The most important part of the 12-time Academy Award nominated movie “The Revenant" is its reintroduction to the beauty of the North American wilderness.
After seeing the previews for “The Revenant,” you may think that the harsh nature of the story resonated the most with the audience. And that may be true because after watching almost three hours of death and vengeance, you find yourself in desperate need of some humor. The entire movie is one thing (whether it’s a person or a bear) trying to kill another thing. And you cannot help but to think how European settlers, although not to the extreme of the movie’s storyline, lived under the same conditions that Leonardo DiCaprio acted through. The freezing cold temperatures, the fear of Native Americans, the shortage of food, and the uncertainty of what the rising sun over the hanging icicles would bring, entailed the lives of the frontiersman.
“The Revenant” is set in the far west, among the mountains of South and North Dakota, Montana, Missouri, and Nebraska in 1823 America. And in 1823, this area wasn’t even owned by the American government. Instead, it was unchartered territory that was occupied by Native Americans, and American, French, and English fur trappers. It is a story of American grit, a part of the grander frontier folklore that perforates the way we think of ourselves as Americans. It is a story very connected to our imagery of our ancestors; tough, brave, independent fighters. Fearless men that could battle against the wind, fire, water, and earth, just like Jedidiah Smith or Kit Carson had.
“The Revenant” follows the story of mountain man, Hugh Glass. The director, Alejandro Inarritu, used the details that we do know about Glass’ life and tailored it to a more viewer-friendly audience. By adding in a family element, Inarritu can make the frontiersman more relatable, driving compassion and engaging the viewer on a personal level.
So, who was Hugh Glass?
He was a Pennsylvania born fur-trader, traveling and exploring the Upper Missouri River basin territory. Today, this includes Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Nebraska. According to the accounts we have about Glass, he really was attacked by a grizzly bear. He lived to tell his tale by traveling 200 miles to an American fort outpost, Fort Kiowa in Missouri, after his not-so-fellow companions left him for dead in the wilderness. What also remains true is that he wed a Pawnee woman, but the degree to which he gained retribution seems skewed. It appears Glass wanted revenge on his trapping partner, John S. Fitzgerald, for leaving him to die. Traveling with an exposed back, with his ribs bare, and a broken leg, Glass eventually met back up with Fitzgerald. But their meeting did not end in a bloody knife battle, as depicted in the film. Fitzgerald returned Glass' gun and Glass spared his life. Or so the story goes.
While I am not shy to the countryside, being flanked on the north and south (and the east and west) of my home by cows and corn fields, I was nevertheless amazed at the terrain in “The Revenant." I often think that there are very few places in the world that are untouched by the human footprint. To the mountain men, the fur-trapping territory was as vast to them as a galaxy. In today’s world, I can imagine that the world doesn’t seem so big and landscapes in “The Revenant” can be counted on your finger.
Then again, if we think about states like Montana, population density becomes a factor. As of 2005, Montana was ranked the 44th most populated state. While Montana is 147,046 square miles, there are less than a million people living in the state. This gets us to about 6.5 people per square mile, so perhaps open land does still exist. But despite the ice and slate, Montana’s population is increasing, with some people thinking its population will be at 1.1 million by 2025.
Inarritu’s masterpiece makes me think of a time in American history in which some Americans wanted to be hardy men again. Americans asked themselves at the turn of the 20th century if they could live through a fight with the men who explored, discovered, and settled our nation. Soon Theodore Roosevelt and the "Rough Riders" were at war with Spain in Cuba and the Philippines. It was also a time that Roosevelt pushed for the preservation of the American countryside. Hoping to never lose our heritage, whether it be our personality or our natural beauty, Roosevelt waged on national parks.
We are also entering an age where we question our strength and valor as Americans. Going beyond just manhood, Americans are questioning what entails a woman and what entails a man. And I think we also are entering into an era that can either save or demolish the future of our environment.
It is movies such as “The Revenant” that make us think about what we do and don’t hold as a pressing matter.
For more information about the movie, check here.
Here’s Ellen interviewing Leo.
