Stunning has become a token word used to describe film in this era. In fact, it’s probably one of the most overused words in the English language when it comes to encapsulating the sense any given work of art impresses upon its observer. I imagine it was for this reason that ‘stunning’ was the first word that came to my mind when I watched the opening images of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant. I had to take the time to consciously process another way to express how I felt about what I was witnessing on the screen. This got me really considering the power of the moving image. Its ability to influence, evoke, provoke, disturb, entice, excite, frustrate & so much more.
The moving image is, without question, one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century because of what it can accomplish when used well. Think back on your earliest memories in life. Even though all your senses were engaged –you remember the smells surrounding you in a given moment, the sounds floating through the air that draw you to a moment every time you hear something like it again, or the overwhelming taste of your favorite childhood soda or desert –the main thing that comes to mind, the thing you describe when you’re telling someone about this memory stems from what you remember seeing. Your surroundings, the people you were with, the weather that day –all with details relevant to effectively visualize the tale. While some studies have shown that our most powerful senses in general are usually those of smell & taste, of the five physical senses, sight is the one that often has the biggest impact on our everyday experiences. Remember the first film you ever saw (Or recall as your first)?
The power of the moving image lies in its ability to tell us ‘truths’. What I mean by that is we human beings tend to believe what we see. Almost implicitly. This is particularly impressive because visual images can tell us things on a subconscious level. The significance of this is profound. It means that one may, to some degree, be controlled by what they are exposed to viewing. Psychology has addressed this very phenomena thoroughly. What we witness unquestionably affects our opinions & perspectives. How we look at others, cultures, society, the world or life itself! How many history lessons do each of us have based not on documented facts, but instead on a film’s fictionalization of how things transpired? More than anyone –myself included –cares to admit, I’m sure.
TV shows like Fear Factor & Total Blackout play on these very fundamentals of human nature & how we are controlled in large part by our external senses. Watching an episode of Total Blackout especially will give you great insight on how heavily those of us fortunate enough to have sight depend on our ocular gift especially. If we see it (or think we see it), in the mind it is usually true. Even if we know it shouldn’t be possible or real. Hence, the phrase “I can’t believe my eyes”: the struggle between the sense of sight & the knowledge of the mind. This is why after centuries we still thrall at magician’s trickery –even though for the most part now we understand it’s a visual deception (otherwise, we’d probably still be burning witches at stakes).
Which brings us back to the moving image. It’s potential to be immensely affective to us because we tend to believe what we see. We suspend our belief every time we watch those Dinosaurs stampede in Jurassic World. When Jaws nearly takes down Roy Scheider’s boat. When Luke severs his father’s hand in Return of the Jedi. And when Sandra Bullock converses with her delusion of George Clooney in the vacuum of space in Gravity. We know it’s not real, yet continue to watch because we relate to the people in these stories. We’re vicariously having that experience with them. Comparably, many have had their opinions formed about a great many things based on what has been suggested to them in scores of documentaries & films covering everything from race to religion to politics to humanity. That is why we so embrace the moving image. It’s proof of the things that we wouldn’t believe if we just read about it or were being told a story. It educates us, inspires us, terrifies us & entertains us with virtually no effort on our part. Good filmmakers know this. Screenwriters do too. Some of the most powerful, influential movies in history owe their status to being affective & timely. As the gatekeepers to stories, a writer’s perspective of their work can readily become or at least influence their viewer’s perspective. Especially when it seems to come from an authority. Think of the tens of thousands who now question what they see on the news, but watch it anyway.
What the moving image really does when done well is impresses an idea intertwined in a story upon us. Strong & well planned visuals emote awe. Tied in with a human experience, we can relate to it. Then it can absolutely shape or reshape a viewer’s truth. And it happens every day.
The Revenant did that for me. The usage of depth & location shots (which also helped shape the idea that nature is an incredibly beautiful, yet utterly deadly foe) laid over a man’s struggle for survival & vengeance against the backdrop of the atrocities committed against the Aboriginal people of the ‘new world’ were overwhelming. Combined with great performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Chesley Wilson, Domhall Gleeson & Forrest Goodluck, The Revenant wowed me at times, angered me at others, made me cheer & made me sad. But, at all times, made me wonder what was going to happen next. I’d say The Revenant is “visually incredible” and “viscerally twisting”.
… but then again, “stunning” sounds better.