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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.”

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.

visit

stack.net.nz

14

jbhifi.co.nz

MAY

2016

DVD

&

BD

DVD

&

BD

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