The Academy Awards are fast approaching. And aside from the controversy over the diversity – or lack thereof– among the award nominees, there are several films generating a great deal of Oscar buzz.
One of those movies is the latest Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Revenant, based on the 2002 Michael Punke book. It’s received 12 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.
Film contributor Dave Luhrssen discusses the interaction between DiCaprio's acting and another main character in the movie: nature. "You had this enormous, pitiless natural landscape. You don't get the impression that nature is on the side of the protagonist in this movie."he says. "Nature doesn't care if he lives or dies. [DiCaprio] has to struggle through this and find his way back to what would pass for civilization."
Viewers can look to the infamous bear scene in the movie for a clear example of the "terrible sublimity" of nature, as Luhrssen calls it. "Luckily for [DiCaprio] didn't have to confront a real bear, but it certainly looks as though he did, and I'm not particularly enamored of special effects...and I was, though, knocked off my feet by the bear in this movie," he says.
