His films are so visually stunning; I’m a big fan of director Alejandro Iñárritu. I wanted to share this narrated clip from one of his most recent productions, The Revenant, because this scene is so artfully and skillfully done, and it inspires me. When we talk about “the gap,” his films are up on the ceiling of my gap, where my tastes are, but for now I’m on the ground floor looking up aspirationally.
Take a look at this:
This clip is already narrated and broken down by Iñárritu, and it’s really exciting to listen to him put the scene into context and then watch the whole movie with an insightful mind and eye. This article featuring cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki gives me goosebumps thinking about how integral the use of natural light was in visualizing the “constant transformation of nature” throughout the film, and how his choice in camera allowed for scenes at dawn and dusk to be captured cleanly or without grain. In this particular clip we can definitely see light similar to what we experience here in Portland, soft light, as a result of the cloudy atmosphere.
I can’t do a better job than these two professionals pointing out the intricate dialogue of the visual language going on here, but to further illustrate the vocabulary I’m learning I want to point out one of my favorite techniques used in the first take: We can see negative motion within the frame between 1:29 and 1:37, meaning that the subject, Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) moves further away from the camera, becoming smaller and smaller in the shot as the river carries him away. The aerial shot is magnificent, but equally amazing is the way the sound of the river was captured and synched with the visual of the river “transporting” the hero away to safety.
I chose this scene because I like the idea of the negative action, of DiCaprio’s character being taken away by the river as a mechanism for moving the story forward in time, but also moving the character closer to his destination, or his goal, which is ultimately to avenge his son, and take revenge on the men that left him for dead. Revisiting this post with the knowledge from Thinking Story where we talked about the anatomy of a scene and devices that are often so subtle they are easy to miss, but are important moving a character or story forward, really helps understand this director’s choice and motivations for this scene too.
Tiara, I was delighted to see this post because I share your admiration for Alejandro Iñárritu and Emmanuel Lubezki. And “The Revenant” indeed was visually stunning.
I like that you pointed out negative action in this scene (otherwise I wouldn’t even notice it and think of it as “a mechanism for moving the story forward in time, but also moving the character closer to his destination, or his goal”) and that you shared the video with the narration by Iñárritu. It is always interesting to know what movie makers have to say about their movies.
Regarding cinematography, Emmanuel Lubezki is one of my favorite DPs. The way he sees the world through his camera lenses is magical (always unexpected angles, always stunning light!). And he works with the best directors!
I’m also following Lubezki on Instagram, check out his amazing photos – @chivexp 😉