Reflecting on “The Revenant”
Normally, when I need an idea for an outdoor column, I scroll through my iPhone photo gallery to see which moments and experiences have recently impacted me enough to capture them in a photo. A majority of them are admittedly of some form of nature.
But this time around, it was a movie that heavily impacted my thoughts.
Last week, for nearly three hours, I was immersed in acclaimed director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s work of art, “The Revenant.” Its intensity and beauty resonated with me long after the closing credits rolled.
For those unfamiliar with it, “The Revenant” is the chilling tale of historical figure Hugh Glass, who was said to have survived a near-fatal bear mauling in the early 1820s and went on to seek revenge against those who left him for dead.
Though he’s known as a fur trapper and frontiersman, much of his early life and personal details have been embellished over the years. Iñárritu’s film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy, is the cinematic visualization of author Michael Punke’s novel of the same name that fictionalized much of his tale.
Essentially, it’s the ultimate tale of man vs. wild, survival and family on an epic scale set in the bleak, bone-chilling winters along the Missouri riverhead.
There’s not a whole lot of dialogue, but instead a breath-taking pan across the snowy landscapes with one man’s defiance of death to travel 200 miles to the nearest military post.
The movie spoke to me on so many levels — visually, aesthetically and verbally.
“When there is a storm. And you stand in front of a tree. If you look at its branches, you swear it will fall. But if you watch the trunk, you will see its stability.”
Those few sentences are murmured several times throughout the film. It’s a brief, yet poignant sentiment; an analogy of sorts for strength or perseverance, or the sheer will to live.
If I step out of Hugh Glass’s epic world and back into reality, it still holds true.
I’ve always been fascinated by trees. They’re beautiful structures that grow and thrive, yet can be repurposed if Mother Nature or man intervenes.
About two weeks ago, a fellow adventurer and I went on a 5-mile hike on a snowy, windy day. Most would have shied away at the idea of trekking out into the woods with snow steadily falling and the wind in your face, but we thrived in it.
We would often look up and see the wind whipping through the tops of the trees as they heavily swayed back and forth. Small branches and pieces of bark tumbled to the ground below.
But the trees stood. They were stable, like a lighthouse for the forest dwellers.
“But if you watch the trunk, you will see its stability.”
You can draw the parallels in that analogy to your own life. I know I did, as I often do when I’m out in the landscape.
As for the larger ones that did succumb to the combination of saturated grounds and heavy winds, they will be repurposed as shelter and homes for bugs or smaller critters. They’re still alive in so many ways.
Again, apply that analogy as necessary. And go see “The Revenant” and lose yourself in the stunning, beautiful, albeit cold, landscape.