A masterpiece of staggering beauty and cinematic awe
Opens with a dream montage – incredible imagery, and then we’re off and running with the hunting scene starting with the camera aimed down at the stream and capturing a complex tracking shot. Iñárritu brings back a variation on the drum score from Birdman, the framing of character faces from I Am Cuba and low-angle work from Welles
The very next sequence is a complex battle tracking shot at magic hour—it is Saving Private Ryan meets The Thin Red Line and the best of both- muscular filmmaking- sumptuous photography and complex blocking/choreography
The very next sequence is a complex battle tracking shot at magic hour—it is Saving Private Ryan meets The Thin Red Line and the best of both- muscular filmmaking- sumptuous photography and complex blocking/choreography
The camera tilts up to the sky following the smoke
I sometimes talk about rolling tracking shots—Kubrick in the trenches in Paths of Glory or hotel in The Shining but these are floating—more like Tarkovsky or Gaspar Noe
Wide-angle tall tree up on a wall in an art museum stunners – dozens of these- overlooked or taken for granted by the majority of critics
I’d be skeptical of any critic missing on The Revenant– dozens of these– as beautiful as any recent film
Wide-angle tall tree up on a wall in an art museum stunners
The bear, Leo and others bleeding and breathing on the camera fogging it up– water kicking up on the lens—it is both a commitment to the authenticity of what we’re watching and certainly creating an awareness of the directorial feat of art we’re witnessing
The bear, Leo and others bleeding and breathing on the camera fogging it up– water kicking up on the lens—it is both a commitment to the authenticity of what we’re watching and certainly creating an awareness of the directorial feat of art we’re witnessing
.The bear sequence is impeccably done- – a comment on the inevitability of nature, death, sadness for the cubs- shot in long take so true to Iñárritu’s style
Tom Hardy as Tom Berenger in Platoon. He’s half-scalped, southern drawl, “All you have to do is blink” horrifying scene. It is a comment on the yin and yang nature of he and DiCaprio’s character. Berenger and Dafoe in Platoon were the devil and Christ figure—and here Hardy and DiCaprio are opposites on how they treat man and nature.
The physical performance from Leo—shot of the influence of Clockwork Orange — similar to Patrick Magee’s face
The physical performance from Leo—shot of the influence of Clockwork Orange — similar to Patrick Magee’s face
Like all of Iñárritu’s work- especially Amores Perros, Babel, 21 Grams – he’s piecing together separate strands of narrative and making a comment on how they intersect (often to hurt each other) – in one even they’re misconnecting because of language (Babel). That’s happening here. This is auteur cinema in subject as well- even though I’ll admit I think Iñárritu takes too long between the strands of the Chief looking for his daughter.
Albeit brief, the bond between DiCaprio’s Glass and his son Hawk is earned. Repetition in their laying their heads on each other chests, the surrealism sequences of past tragedy.
Those surrealism sequences are gorgeous. The pile of skulls set pieces, Iñárritu matches the breathing on the camera to the mist in the mountains in an edit.
Those surrealism flashback sequences are gorgeous. The pile of skulls set pieces
DiCaprio’s best work? I think it is. It’s different than most of his work- it is physical vs. verbal, but his weathered face is a brilliant canvas— pained, resolute— DiCaprio is aided by Iñárritu’s camera, actor friendly close-ups of those glassy blue eyes, lines like “I ain’t afraid to die, I’ve done it already”. It’s more Clint Eastwood, Redford in Jeremiah Johnson or Steve McQueen-style than Pacino or something- but it’s so solid. He crawls for a lot of it like he did in that comic virtuoso scene in Wolf of Wall Street.
DiCaprio’s best work? I think it is. It’s different than most of his work- it is physical vs. verbal, but his weathered face is a brilliant canvas— pained, resolute
DiCaprio’s dedication to the role is admirable but always in service of character and story and the brutality of the world of the film
In-line with Iñárritu’s view on humanity- dog-eat-dog nihilism from Iñárritu’s debut—people slaughtering others, cruelty, the man who befriend’ s DiCaprio’s Glass is hung by the French, the Pawnee, Arikara Indians, often called Ree, wolves eating Bison
Long takes in natural lighting, no dialogue, the shot of DiCaprio getting fish, up against nature, up a ridge then overlooking the splendor of nature—brutality and loveliness mixed– certainly a powerfully repeated motif
Long takes in natural lighting, no dialogue, the shot of DiCaprio getting fish, up against nature, up a ridge then overlooking the splendor of nature—brutality and loveliness mixed
a blend of powerful violent visceral filmmaking and Malick’s magic hour naturalism — pantheism with a bite
A gobsmackingly striking sequence of the church in ruins—belongs in Tarkovsky’s world—enchanting
A gobsmackingly striking sequence of the church in ruins—belongs in Tarkovsky’s world—enchanting
The juxtaposition of how Hardy’s character and DiCaprio’s treat nature is shown again and again comes full circle in the end- DiCaprio saves the daughter of the Chief and it saves him. Instead of attacking the man eating the bison liver DiCaprio is kind to him and he saves him in return.
At 131 minutes the avalanche on the mountain after DiCaprio seeing Gleeson scalped—set piece genius. This is Herzog carrying a boat over a mountain stuff. Awe.
At 131 minutes the avalanche on the mountain after DiCaprio seeing Gleeson scalped—set piece genius. This is Herzog carrying a boat over a mountain stuff. Awe
The last 20 minutes turn into a fantastic western revenge showdown between the two foes
Emmanuel Lubezki and his crazy remarkable run as maybe cinema’s all-time greatest cinematography has to be mentioned and praised, his work here with Iñárritu with natural light (like a Malick film used almost exclusively in every frame) and the Alexa 65—sensational. But how about production designer Jack Fisk—his credits include Mulholland Drive, The New World, Thin Red Line, Tree of Life, The Master, There Will Be Blood
Emmanuel Lubezki and his crazy remarkable run as maybe cinema’s all-time greatest cinematography has to be mentioned and praised, his work here with Iñárritu with natural light (like a Malick film used almost exclusively in every frame)
A masterpiece – one of cinema’s greatest recent achievements
@Matt Harris– This one is frustrating indeed. Ranked #24 from 2015 on TSPDT which is better than 36th last year. Let’s hope the trend continues. I have a hard time believing someone who watched the same movie I did (3 times now) could find even more than 1-2 films from 2015 to be superior.
Have you seen Nomadland yet? Can we expect a page for it sometime? I saw it recently with my family and was supremely impressed. I’m excited to see your view of its quality, as well as the things you noticed that I missed and whether or not you perceived some of the things that I did.
@Graham- I have not had the opportunity to see it yet. I’m hoping to get to it in the next 2-3 weeks. I look forward to it.
Zane A Schmidt
February 22, 2021 at 3:22 pm - Reply
A toast to it hopefully not being Toni Erdmann II!
Graham
February 22, 2021 at 5:27 pm
I haven’t seen Toni Erdmann, but Nomadland certainly includes clear visual, formal, and occasionally editing mastery, all of which I am led to believe the 2016 film does not possess.
I’m eagerly looking forward to your review of both Nomadland and Minari, they’re the only two left in my top 5 of 2020 that hasn’t yet been covered here. Zhao’s tracking shots in Nomadland are just masterful.
Drake
February 23, 2021 at 1:24 pm
@Declan- I’m excited to see both as well. Have you seen 2017’s The Rider from Chloé Zhao? If so, how would you compare it to Nomadland?
Graham
February 23, 2021 at 2:17 pm
I have not seen The Rider, but I believe Nomadland to be at the very least a solid MS. Declan, there was some admirable gliding camera movement work, but I’m not sure that’s the element worthy of the most praise. I’d first note the stunning outdoor photography; the formal callbacks to the beginning near the end; the naturalistic, realist style; McDormand’s masterful, unabashedly real performance; or the lyrical editing sequences that appear intermittently.
Declan
February 23, 2021 at 9:58 pm
I have not seen The Rider but I have read your entry on it. I don’t think your note about the untrained actors will apply to so much to Nomadland given the two lead roles are by professional actors giving excellent performances. The rest of the cast, who were playing themselves, I thought were fine. They didn’t stand out but they don’t individually play massive roles, they mostly just fill in the scenery.
You’re absolutely right Graham in bringing those up, and perhaps those are more worthy of praise. I only bring up the tracking shots because of how they’re used as a formal device in their repetition and relation to the narrative – it is a story about constantly moving after all. But as you point out it isn’t just one thing that holds it up as an excellent film, it is a combination of many things.
Just watched last night – this was a revelation just WOW
– the opening battle scene was incredible, at 1st I was reminded of Aguirre with arrows just coming out of nowhere but then it just explodes into something else entirely, almost like Ran or Throne of Blood if only it were out in the cold. The sheer brutality was unbelievable. Good call on the Malick and Tarkovsky comparisons above.
– I’ll be honest I initially hesitated because I thought this was mainly a vehicle for Leo to get his long overdue Oscar and I could not have been more wrong. I think this is the 1st film I’ve watched from this director, needless to say I’ll definitely be watching others.
– I don’t know I just really love these kinds of films that are these types of epic journey’s like Stalker (1979), Apocalypses Now (1979), Aguirre (1972). On the Werner Herzog page I know I made a similar comment and @Graham posted a great list of these types of films.
Nicolas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising is another fantastic example of an epic journey kind of film. Drake considers it a HR but has said he could go higher on a future viewing, while in my viewing a couple weeks ago I considered it a MP. Definitely think you should check it out. It admittedly borrows a lot from Aguirre but so does The New World, so does Apocalypse Now, so does many other films, and they certainly aren’t less for it.
I’ve been getting frustrated by how often I’ve been hearing this film getting disparaged recently. Good to come here for a dose of sanity.
@Matt Harris– This one is frustrating indeed. Ranked #24 from 2015 on TSPDT which is better than 36th last year. Let’s hope the trend continues. I have a hard time believing someone who watched the same movie I did (3 times now) could find even more than 1-2 films from 2015 to be superior.
great interview here https://theplaylist.net/chloe-zhao-revenant-eternals-inspiration-interview-20210220/ – bodes well for Chloe Zhao’s Eternals
This is great; thank you for sharing.
Have you seen Nomadland yet? Can we expect a page for it sometime? I saw it recently with my family and was supremely impressed. I’m excited to see your view of its quality, as well as the things you noticed that I missed and whether or not you perceived some of the things that I did.
@Graham- I have not had the opportunity to see it yet. I’m hoping to get to it in the next 2-3 weeks. I look forward to it.
A toast to it hopefully not being Toni Erdmann II!
I haven’t seen Toni Erdmann, but Nomadland certainly includes clear visual, formal, and occasionally editing mastery, all of which I am led to believe the 2016 film does not possess.
Adding on to what I said above:
I should probably allow you to wait and come to a conclusion yourself, but does Toni Erdmann have any shots nearly equivalent to either of these: https://media.cntraveler.com/photos/602deec38fa4fc6a56a7c395/3:2/w_3024,h_2016,c_limit/02anomadland_rec709_100nits_239FF_still_02_20200723_R2.jpg and https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/98d/108/951d27847048a5336bfbd63cecbd37042a-nomadland-amazon-1.w710.jpg? Does it have moments favorably reminiscent in style to The Tree of Life, The Searchers, or The Apartment? Does it have a brilliant montage or formal repetition of certain shots and sequences?
I think you will be pleased with the fulfillment of your hopes.
@Graham- sorry about the filter- when your comment includes links I have to approve it — that’s just the way the system is set up
I’m eagerly looking forward to your review of both Nomadland and Minari, they’re the only two left in my top 5 of 2020 that hasn’t yet been covered here. Zhao’s tracking shots in Nomadland are just masterful.
@Declan- I’m excited to see both as well. Have you seen 2017’s The Rider from Chloé Zhao? If so, how would you compare it to Nomadland?
I have not seen The Rider, but I believe Nomadland to be at the very least a solid MS. Declan, there was some admirable gliding camera movement work, but I’m not sure that’s the element worthy of the most praise. I’d first note the stunning outdoor photography; the formal callbacks to the beginning near the end; the naturalistic, realist style; McDormand’s masterful, unabashedly real performance; or the lyrical editing sequences that appear intermittently.
I have not seen The Rider but I have read your entry on it. I don’t think your note about the untrained actors will apply to so much to Nomadland given the two lead roles are by professional actors giving excellent performances. The rest of the cast, who were playing themselves, I thought were fine. They didn’t stand out but they don’t individually play massive roles, they mostly just fill in the scenery.
You’re absolutely right Graham in bringing those up, and perhaps those are more worthy of praise. I only bring up the tracking shots because of how they’re used as a formal device in their repetition and relation to the narrative – it is a story about constantly moving after all. But as you point out it isn’t just one thing that holds it up as an excellent film, it is a combination of many things.
Just watched last night – this was a revelation just WOW
– the opening battle scene was incredible, at 1st I was reminded of Aguirre with arrows just coming out of nowhere but then it just explodes into something else entirely, almost like Ran or Throne of Blood if only it were out in the cold. The sheer brutality was unbelievable. Good call on the Malick and Tarkovsky comparisons above.
– I’ll be honest I initially hesitated because I thought this was mainly a vehicle for Leo to get his long overdue Oscar and I could not have been more wrong. I think this is the 1st film I’ve watched from this director, needless to say I’ll definitely be watching others.
– I don’t know I just really love these kinds of films that are these types of epic journey’s like Stalker (1979), Apocalypses Now (1979), Aguirre (1972). On the Werner Herzog page I know I made a similar comment and @Graham posted a great list of these types of films.
Nicolas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising is another fantastic example of an epic journey kind of film. Drake considers it a HR but has said he could go higher on a future viewing, while in my viewing a couple weeks ago I considered it a MP. Definitely think you should check it out. It admittedly borrows a lot from Aguirre but so does The New World, so does Apocalypse Now, so does many other films, and they certainly aren’t less for it.
@Zane – I’ll never complain about a movie borrowing from Aguirre. Thanks for the suggestions, been meaning to watch The New World for some time now
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RIP to Ryuichi Sakamoto, admire some of his work on this and The Last Emperor
@Harry – I just saw this, too. Good call.