It’s more likely that Glass and Powaqa were separated in that skirmish, so she needn’t hold any grudge.” Fair enough, I raised that point myself, but then why those juxtaposed images of Powaqa and Glass afterwards. But if Glass abandoned her in the wilderness, why do they show him mercy in those last moments? You might say, “well of course, it’s not made clear. Powaqa and her father have no stakes in the story of Hugh Glass, his survival nor his revenge. Powaqa and her father don’t come back into the story until Glass confronts Fitzgerald for murdering his son, whereupon Glass forgoes killing Fitzpatrick (who has already been partially scalped by Natives) and hands him over to Powaqa’s father, who of course kills Fitzpatrick and spares Glass. The Revenant’s one live female character is just a plot point, and to have that plot point so muddled on top of that is frustrating. So my question, again: did they escape together or were they separated?Įach answer effects the outcome of the story, so it’s important know. Next we see Hugh Glass riding alone on a horse. She looks up and we see confusion in her eyes. The next time we see Powaqa she is washing up at the side of a river. He tells her he will steal a horse so they can escape, but he’s spotted, things get crazy, yet they manage to get away regardless.īut here’s the somewhat confusing bit, due in part to Innarritu’s evidential obsession with long-takes: it’s not made clear whether Glass escapes with Powaqa or if they are separated in the melee. Glass encounters the traders who have kidnapped Powaqa and saves her from them (notably while she is being raped). But not by her father, but by native white man Hugh Glass. So what happens to Powaqa? Well she’s saved of course. The search for his daughter is fruitless if he can’t even find her when she’s right under his nose. Her father spends the narrative of the film searching for Powaqa, even trading with the very men who have kidnapped her. There are exactly two women portrayed in the film: Hugh Glass’s wife (she doesn’t get a name, nor does she do anything cause she’s dead) and Powaqa, the daughter of a Native American Chief (I can only assume he’s the Chief, one way or another he is the leader) who has been kidnapped. So lets ask the pertinent question: how are women portrayed within the film? The reality of the film would have you believe there are next to no women on the frontier, despite the fact that the two most famous frontiersman in American history had been partially guided by a woman. And what is the best thing to contrast with masculinity: femininity. But to really make that point you need a contrast. Tom Hardy’s Fitzgerald makes numerous remarks on boys and men and where the difference between them lies. The closest I can find is the brutal nature of masculinity. What is The Revenant saying when all is said and done? What is it trying to communicate to audiences? But that’s the plot, that’s what is happening. But the only answer I get is: revenge and the brutality of nature. I found myself exiting the film and asking: “what is the point of the story I just watched?” I think it’s a fair question, especially for a big awards frontrunner.
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