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FILM 1461: THE REVENANT

TRIVIA: Leonardo DiCaprio had to devour a raw slab of bison's liver, even though he is vegetarian. He also had to learn to shoot a musket, build a fire, speak two Native American languages (Pawnee and Arikara), and study with a doctor who specializes in ancient healing techniques. DiCaprio calls it the hardest performance of his career.

Due to production being behind schedule, the snow melted during the location shoot in Canada before filming was complete. With summer rapidly approaching, there was no choice but to relocate the entire production to southern Argentina, where there were similar wintry conditions.

Shot chronologically on an 80-day schedule that took place over a total principal photography time period of nine months. This unusually long production time was due to the cold weather conditions, the remoteness of the locations and director Alejandro González Iñárritu's and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki's aesthetic plan to shoot only with natural light for maximum realism. Only a few shooting hours were available every day and had to be carefully planned in advance.

Tom Hardy was concerned about the safety of some of the stunts he had to do, which caused friction between him and director Alejandro González Iñárritu before Gonzalez allowed Hardy to choke him in return. Later, the image of Hardy strangling Gonzalez was immortalized in a T-shirt gifted by Hardy to all members of the crew, at the end of the shoot.

The origin of the title is rooted in the French verb "revenir," which means "to return." Revenant in French also means (reverting to) "spirit" or "ghost."

This film adds another name to the list of Oscar-winning directors (Alejandro González Iñárritu) that Leonardo DiCaprio has worked with. The others are: Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Danny Boyle, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, Sam Mendes and Woody Allen. He has also worked with Quentin Tarantino, who has won two Academy Awards for screenwriting.

Alejandro González Iñárritu was insistent that computer-generated imagery not be used to enhance the film, stating: "If we ended up in greenscreen with coffee and everybody having a good time, everybody will be happy, but most likely the film would be a piece of shit."