Crew Complain Of Tough Conditions On Set Of New Leonardo Di Caprio Film

Period wilderness drama ‘The Revenant’ may be the film that finally wins Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar, but crewmembers have revealed the nightmare filming conditions that apparently plagued the production.

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Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, behind-the-scenes staff called the shoot “a living hell”, admitting that several quit or were fired by the director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Oscar winner for ‘Birdman’.

Iñárritu rebutted suggestions that the film was in difficulty, telling the publication as regards to crew turnover, “If I identify a violin that is out of tune, I have to take that from the orchestra.”

Still, it appears that not all is well in the ‘Revenant’ house. Iñárritu is clearly an immensely talented and technically-gifted director, but with the budget expected to top $135million (£86.5m) and talk of backstage rumblings, there is inevitably gossip of a ‘Heaven’s Gate’-style scenario, the catastrophic 1980 flop on which director Michael Cimino, freshly-minted Oscar winner for ‘The Deer Hunter’, let his ego and perfectionism turn the movie into one of Hollywood’s most infamous cautionary tales.

No-one is yet questioning the film’s quality. The recently-released trailer showcases the spectacular landscapes and gritty subject matter, which cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki shot using natural light. DiCaprio and Tom Hardy also demonstrate some very impressive beard work as frontiersmen during the 1820s.

But according to the Hollywood Reporter, Hardy missed out on his lead role as Rick Flagg in ‘Suicide Squad’ because of ‘Revenant’ scheduling issues and Iñárritu fell out with producer Jim Skotchdopole who worked with him on ‘Birdman’.

Production company New Regency have admitted there were weather issues, with the planned-for snow in the land around Calgary, Canada not materialising as the filmmakers had hoped, leading to an extended shoot in Argentina.

Crew have also pointed blame at Iñárritu and Lubezki’s technical decision-making. Seemingly utilising similar techniques to ‘Birdman’, which was made to look like a single continuous take, the shooting style meant “everything was indecisive”. “We’d never shoot what we blocked,” said a crewmember.

There was concern too for some of the supporting actors, who are said to have endured freezing conditions wearing inappropriate clothing because the plot of the movie called for them to be without hats and gloves. The filmmakers categorically deny those suggestions.

Susie Arons of New Regency said yesterday: “While filming in challenging conditions, safety was not compromised. We hired experts who worked with us in swift-water, mountain-climbing, bear behaviour, helicopter operations and cold-weather safety to complement the U.S. production management team.

“We also cooperated with Canadian H&S agencies as well as labour organisations and appointed labour representatives to assist overall safety of cast and crew. Canadian film technicians we employed were all accredited, experienced and weather-wise. We worked closely with them to assist us in these diverse local weather conditions.”

Still, time will tell if all the trouble was worth it – whether ‘The Revenant’ ends up an embarrassing Hollywood footnote, or like ‘Apocalypse Now’, another film with a nightmarish production, becomes a modern classic.

It will be released in the UK on 15 January, 2016.

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Photos: 20th Century Fox/Rex_Shutterstock