‘The Revenant’ First Look: Leonardo DiCaprio Gets Dirty For Alejandro González Iñárritu
By Angie Han/Jan. 21, 2015 9:00 am EST
So far so good, but really all they tell us is that DiCaprio will be getting very very dirty for this movie.
The Revenant is based on the true story of Hugh Glass, an American fur trapper who is attacked by a grizzly bear in the 1820s. He’s robbed and left for dead, but survives against all odds and vows to get back at the men who ditched him. Glass’ ordeal was turned into a novel by Michael Punke, which serves as the source material for the movie.
Iñárritu had only nice things to say about his leading man to EW. “He’s a brave, incredible actor. I’m so surprised about how good he is,” he said. “I think there’s a profound understanding of humanity that I can see through his eyes.”
While Iñárritu isn’t going back to the single-take device famously employed in Birdman, The Revenant offers its own ambitious challenges. In an effort to showcase nature in its purest form, Iñárritu and his cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (who worked with him on Birdman) are shooting only with natural light in remote locations — which means they can only film for a few hours a day.
“It’s a fun ride,” said Iñárritu. “It’s a very experimental thing that we’re doing here… I’m now addicted to doing things that can fail horribly or maybe that can give us a surprise. We are all into it.”
