THE REVENANT
Director Alejandra G Inarritu
Cert. 15 156 mins
The word ‘revenant’ means ‘the one who returns’ and especially someone who returns, supposedly, from the dead. This might make a Christian sit up and take notice of this film.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio (tipped for an Oscar) it is based on the true story of Hugh Glass, a fur trapper in the freezing woods of Montana during the early 19th century. It contains some superb photography, a lot of graphic violence and comparatively little by way of dialogue. Attacked by a ferocious bear, Glass is betrayed, left for dead, and buried by a man who has killed Glass’s only son. But the one they thought was dead, through much pain and suffering, astonishingly by dint of incredible stamina and will power, returns to bring retribution.
Judgement to come
The message of the movie is ‘Be sure your sin will find you out’ (Numbers 32.23), a message which all of us in contemporary Western society need to take seriously. And it is the materialistic pragmatist devoid of morals with little care for human life who brings down judgment upon himself.
There are longings for eternal life: a ‘good Samaritan’ who gets hung on a tree and discussions about God. Along with Glass rising out of a grave, there is a scene which seems specifically shot to remind the audience of Jesus walking on the water as the fur trapper crosses a frozen lake.
One could not help but be reminded of Acts 17.31: ‘For he [God] has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.’
The film majors on judgment and therefore implies our need for God’s grace in Christ.
