Total Recall | The Revenant
Total Recall | The Revenant
' I ain't afraid to die anymore. I done it already.' The Revenant is an epitome of human perseverance, survival instincts, greed. It's authentic, poetic, brutal, and certainly not for the week hearted. It would be crime of the year, if Leonardo DiCaprio, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Emmanuel Lubezki, Tom Hardy, production designer, editor, original score composer, and the technical crew don't get Oscars.
Alenjandro Gonzalez Inarritu himself and the team suffered. The script demanded the film to be shot in locations untouched by civilizations and the crew to experience the events, what actually happened in the life of Hugh Glass, who was betrayed, attacked by bear, and left for death. He resurrected to avenge. This is what precisely the Tamil filmmaker Bala did with his team for ' Paradesi ', the new generation film makers called him brutal. If i were to make a film on real events, the cast and the crew will have to experience what actually happened to the real persons on and off the sets. Otherwise, the film wouldn't be authentic.
[The Revenant predated Birdman]
"I started developing 'The Revenant' before 'Birdman,'" said Iñárritu. When DiCaprio went off to shoot "The Wolf of Wall Street," production was stalled on "The Revenant," which turned out to be beneficial for Iñárritu in the long run. "I'm thankful that we got put on hold," said Iñárritu, "because a lot of the things I learned from 'Birdman,' that I wanted to do differently next time, were a part of 'The Revenant.'"
#TheRevenant Facts:
[Shockingly, it was an easy sell.]
The Revenant" would have been a no-go under anyone else's name, but a few very important people had faith in Iñárritu's vision.
"About 10 years ago, we were passed along this book that dealt with the historical story of Hugh Glass," recalled Golin. After developing a first draft with a writer, "Alejandro looked at it and was at first a little hesitant based on what the idea was, in terms of the Native American aspect of it. But he told me he was very interested because it wasn't what he had expected." Golin, who is a personal friend of Iñárritu and had previously worked with him on "Babel," strolled into the director's office and handed him the script. "He read it right away and had so many smart things to say about it," said Golin.
"The main thing that attracted me was that you have, on the surface, a story of resilience and human spirit surviving incredible, tough conditions physically and emotionally," said Iñárritu. "Very little is known about Hugh Glass as a real guy that existed 200 years ago, except that he was attacked by a bear, betrayed and left for dead, and has to survive in the winter. I said, 'What really drives a human to survive those conditions?' It's something improbable, and I think a filmmaker's duty is to make the improbable probable. I also wanted to discover how I — and the crew, all of us — would be transformed by this journey."
Golin took the project to Weston at New Regency. Though Iñárritu intended to shoot exclusively with natural light and in remote regions entirely untouched by civilization, his vision was palatable to the company. "They really admired Alejandro," said Golin. "It was perfect timing when we got involved," added Weston, President/CEO. "We were going back to the roots of Regency, which was a filmmaker-driven company. We met with Alejandro right after 'Amores Perros.' It's a creatively challenging project with mainstream appeal, and that is the definition of the movies we make. It was a very easy decision for us. We actually read the script overnight and met with these guys at lunch that week and committed to it right away."
#TheRevenant Facts:
[ Every day of production was the most difficult day of production]
"There hasn't been one day of 'The Revenant' that hasn't been difficult or challenging," said Iñárritu. "Nothing has been ordinary in this project. This is the most ambitious project I have ever done in my life."
"The minute I walked on to set it was completely different than any other set I've ever been on," said Parent, who previously produced other ambitious projects such as "Godzilla" and "Pacific Rim." "It felt relatively small and intimate because of Alejandro's vision to shoot with all natural light," said Parent. "This whole movie felt like a bull's-eye to hit. It felt like something incredibly special. As a producing team, we spent all day anticipating how things are going to go awry, and in this case the weather was unbelievable."
"There hasn't been one day of 'The Revenant' that hasn't been difficult or challenging." Alejandro González Iñárritu
Beyond the weather, daylight was the crew's second biggest issue, as Iñárritu was determined to shoot with natural light. This seems fair enough, except for the fact that it gets dark in Calgary at 3PM in winter, and the crew had to travel two hours each day to reach their remote shooting locations. ("I wanted locations that really felt untouched by human beings, that you felt the wilderness as it was two hundred years ago," said Iñárritu.) Sometimes long-take scenes had hundreds of extras. The crew rehearsed for weeks until they reached a state of streamlined precision; Iñárritu compared the preparation process to that of staging a massive play.
"We knew we had just one hour and a half every day to shoot," he said. "The demands that we set for this approach were really, really high. Every crew member had to be involved because we were shooting real-time, 360 degrees shots where everyone has to hide and run. The nerves were really high. Then, suddenly, the sun comes out, or suddenly a tree falls on set and you're screwed. Or you arrive to that location two weeks after rehearsal, and it's flooded. It was crazy. You have to adapt and change, but you cannot lose precision."
The director remained vehemently opposed to utilizing green-screen. "The results would not be the same," he said. "The physical experience permeates the images. We were going through the same odyssey that these trappers went through. To the actors and the camera, there's a truthfulness that comes through.
' I don't want to make a movie like this anymore. It was an ordeal. The production was a living hell.', says the academy award winning director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu about ' The Revenant '. Also, he is proud of the fact that it should be watched in a temple not a theatre, which means in the best theatre possible. And, he does not want his movie to be fixed to any particular genre, as The Revenant is certainly not a western.
The Revenant trailer – watch Leonardo DiCaprio in Alejandro González Iñárritu's snowbound western.
The first trailer has arrived for the Mexican director’s follow-up to Birdman: a hirsute Leo DiCaprio looking very much at bay in this western.
Is it a bear? Is it a man? In fact, it’s Leonardo DiCaprio, finally looking almost as old as the character he’s supposed to be playing, give or take the fantastically fake-looking beard.
This is the trailer for The Revenant, the film that will either save DiCaprio’s career, or revive the western, or both, or neither. Most importantly, maybe, it’s the new one from Alejandro González Iñárritu, recently crowned king of Hollwyood after winning all those Oscars for Birdman. So what does this two-minute taster tell us?
First of all, it looks as if Iñárritu is back on the pompous, otherworldly tip that made Babel and 21 Grams chores to get through. On the other hand, he knows how to drum up some properly exciting soundtrack music, fast cutting and churning skies (the latter courtesy of the inevitable Chivo Lubezki, who has certainly learned a thing or two from Terrence Malick).
Revenant, it appears, is what they called zombies in the old days. From what we can gather, DiCaprio doesn’t play an actual reanimated corpse (though that wouldn’t be much of a stretch for him – bada-bing!), but someone left for dead by his supposed companions. Lots of fighting, shooting, and running ensue.
So what do you think? Does bearded Leo do it for you? Or will you be running for coveStiw
courtesy: The Guardian
' Leo, you are the Revenant. Thank you for giving your heart, soul, life.' says Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu on winning the 88th annual academy award for best directing for TheRevenant.
#TheRevenant Facts:
[Admittedly, they were all "a little crazy" making this movie.]
"Stanley Kubrick said the ultimate truth about directing and producing a film," said Iñárritu. "He said that it's the same as trying to write a poem as you're riding on a roller coaster. You're trying to do poetry, honor your artistic vision, but at the same time production is a rollercoaster that is very physical, absolutely uncontrollable, and you have to be riding it."
"As humanity, if we pretend we are the masters of nature, we'll hit the wall," continued Iñárritu. "The same goes for producers. If we think we can control the beast completely, then we become just toothpaste producers. If I'm not challenged — if I don't have an incredible fear of failure — I feel that I should not do the job. My job is to try to find the answers I don't have through the process."
For all of his strong convictions, Iñárritu remains self-aware. "To do what we're doing, I truly believe we have to be a little crazy," he said. "Most likely you will fail, but if you can invest everything, you can get a little bit of the beautiful mess that is transporting people to another level of consciousness. If one of the films I've made gets to a mystery, or reveals something in a different way to any audience in the world, it's worth it. But that costs money. It costs your life. You have to get out of your family, your comfortable zone. All of us did a lot of that."
"Let me tell you, nobody will go to a film because the guys were on schedule and on budget," said Iñárritu. "It's how good the film is. I'm not saying that you have to be irresponsible. But mission and ambition should never be compromised. Never surrender."
Source: Indie Wire
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu says years of discussion and preproduction went into the making of The Revenant as they intended to show territories not accessed by human civilization yet.
The story of love between father and. child. Proud moment for the followers of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Leonardo DiCaprio!
Leonardo DiCaprio on winning the long waited Oscar starts from thanking Tom Hardy, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and his master Martin Scorsese for coaching him on the nuances of cinema. More importantly, the forgotten significance for indigenous people and climate changes.
The Revenant Facts:
Leonardo DiCaprio was the only casting choice.
"Leo was the first choice because he is one of the greatest actors alive, and he has shown that with an incredible career," said Iñárritu. "He was also the perfect age for the character." DiCaprio's natural charisma and ability to captivate without words was of chief concern for Iñárritu. "It's a very epic, ambitious film, but I didn't want to lose the intimacy, details, or emotion," he said. A surprising element of the decision to cast DiCaprio, though, was the actor's penchant for environmentalism. "Leo responded incredibly well to the historical context of this film and what it means for him personally, regarding the connection with nature," said Iñárritu. "All the elements coincided to make Leo the best choice. And we were right — he delivers something that people will be incredibly surprised and moved by."
Emmanuel Lubezki makes Oscar's history by winning three times in a row for best cinematography. Gravity (2014, Dir: Alfonso Curaon), Birdman (2015, Dir: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu), The Revenant (2016, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu).
Blood Lost, Life Found In New Posters For 'The Revenant' Starring Leonardo DiCaprio And Tom Hardy:
"The Revenant" was not an easy shoot. The locations were unforgiving, Alejandro G. Iñárritu was demanding, and actors were pushed to the limit in conditions that would test the bravest of souls. But sometimes you have to smile in the face of adversity, and that's pretty much what Tom Hardy did.
“When things get a bit too serious, I go, ‘Why don’t we have a cuddle in front of all these people here?’ ” Hardy told EW about grappling with his director on set. “It ends with both of us falling down in the snow. I think that’s a good thing. If I’m the naughty boy for doing that, then I’d rather be the naughty boy and release that tension.”
“He had the affability to me of the donkey from 'Shrek' and I’m Shrek,” Hardy added, meanwhile, about his co-star Leonardo DiCaprio he stated: “I do a bit of heavy-lifting with all the lingo and Leo does the face-pulling. He does some significant face-pulling. And he’s awesome at it.”
"The Revenant" opens on Christmas Day and below are two new posters, featuring both Hardy and DiCaprio doing some serious face-pulling.
Source: Indie Wire
The movie was almost completely shot using natural light in extreme climatic conditions by academy award winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. The director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, wanted the movie to be shot in locations untouched by humans as it justified the story. Therefore, the entire cast and crew would walk for hours together, carried the cameras on their shoulders, and reached the landscape deserted by men. The natural light would exist there for only few hours, soon it got dark, so, the shoot could be conducted for only an hour a day as against the scheduled whole day.
' Pain is temporary. But, the film is forever.', says Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. The entire cast and crew went through hell and made ' The Revenant '.
Now, they have to reap the benefits for the efforts exerted.
Its highly recommended to watch the 45 minutes length documentary on the #TheRevenant before watching the film in theatres as it dives deep into the inner conscience of director #AlejandroGonzalezInarritu on exploitation of native people, their environment and climate changes. This image is the snapshot of the intend, which the filmmaker tried to disseminate through his film, that comes towards end of the documentary.
#LeonardoDicaprio #TomHardy
#TheRevenant Facts:
[In subzero temperatures, a Chinook saved the movie's life]
Weather was unequivocally the film's biggest challenge. "93% of the film happens in exterior locations, so we knew we'd be at the mercy of the weather," said Iñárritu. "We tried to really make a production plan, but we knew in advance that no matter how well we planned, those things would change. And they did."
When the team got to Calgary, the cold was more brutal than expected. But that was a variable they could control. The production encountered real trouble when they realized the capricious nature of Calgary's weather patterns. "We used to joke about the weather issues, but we didn't know actually what was going to happen," said Weston. "Sometimes the weather would change seven times a day in Calgary," said Iñárritu. "It's the worst place for any producer to shoot a film. But it's an incredible landscape, so we didn't have a choice."
Weather in Calgary seemed to conform only to Murphy's Law: When the script demanded snow, there was none, and when it was time to shoot without snow, a blizzard would arrive. "It was the warmest winter in 35 years in Calgary, so we ran out of snow in places," said Golin. "We would be looking at snowstorms coming in and they'd literally just miss where we were shooting."
One day, the crew was scheduled to shoot a scene in the bare landscape. Of course, a snowstorm rolled in. But then Iñárritu heard a Chinook was on its way. "It was a stunning situation," said Golin. "Alejandro called me up and said we're going to grab some weather when a Chinook comes in. I said, 'What the hell is a Chinook?'" Chinooks, highly unusual weather phenomenons native to Calgary, cause an otherwise freezing day to warm up within hours. "I said to Alejandro, 'Are you full of shit? Really, we're planning to schedule a shoot based on winds coming?'"
"I'd never heard of a Chinook before," said Parent. "That morning, I came in, and there was three feet of snow. I walk out three hours later and there was no snow. It felt supernatural."
The crew shot the sequences, and the problem was solved — for that day, at least. "Ultimately, the snow issue became a really big problem we couldn't solve in Canada, or even in the Western hemisphere," said Golin.
#AlejandroGonzalezInarritu #EmmanuelLubezki #LeonardoDiCaprio #TomHardy
Source: Indie Wire
BT respects the incredible crew, that brought the vision of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's, 'The Revenant' into existence. Without them, the film would have never been made in locations, where human civilization has not laid its foot yet. Therefore, do imagine, how tough, those terrains must have been!
You must watch this documentary of ' The Revenant ', before watching the film in theatres this Friday. The movie has been making profound impact on my thought process ever since its production began. I'm not going to talk of what the impact is all about. You watch it for yourself and understand, along with what the #AlejandroGonzalezInarritu, #LeonardoDicaprio, #TomHardy, cast and the crew went through in making the film. Its just beyond our wildest and brutal imagination. #TheRevenant
Complied and authored in parts by Balaji Thangapandian aka #BT - a spacefarer, who is also curious about film-making, connectivity technologies and military history.
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