in the US economy. It was a time when many saw the wild as a spiritual void that demanded to be tamed and conquered by the steeliest of men. And so they poured into the unknown, plying unmapped rivers, disappearing into impossibly lush forests, seeking not only excitement and adventure but also profits -- often in fierce competition with the Native tribes for whom these lands had long been home.

Many such men died anonymously, but Glass entered the annals of American folklore by flat-out refusing to die. His legend sparked after he faced one of the West’s most feared dangers: a startled grizzly bear. For even the most tested frontiersmen that should have been the end. But not for Glass. In Iñárritu’s telling of the tale, a mauled Glass clings to life – then suffers a human betrayal that fuels him to continue at any cost. In spite of tremendous loss, Glass pulls himself from an early grave – clawing his way through a gauntlet of unknown perils and unfamiliar cultures on a journey that becomes not just a search for reckoning but for redemption. As Glass moves through the frontier in turmoil, he comes to reject the urge for destruction that once drove him. He has become a “revenant” -- one returned from the dead.

“The Revenant is a story of harsh survival but also one of inspirational hope,” Iñárritu says. “For me, the important part was to convey this adventure with a sense of wonder and discovery, as an exploration of both nature and human nature.”

“The Revenant” opens in cinemas across the nation starting February 3 (also in IMAX screens) from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. Check your nearest theatres for schedule and advance ticket purchase. 

EXPERIENCE THE IMMERSIVE POWER OF “THE REVENANT” ON THE BIG SCREEN ON FEBRUARY 3 AVAILABLE IN IMAX THEATERS ONLY FOR ONE WEEK! [R16]

Leonardo DiCaprio has portrayed a kaleidoscopic array of characters – from Howard Hughes to Jay Gatsby to Wolf of Wall Street’s profligate Jordan Belfort – but the role of the Hugh Glass in “The Revenant” was an entirely new challenge, taking the actor into borderlands that few in our modern world have experienced. It is DiCaprio’s most intensely physical role and at the same time, an almost wordlessly raw performance. 

Academy Award®-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu brings the legend of Hugh Glass to the screen with “The Revenant,” an epic adventure set in the unchartered 19th century American Frontier. Immersing audiences in the unparalleled beauty, mystery and dangers of life in 1823 America, the film explores one man’s transformation in a quest for survival. Part thriller, part wilderness journey, The Revenant explores primal drives not only for life itself but for dignity, justice, faith, family and home.

DiCaprio was also enthralled by Iñárritu’s aim to bring Glass’s story to life with a realism that would plunge audiences into life in primordial Western lands long before cowboys and outlaws. “I’ve never really seen this time period in American history put on film, so that interested me,” he says. “This was a unique time and place in the history of the American West because it was far more wild than what we think of as ‘the wild, wild West.’ It was like the Amazon, a completely unknown wilderness, a no man’s land where few laws applied. These trappers who came from Europe and the East Coast had to learn to live a life in the middle of the elements -- surviving like any other animal in the wilderness.”

The director emphasizes that DiCaprio faced tests no actor could fully prepare for in his performance. “Leo was working in the toughest of conditions, under a challenging wardrobe, in extreme make-up, going to the most emotionally uncomfortable and dark places. But no matter what he is going through, something immediate comes to life when Leo is in front of the camera. There’s an incredible power,” Iñárritu observes.

The bear attack that threatens to end Glass’s life immediately took DiCaprio into a mano-a-mano struggle with one of nature’s most skilled predators. “The bear attack was incredibly difficult and arduous,” DiCaprio recalls, “but it’s profoundly moving. In the film, Alejandro puts you there almost like a fly buzzing around this attack, so that you feel the breath of Glass and the breath of the bear. What he achieved is beyond anything I’ve seen. Glass has to find a way to deal with this full-grown animal on top of him. He’s at the brink of death – and you are fully immersed in this moment with him.”

DiCaprio did many of his own stunts: he was buried in snow, went naked in minus five-degree weather and jumped into a frigid river, each moment bringing him more in touch with Glass’s will. But as he makes his way, Glass does not just abide – he also changes profoundly, something DiCaprio reveals in a multi-hued range of subtle details that add up to the film’s stirring climax.

“Throughout, there’s that question of whether some kind of revenge is ultimately the thing that will quench Glass’s thirst at the end of the day. But the need to continue on becomes something more to him…it becomes a kind of spiritual endeavor,” he concludes.



An immersive experience to be fully experienced only in theatres, get ready when “The Revenant” opens in cinemas on February 3 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

LEONARDO DICAPRIO’S WINNING FILM “THE REVENANT” STAYS FIERCE - EDGES OUT “FORCE AWAKENS” AT THE (U.S.) BOX-OFFICE ON ITS OPENING (FRI)DAY

With multiple wins at the recent Golden Globes and major nominations in the upcoming 88th Academy Awards, film “The Revenant” starring Leonardo DiCaprio directed by Academy Award winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu is fiercely strong at the (U.S.) box-office with an incredible opening (Friday, Jan. 8) of $14.4 million, edging out “Star Wars: The Force Awakens’” ($10.75 million) that day.

 

 

 

“The Revenant” best seen on the big screen, is on its way to $100 million with an estimated gross of $97 million to-date. Inspired by true events, “The Revenant” is physically intense and emotionally gripping story of a man presumed to be dead but came back to life. The legend of Hugh Glass, as he is regarded to be the revenant, someone who came back from the dead, is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Part thriller, part wilderness journey, The Revenant explores primal drives not only for life itself but for dignity, justice, faith, family and home.

Glass’s mythology began in 1823, when he was among thousands joining the fur trade, a driving new force in the US economy. It was a time when many saw the wild as a spiritual void that demanded to be tamed and conquered by the steeliest of men. And so they poured into the unknown, plying unmapped rivers, disappearing into impossibly lush forests, seeking not only excitement and adventure but also profits -- often in fierce competition with the Native tribes for whom these lands had long been home.

Many such men died anonymously, but Glass entered the annals of American folklore by flat-out refusing to die. His legend sparked after he faced one of the West’s most feared dangers: a startled grizzly bear. For even the most tested frontiersmen that should have been the end. But not for Glass. In Iñárritu’s telling of the tale, a mauled Glass clings to life – then suffers a human betrayal that fuels him to continue at any cost. In spite of tremendous loss, Glass pulls himself from an early grave – clawing his way through a gauntlet of unknown perils and unfamiliar cultures on a journey that becomes not just a search for reckoning but for redemption. As Glass moves through the frontier in turmoil, he comes to reject the urge for destruction that once drove him. He has become a “revenant” -- one returned from the dead.

Adds Leonardo DiCaprio: “The Revenant is an incredible journey through the harshest elements of an uncharted America. It’s about the power of a man’s spirit. Hugh Glass’s story is the stuff of campfire legends, but Alejandro uses that folklore to explore what it really means to have all the chips stacked against you, what the human spirit can endure and what happens to you when you do endure.”

“There are powerful themes for me in the film: the will to live and our relationship with wilderness,” explains DiCaprio of his immediate attraction to the story. “I’ve also previously played a lot of characters who were incredibly articulate in different ways and had a lot to say, so this was a unique challenge for me. It was about conveying things without words or in a different language. A lot of it was about adapting in the moment, about reacting to what nature was giving us and to what Glass was going through as we filmed. It was about exploring the most internal elements of the survival instinct.”

Based in part on Michael Punke’s novel “The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge,” 20th Century Fox and New Regency present “The Revenant,” also starring Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, Forrest Goodluck, Paul Anderson, Kristoffer Joner, Joshua Burge and Duane Howard.

 

 

 

Powerful epic saga unfolds on the big screen when “The Revenant”opens in Philippine cinemas this February 3 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

 

 

TOM HARDY IS LEONARDO DICAPRIO’S DARK MIRROR IN “THE REVENANT”

“The Revenant” movie picked up twelve (12) major nominations in the most awaited annual awards night, the 88TH Oscar Awards, including Tom Hardy’s Best Supporting Actor nomination as John Fitzgerald opposite Leonardo DiCaprio’s Hugh Glass.

 
“The Revenant” walks us through the brief yet pivotal history of the American fur trade, full of tales of daring but also grave destruction. Though the fur trade forged the romantic image of the mountain man – idealized loners purportedly as rugged as the wilderness they felt beholden to tame -- the fur trade was also very much a business. In a sense it ushered in the first emergence of the archetypal Western entrepreneur, the visionary iconoclast who forges ahead answerable to no one but himself.

Academy Award®-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu brings the legend of Hugh Glass to the screen with “The Revenant,” an epic adventure set in the unchartered 19th century American Frontier. Immersing audiences in the unparalleled beauty, mystery and dangers of life in 1823 America, the film explores one man’s transformation in a quest for survival. Part thriller, part wilderness journey, The Revenant explores primal drives not only for life itself but for dignity, justice, faith, family and home.

“This era was the start of industrialism at play in the West. Even before the discovery of gold and oil, the fur trade was a massive, lucrative business,” explains DiCaprio. “You had trappers going into pristine landscapes among indigenous populations to extract resources – and the question that comes up is: at what cost? Glass is caught in the middle of that question and it’s a powerful theme in the film.”

The dark mirror to Hugh Glass’s journey of survival is John Fitzgerald’s journey into paranoia, recrimination and haunted bitterness. To portray Fitzgerald, who both betrays Glass and becomes his spark for enduring, Iñárritu cast the English actor Tom Hardy who has come to the fore in vastly contrasting roles, from the dream-world character of Eames in Christopher Nolan’s Inception to the one-man tour-de-force of Locke. Iñárritu says, “As Fitzgerald, Tom plays a man full of prejudice. Yet he’s a wounded soul who has fears of the other because he is not capable of opening up to and understanding otherness. Tom has a finesse to him that is difficult to find,” Iñárritu continues. He is so handsome, so well built, so powerful and strong, but at the same time, can be extremely fragile, and that is what makes him so unique.”

Hardy made for an incredible nemesis. “Fitzgerald is a very interesting character because you understand his motivations so well. Here he is a man with nothing who hoped to be in a lucrative business, and all his future plans disappear in one second. So he goes into this ultimate survival mode where it’s kill or be killed – and Glass is the person in the way of that,” says DiCaprio. “Fitzgerald is also a survivor, but he finds a very different way from Glass. He chooses to be cutthroat.”

He continues: “Tom is someone I’ve worked with before and I’m an incredible fan of his work. I think he’s one of the most dynamic actors out there, and his commitment to creating this character was incredibly exciting to watch. He has a raw savagery that is so genuine; and that was absolutely, fundamentally needed to contrast with my character. He’s not your typical villain. These two men show strength in two entirely different ways.”

Opening in cinemas and IMAX screens nationwide this February 3, “The Revenant” is from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. 

SURVIVING THE WILD PRIOR TODAY’S FULLY-CONNECTED WORLD IN “THE REVENANT”

Surviving the wild by pure instinct prior the advent of emergency call buttons such as 911 and high-tech gadgets is what makes the latest Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio film, “The Revenant” this year’s highly-thrilling cinematic experience – directed, produced and co-written by Academy Award winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu. 

Inspired by true events from the sparse accounts of the legendary fur trapper and trader Hugh Glass, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, Glass became a revenant, someone believed to be dead who has returned to life after going through a harrowing series of events fighting for his life when left to survive in the wild set during the 19th century American Frontier.

Immersing audiences in the unparalleled beauty, mystery and dangers of life in 1823 America, the film explores one man’s transformation in a quest for survival. “The Revenant” explores primal drives not only for life itself but for dignity, justice, faith, family and home. The film’s wilderness-based production mirrored the harsh conditions Glass and company actually lived through in the 1800s. Iñárritu and his whole cast and crew were up for all that was thrown at them, welcoming the challenges of shooting in Canada and Argentina, regions known for unpredictable weather and untouched wilds, in order to fully understand the experience of fur trappers in the early 19th century.

Glass’s mythology began in 1823, when he was among thousands joining the fur trade, a driving new force in the US economy. It was a time when many saw the wild as a spiritual void that demanded to be tamed and conquered by the steeliest of men. And so they poured into the unknown, plying unmapped rivers, disappearing into impossibly lush forests, seeking not only excitement and adventure but also profits -- often in fierce competition with the Native tribes for whom these lands had long been home.

Many such men died anonymously, but Glass entered the annals of American folklore by flat-out refusing to die. His legend sparked after he faced one of the West’s most feared dangers: a startled grizzly bear. For even the most tested frontiersmen that should have been the end. But not for Glass, in Iñárritu’s telling of the tale, a mauled Glass clings to life – then suffers a human betrayal that fuels him to continue at any cost. In spite of tremendous loss, Glass pulls himself from an early grave – clawing his way through a gauntlet of unknown perils and unfamiliar cultures on a journey that becomes not just a search for reckoning but for redemption. As Glass moves through the frontier in turmoil, he comes to reject the urge for destruction that once drove him. He has become a “revenant” -- one returned from the dead.

One of the movie’s most thrilling scene, the bear attack that threatens to end Glass’s life, immediately took DiCaprio into a mano-a-mano struggle with one of nature’s most skilled predators. “The bear attack was incredibly difficult and arduous,” DiCaprio recalls, “but it’s profoundly moving. In the film, Alejandro puts you there almost like a fly buzzing around this attack, so that you feel the breath of Glass and the breath of the bear. What he achieved is beyond anything I’ve seen. Glass has to find a way to deal with this full-grown animal on top of him. He’s at the brink of death – and you are fully immersed in this moment with him.”

“The Revenant is a story of harsh survival but also one of inspirational hope,” Iñárritu says. “For me, the important part was to convey this adventure with a sense of wonder and discovery, as an exploration of both nature and human nature.”

“The Revenant” opens in cinemas February 3 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

20th Century Fox: LEONARDO DICAPRIO’S LATEST AND LOUDEST BUZZ ON HIS AWARD-WINNING PERFORMANCE IN “THE REVENANT”

In what the movie critics and cineastes consider his (latest) most powerful performance, Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio stars in a fully immersive and visceral cinematic experience in “The Revenant” - directed, produced and co-written by Academy Award®-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu. “The Revenant” also gathers a highly-pedigreed impressive cast that includes Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, Forrest Goodluck, Paul Anderson, Kristoffer Joner, Joshua Burge and Duane Howard.

Inspired by true events, DiCaprio plays the legendary Hugh Glass, a fur trapper in an epic adventure set in the unchartered 19th century American Frontier. Based on author Michael Punke’s “The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge,” published in 2002 and is one of the most extensively researched accounts about, Glass’s mythology began in 1823, when he was among thousands joining the fur trade, a driving new force in the US economy. It was a time when many saw the wild as a spiritual void that demanded to be tamed and conquered by the steeliest of men. And so they poured into the unknown, plying unmapped rivers, disappearing into impossibly lush forests, seeking not only excitement and adventure but also profits -- often in fierce competition with the Native tribes for whom these lands had long been home.



Many such men died anonymously, but Glass entered the annals of American folklore by flat-out refusing to die. His legend sparked after he faced one of the West’s most feared dangers: a startled grizzly bear. For even the most tested frontiersmen that should have been the end. But not for Glass. In Iñárritu’s telling of the tale, a mauled Glass clings to life – then suffers a human betrayal that fuels him to continue at any cost. In spite of tremendous loss, Glass pulls himself from an early grave – clawing his way through a gauntlet of unknown perils and unfamiliar cultures on a journey that becomes not just a search for reckoning but for redemption. As Glass moves through the frontier in turmoil, he comes to reject the urge for destruction that once drove him. He has become a “revenant” -- one returned from the dead.



Immersing audiences in the unparalleled beauty, mystery and dangers of life in 1823 America, the film explores one man’s transformation in a quest for survival. Part thriller, part wilderness journey, The Revenant explores primal drives not only for life itself but for dignity, justice, faith, family and home.

Known for such films as 21 Grams, Babel and the Academy Award®-winning Best Picture Birdman, The Revenant is Iñárritu’s first historical epic. He brings his distinctive mix of visual immediacy and emotional intimacy to a story that transports audiences to a time and place that have rarely been experienced through visceral modern filmmaking.



The film’s wilderness-based production mirrored the harsh conditions Glass and company actually lived through in the 1800s. Iñárritu and his whole cast and crew were up for all that was thrown at them, welcoming the challenges of shooting in Canada and Argentina, regions known for unpredictable weather and untouched wilds, in order to fully understand the experience of fur trappers in the early 19th century.



Leonardo DiCaprio shares, “The Revenant is an incredible journey through the harshest elements of an uncharted America. It’s about the power of a man’s spirit. Hugh Glass’s story is the stuff of campfire legends, but Alejandro uses that folklore to explore what it really means to have all the chips stacked against you, what the human spirit can endure and what happens to you when you do endure.”

Hailed as this era’s most technically advanced film with impossible camera moves, “The Revenant” opens in Philippine cinemas this January 27 February 3 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.