This morning, no one needed their coffee, because the new trailer for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s "The Revenant" sorta blew everyone’s nuts off. The gritty, grimy, snowcovered vengeance tale starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy is one of the fall’s most anticipated movies, and while much attention has been paid to the natural-light-only visuals, it looks like the picture will be a delight for the ears as well.
Composer and experimental/minimalist musician Ryuichi Sakamoto is scoring the picture. The artist doesn’t work on Hollywood productions very often (his last effort in that vein was probably Brian De Palma‘s "Snake Eyes" in 1998), however his compositions are almost always memorable. His work on Bernardo Bertolucci‘s "The Last Emperor" is a total ear worm (particularly the main theme), and may still be one of his finest hours.
It’ll be very interesting to see what Sakamoto puts together for this movie, which offers something in a genre one wouldn’t normally associate with the composer, and it’ll be an more fascinating texture on a picture that is already working hard to challenge your senses. We’ll find out on Christmas Day when "The Revenant" opens in limited release. [Film Music Reporter]