STACK May 2016 Issue 139

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I t's been described as the
toughest shoot in film history,
its temperamental director
was labelled a madman, and its
vegetarian A-list star consumed a raw
bison liver for the sake of authenticity.
Give the man an Oscar.
The fact that The Revenant was an
endurance test for those involved begs
the question: Does living the survival
experience while making the film
actually count as acting?
"The great thing was that as actors,
we were actually reacting to the
elements," offersWill Poulter. "When
you're scaling a mountain in minus
20-degrees, there's nothing better from
an actor's perspective to get you fully in
the moment."
The Revenant is based on the
real-life ordeal experienced by Hugh
Glass (played by Leonardo Di Caprio),
which also loosely inspired the 1971
film Man in the Wilderness, starring
Richard Harris.
Although a legend among mountain
men and the perfect campfire story,
scant historical facts are known about
the real Glass. But what is known
is that he joined an expedition to
explore the Missouri River in the
early 19th century, where he was
savaged by a grizzly bear and left by
his two companions, who presumed
him to be dead. Despite the severity
of his injuries, the tenacious Glass
alternately crawled and drifted on a
makeshift raft for six weeks and 200
miles to reach the nearest human
settlement, Fort Kiowa.
"If you study the Rocky Mountain
fur trade history, one of the first things
you'll learn is Glass's story. It's that
epic," notes The Revenant's director,
Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
Michael Punke's fictionalised
account of Glass's story, The Revenant:
A Novel of Revenge (2002), is
considered to be the most accurate
account and served as the basis for the
film's screenplay.
Iñárritu was determined
to craft as authentic a
representation of Glass's
survival story as possible,
capturing the essence of the primal
no man's land of the American West,
prior to the arrival of settlers and
covered wagons.
Filming chronologically and
eschewing CGI, greenscreens and
artificial lighting in favour of sun and
firelight and forbidding locations in
Canada and Argentina, the nine-month
production was a punishing experience
for all involved, with hypothermia and
the presence of bears a constant threat.
On the final day of shooting,
Iñárritu addressed his assembled cast
and his crew thus: “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 honoured,
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.”
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30 MAY 2016
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In the quest for authenticity, the cast and crew of THE REVENANT
endured an arduous nine-months in extreme conditions.
THE ABYSS
A problematic six-month
shoot led the cast and crew of
James Cameron's underwater
sci-fi epic to dub the
production "The Abuse".
Ed Harris still refuses to
discuss his experience making
the film and even Cameron
has admitted, "I knew this
was going to be a hard shoot,
but even I had no idea how
hard. I don't ever want to go
through this again."
FITZCARRALDO
A crucial scene in Werner
Herzog's jungle adventure
involves a 30 ton steamship
being manually hauled
over a hill in the Amazon.
So Herzog did it for real.
That was the easy part; the
director also had to contend
with egomaniacal star
Klaus Kinski, accusations of
exploiting the local tribes,
and a border war.
• The Revenant
is out
on May 18
APOCALYPSE NOW
Francis Ford Coppola's
Vietnam War masterpiece
still tops the list of the
most chaotic and hellish
productions. Star Martin
Sheen suffered a heart
attack, a typhoon destroyed
the sets, and drug abuse
and alcoholism were
rampant. A six-week shoot
became 68 weeks. "I felt
like I had fought in the war,"
said Dennis Hopper.
HELL
To make a film like this is
the journey of a lifetime.