It seems that among movie men the Revenge Western - is this truly a sub-genre? - is flavour of the month, or at least of 2015. Coming up there's Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight, Jane's Got A Gun and In The Valley of Violence. Meanwhile, By Way Of Helena
sees an 1880s Texas Ranger locking horns with a fundamentalist
preacher, while waaaay back in the 1820's a bear- and man-mauled fur
trapper becomes The Revenant.
While By Way Of Helena was written for the screen, The Revenant
comes from Michael Punke's 2003 novel, or faction, based on the
experiences of Hugh Glass. A member of The Rocky Mountain Fur Company,
after being mauled he was subsequently robbed and left for dead by the
two men supposedly caring for him, John Fitzgerald and a young Jim
Bridger.
Y'know, I can see that one being a Revenge Western, even though we know that Jim Bridger became an "old" Jim Bridger. Dead Men's Fingers might be in good company.
