FILM CRITIQUE | THE REVENANT
- OLIVIA TAM SIE WEN 1001540443
- Feb 9, 2016
- 5 min read
To critically assess the cast design and their individual character. Was the cast designed well? Did all characters have a purpose? Were the individual characters well explored? Or lacked depth?
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio as Hugh Glass
Hugh Glass is the main and a protagonist character in this movie. He plays a role as a fur trapper. He is the father of Hawk in the movie too. Glass still loved his wife even though his wife passed away. For instance, he always remembers the moments he had with his wife and remembers what his wife told him when she was alive.
Glass is a caring and protective father. He always encourages his son not to give up easily. He is protective and keen to educate his son. This can be seen when Fitzgerald shows a racist attitude towards his family, he is still try to educate his son to tolerate this behavior.
Glass is determined to survive. Even though he was afraid and in the brink of death, he still fights bear in other to survive. Finally, he managed to kill the bear but he was badly mauled. Glass also shows his determination when Fitzgerald tries to smother him. His determination is shown when Glass crawled out of the grave and walked through the woods for days. Besides that, he also tried to save himself from the Arikara, whose chief is searching for his kidnapped daughter Powaqa, by floating down rapids.
His determination to survive is also shown when he tried to catch fish and hunt small animals for food even though he still injured badly. Besides that, he tried to heal his injuries so that the wounds will not rot badly.
Glass is helpless when Fitzgerald kills his son but he can just watch helpless due to his bad injuries. In addition, he is determined to avenge his son. Even though he is injured badly and close to death, he still believes he will recover and manage to revenge for his son.
He is a kind and helpful person too. For instance, he freed Powaqa who was raped by the leader of French pelt hunters when he infiltrated the camp. He is a wise person too as he tried to survive the night by sheltering inside the horse's carcass. His wiseness is shown too when Glass ambushes Fitzgerald and shoots him in the shoulder by pretending to be dead.
Tom Hardy as John Fitzgerald
John Fitzgerald is the secondary and an antagonist character in the movie. He is a trapper who kills Glass's son Hawk. Fitzgerald is a selfish person as he did not care about other people’s life. He tried to kill Glass because he thinks Glass will not survive his injuries and they should kill him in order to speed up their journey. He had killed Hawk who was trying to save Glass. He had killed captain Henry too in the movie.
He is a promise breaker too as he did not keep his promise to Henry to stay with Glass until he dies and give him a proper burial. Besides that, he also lied to Bridger that Hawk is missing and that the Arikara is nearby to force Bridger to leave Glass behind.
In addition, he is a timid person as he did not dare to admit his fault about killing Hawk and chose to escape to save his life when he realized Glass is alive. Before leaving, he stole the fort's money. From this incident, we can conclude Fitzgerald is a greedy man too.
Domhnall Gleeson as Andrew Henry
Andrew Henry plays a role as the minor and a mirror character in this movie. He is the captain of the party of trapper. He had lost his wife as mentioned in the movie. He is a responsible captain as he offers payment to those who will stay behind with Glass instead of leaving him behind. He also demanded for Fitzgerald's word to stay with Glass until he dies and give him a proper burial.
He has sense of obligation too as he tried to kill Fitzgerald after knowing the truth. He also treasures and appreciates his friendship with Glass. He was killed by Fitzgerald after he and Glass split up while tracking Fitzgerald.
Will Poulter as Jim Bridger
The other minor and mirror character in the movie is Jim Bridger. Bridger is a young trapper of the party. In this movie, he had been led by Fitzgerald to abandon Glass by lying to him that the Arikara is nearby forcing him to leave Glass behind.
He is a kind person as he gave food to an Indian woman whom they met in the camp and tried to hide it from Fitzgerald fearing that he will harm her. He felt guilty with the ‘death’ of Glass knowing that he could’ve made a difference if not for Fitzgerald misdirecting him. Therefore, he did not want to receive the payments from Henry.
He is not brave enough as he did not dare to tell the truth to Henry because of Fitzgerald’s intimidations causing him into silence.
Forrest Goodluck as Hawk
The other minor and mirror character in the movie is Hawk. He is the half-native son of Glass. He is an obedient child who follows the bidding of his father. He is a brave person that tried to save his father from being killed by Fitzgerald even though he is out powered by Fitzgerald.
Melaw Nakehk'o as Powaqa
Powaqa plays a role as a minor and a mirror character in this movie. She is a Native American woman. She was rescued by Glass as a prisoner and tried to repay the favor of Glass by rescuing him. She is a person who values her dignity as she killed the person who raped her.
Duane Howard as Elk Dog
Elk Dog plays a role as a minor and a mirror character in this movie. He is a Native American and is the father of Powaqa. He is determined to find her daughter when she went missing being caught by the White men. For instance, he demanded five horses from the French in order to save his daughter. He is also involved in the saving of Glass.
Grace Dove as Hugh Glass's wife
Hugh Glass's wife is the minor and a romance character in this movie. She is a Native American woman who passed away a few years back. However, Glass and Hawk still remember her and her words as if she just passes away yesterday.
Arthur Redcloud as Hikuc
Hikuc plays a role as the minor and a mirror character in the movie. He is a friendly Pawnee who shares bison meat with Glass. Hikuc had lost his family, but says that "revenge is in the Creator's hands." Hikuc and Glass travel together on horseback, and Hikuc even builds Glass a shelter during a blizzard.
Hikuc is a helpful person too. For instance, he shared meat with Glass and helped him to cure his injury. Unfortunately, Hikuc was killed and hanged on a tree by a group of French pelt hunters.
Yes. I agree that the cast in this movie are designed well. From the movie, we can see the acting skill of every actors and actresses is well especially Leonardo DiCaprio. He managed to express the emotion when he lost his son and the determination to survive and revenge for his son. I had enjoyed the movie very much as the characters in the movie had get my attention to make me curious about the story of this movie. It is also a good movie showing human nature of human being. It also let us know that education is very important so that we will behave morally. Besides that, I think that this movie is more focus on the life of Hugh Glass. Therefore, there is lacked depth on the other characters.
The Revenant | Behind The Scenes