LEDO - Live Everyday Die Once

LEDO is a journal of the "everyday of everything" in my life that is worth remembering ...... to remind me that each new day is a chance to explore new things, to enjoy life, and to thank God! I always believe that we live everyday and we die once!

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View from the Side: “The Revenant” Movie

Day 43 of 2016

Although I had already read several unfavorable reviews due to the supposedly bad/lousy adaptation of the Book to the Movie, I was compelled to see the movie for various reasons:

1. To see the adaptation per se; meaning – to see is to believe.
2. To determine what are the major changes (book versus movie). 
3. To answer the question: Would the story of the movie stands alone without the book?

To see the answer to these questions, please click me.

***** Daily Barometer:  Feeling Disappointed!

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View from the Side: Movie Review (“The Revenant”)

Although I had already read several unfavorable reviews due to the supposedly bad/lousy adaptation of the Book to the Movie, I was compelled to see the movie for various reasons:

1. To see the adaptation per se; meaning – to see is to believe.
2. To determine what are the major changes (book versus movie). 
3. To answer the question: Would the story of the movie stands alone without the book?

First. The ‘Revenant’ book is based on the true story of Hugh Glass, an American trapper for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1823.   After watching the movie, I would say that the movie presented “distorted facts” based from the book that I read.   While watching the movie, I was wondering if the movie is referring to the same book.  Then I had concluded that the bad reviews in the adaptation of the book were all justified. 

But at the end of the movie, I saw the credit “Based in part on the novel by Michael Punke”.   So, that explains everything. 

"...the filmmakers have wandered freely from the facts, which in a way does capture the spirit of the Hugh Glass story. A whole lot of creative remembering went into the production of the man who died and came back." - - - Jon T. Coleman, Notre Dame Historian, HistoryBuff.com, 2015

Second. Since the movie was based in part on the book, then there were many differences.  I was pondering if it is still necessary to make a comparison.  But for my personal curiosity, I still did the same.

Theme

Revenge (Book & Movie, the same)

Major Reason for Revenge

Book: Death for those who abandoned and robbed him of his treasures.

Movie: Death for those who killed his son.

Characters (Native-American Wife/Son)

Book: None.  There is no evidence that she had a wife or a son for that matter.  Little is known about Hugh Glass before the bear attack.  What is known was that he had been in the Western wilderness for several years before he signed for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.  He was considered as an experienced guide for the expedition.  He was described as a loner and independent.

Movie:  He has a wife.  He has a son who was killed in front of him.

Climax

Book: In a courtroom in Fort Atkinson.

Movie: Hugh and Fitzgerald engaged in a knife fight.

 

Revenge or Forgiveness

Bridger

Book/Movie: Glass forgave Bridger.  Somehow, he knows that it was Fitzgerald who convinced young Bridger to leave him.  And he had glimpses of Bridger, healing him with something.

Fitzgerald

Book:  As to Fitzgerald, he was able to catch with him at Fort Atkinson.  Unfortunately for Glass or fortunately for Fitzgerald, the Army would not allow Glass to seek his vengeance since Fitzgerald has already enlisted in the US Army.  Anyway, Glass was able to get back his rifle.

Movie:  Glass had the opportunity to kill Fitzgerald, but he didn’t either.  He left Fitzgerald for dead.  It was the Indian that killed Fitzgerald.

Third. Well, for those who were not able to read the book, it seems that the movie stands for itself.  But for me, I still love the book more than the movie.  The book is inspired by true events while the movie is an invented fiction.

Some images downloaded from the Internet:

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LEDO - Live Everyday Die Once

LEDO is a journal of the "everyday of everything" in my life that is worth remembering ...... to remind me that each new day is a chance to explore new things, to enjoy life, and to thank God! I always believe that we live everyday and we die once!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
View from the Side
My Second Book of 2016: The Revenant

Day 14 of 2016
Today, I finished reading the book entitled "The Revenant". To read the review, please click me.
***** Daily Barometer:  Feeling Challenged to Survive!

View from the Side: Book Review (The Revenant)

My Second Book of 2016

‘The Revenant’ is based on the true story of Hugh Glass, an American trapper for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1823. The book is a man’s book. Almost all the characters are male with the exception of a native Indian woman who eventually died in the company of Glass.

While hunting, Glass encountered a grizzly bear and gets ripped apart. He was mortally wounded and his death was certain. He was left for dead but the Captain paid two of his colleagues to stay with him until the day that he dies to give him a decent burial. However, as the days went by, he remained alive. With the threat of Native Indians that might pass their way, his colleagues abandoned him. At first, he did not took the abandonment personally. But when they took his only shield for any attack, he felt a strong urge for revenge. For him (and for me, too!), that’s totally unforgivable to steal his only treasures in life: a rifle and a knife as well as possibles sack with flint and steel.

Against all odds, half-dead and unable to stand, he literally crawls his way across hundreds of miles of treacherous and hostile environment to bring justice to what they did to him. His pursuit of revenge to those who had wronged him, gave him the strength and courage to survive.  Accordingly, he told others that the only thing that kept him going was the thought of killing the men who had left him for dead.

As I read the book, I couldn’t believe that a person could survive the harsh environment with a threat not only from other people but also wild animals and treacherous terrain. I might not live for a day or for an hour even if I am not wounded!!! 

The book is not only a fascinating story of revenge, but it is also a story of the survival instincts of man and the extent of his determination to achieve his goal (in this case, retribution or revenge). In addition, it is also a historical book detailing the life during the American West/Frontier of the 1820’s. 

There are many unbelievable scenes or events illustrated in the book, but they were all based on facts according to the Author. I think that Glass’s survival was incredible and unbelievable, but I strongly believe it was more of a miracle.  The real essence of the book is that "God works in mysterious ways".
Did Glass able to exact his revenge? For those who will read the book or watch the movie, I don't want to be a spoiler.  For those who will not read/watch and interested to know, please drop me a message at my email address: merlinagp@gmail.com.

About the Author

Michael Punke serves as the U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.  He has also served on the White House National Security Council Staff and on Capitol Hill.  He was formerly the history correspondent for Montana Quarterly and an adjunct professor at the University of Montana. His family home is in Montana.

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