This article containsThe Revenantspoilers.
2014sBirdmanwas an ode to pretension, ambition, and all those other wonderful virtues that drive artists mad.
In fact, one of the most striking similarities is their preference for ambiguity and open-ended finality.
Buy The Revenant: A Story of Revenge by Michael Punke on Amazon.
Its okay son, I know you want this to be over.
I will be right here.
But you dont give up.
As long as you could still grab a breath, you fight.
You breathe… keep breathing.
Yet, the final knockdown, drag out brawl between Glass and Fitzgerald is just as merciless.
Bones are smashed, fingers cut off, and hands impaled.
By all accounts, both men appear mortally wounded, albeit Fitzgerald more so.
He is on course to suffer the fate of all tragic revengers if he personally takes Fitzgeralds life.
… Plus its kind of a vicious boon that Fitzgerald despises Native Americans more than anything else.
Yet, its after this moment that the ambiguity settles in.
He keeps breathing even after the credits have begun.
There is no uplift for Hugh Glass as the fierce cold continues to rot his body and soul.
There is only the sound of his breathing.
That is because he does not die.
What About the Real Hugh Glass?
But it sure makes revenge more necessary, doesnt it?
Ergo, he let Fitzgerald live and only demanded that the man return his Hawken rifle to him.
Gen. William Henry Ashleywhom Domhnall Gleesons Capt.
He died of pneumonia in 1836.
Its a vision so strong that it even keeps breathing after the final frame.
This article was first published on Jan. 13, 2016.
