Taking another look back to the graduates of ’99, here I take a look at a lesser-known cult piece that seems to be creeping up in recognition in recent years—from Antonia Bird, it’s something that might whet the appetites of some. Here’s my take on Ravenous.
Set in the Sierra Nevada of the 1840s, we follow Guy Pearce as John Boyd, a US Army officer disgraced and sent off to a remote mountainside outpost. Between those stuck in career dead ends like Jeffrey Jones’ officious but well-meaning colonel, to Stephen Spinella as a drunk, things seem quiet until a stranger (the distinctly faced Robert Carlyle) arrives with a story of a missing wagon train swallowed on treacherous mountain routes. A rescue hiking trip soon turns disastrous, people turn out to be not quite who they are, and Boyd ends up confronting very literal temptations of flesh once again.
For me one of the strengths here is the scenery and atmosphere—this one was filmed mostly in Slovakian Tatras, and while I don’t know how accurate they are to the Sierra Nevada, the feeling of desolation amid towering valleys and craggy rock faces adds to the overbearing feeling bearing down on all our characters here. There’s no dodging around that in an environment like this without the benefit of trails and readied paths, a single wrong footing can lead to broken bones or freezing to death. In something around people being overtaken by primal instincts, it’s something that creates that all-important feeling of isolation we also see in certain John Carpenter films.
The cast is pretty fun as well—Jones captures that same stern schoolteacher vibe as he did in Ferris Bueller, but here he’s also nice enough that certain twists and turns do actually get you caring for him. Carlyle hams it up appropriately, but more interestingly, we also have Native American actors Joseph Runningfox and Shelia Tousey as the erstwhile servants around the camp. While they’re not in focus, and Joseph acts in his own tongue, it’s something that adds another interesting layer here, especially as certain Native legends get referenced here. There’s even little tidbits lost in translation, like mentions of specific tribes that get translated very generally by others—adding just a bit extra for those paying attention.
And what that ties into is those themes taking a very cynical look at the stories of wagon trains and manifest destiny expansions into the American west—here presented as foolhardy stumbling into unforgiving terrain while scooping up anyone else that happened to be minding their own business on many such lands. Here of course things go a bit further as that same new frontier, the theme of so many legends around self-determination and eking out new lives, turns out to almost literally eat people up and chew them out. I’ve heard also that some sort of vegetarian parable may have been intended…which I don’t really see, and if it was, came out very clunky let’s just say.
That being said, for me one of the weaker parts is the climax ,which starts to lean into gratuitous Christianity-related imagery for…some reason, out of nowhere, and perhaps ends a bit abruptly. Carlyle and the slightly discordant soundtrack still make it watchable, but it ends up feeling a little rough around the edges.
Still, while a bit flawed, it’s easy to see why Ravenous still gets a nod 25 years later—there’s certainly something to it, with a unique enough feeling as far as films like this go, and themes that are still just as interesting as they were back in ’99. While you may need a strong stomach, it’s worth a watch.
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