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Could Leonardo Dicaprio Win An Oscar For ‘The Revenant’?

By Thomas Kuegler
Published on: 01:07 PST, Jan 8, 2016

The Revenant saw wide release yesterday, and critics are already asking whether Leonardo Dicaprio is finally going to win an Oscar this year. Many film buffs are praising it as one of the best films of the year, which comes as no surprise when considering director Alejandro González Iñárritu is one of the best in the business right now.

Kristen Page-Kirby of the Washington Post had a few words about the movie and why she thinks this is Dicaprio’s year.

She writes, “Here’s what people will be talking about after seeing ‘The Revenant’: the insane conditions the actors went through (the film was shot in the various middles of various nowheres, often in brutal cold and knee-deep snow); the bear attack (which is as gruesome and terrifying as you’ve heard); and whether this is the role that will end Leonardo DiCaprio’s four-nomination-long best-actor losing streak at the Oscars.”

When taking a look at the Golden Globe nominees for Best Actor, it’s easy to see just who Dicaprio might be up against come time for the Academy Awards. Michael Fassbender, Eddie Redmayne, Will Smith, and Bryan Cranston are all likely nominees since they’ve already been nominated for a Golden Globe.

It’s tough to specify why Leonardo’s performance is better than Will Smith’s or Bryan Cranston’s because each role is unique, requiring different skills and talents from the actors portraying the characters.

Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl seems to be Dicaprio’s biggest competition, but Kristen Page-Kirby seems to think that Redmayne isn’t as much of a contender as we think.

“The only other performance that ticks the Academy’s boxes is Eddie Redmayne’s in ‘The Danish Girl.’ While it might be fun to see him win twice in a row, the film was, frankly, stolen by Alicia Vikander. You don’t get best actor by coming in second place in your own movie,” she writes.

So, is Dicaprio in the clear?

Kirby’s final comments bring things in perspective.

“So, yeah, I think this is Leo’s year, but not because this is the best performance — or even HIS best performance. This is an example of being in the right role with the right director at the right time. And, often, that’s when the Oscars are really rewarding.”

When looking at the competition this year, it is more of a weak field. Dicaprio has seen fierce competition in recent years that has left many to conclude that the guy is simply unlucky.

Dicaprio got on CBS This Morning to talk about the struggles he had when shooting the film.

“There for nine months in subzero temperatures in Calgary, real locations, far-off locations, we looked at this as a grand sort of artistic experiment,” DiCaprio explained during an interview with Charlie Rose.

“We rehearsed meticulously all day long with [filmmakers] Chivo and Alejandro to pull of some very crucial and hard-to-do shots. And then we’d have an hour-and-a-half of natural light and it became like live theater at the end of the day, this frenetic pace and intensity that we needed to keep up with.”

Leonardo Dicaprio then elaborated on working with director Alejandro González Iñárritu.

“For all of us it was just about allowing ourselves to put our trust in somebody else’s unique process,” he said. “And that’s what this was for us as actors because a lot of this was thought about beforehand in great detail, but we needed to give ourselves over completely to something entirely new, and, you know, it created a great camaraderie between the entire cast and crew and director.”

Leonardo Dicaprio could very well win the Oscar for Best Actor this year. Thanks to critic reviews, his effort in the role, and his pairing with an experienced Hollywood director, Dicaprio is poised to stand on stage with a gold trophy in his hand in the coming months.

[Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]

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