Man in the Wilderness

Man in the Wilderness is a 1971 American action film about a scout for a group of mountain men who are traversing the Northwestern United States during the 1820s. The scout is mauled by a bear and left to die by his companions. He survives and recuperates sufficiently to track his former comrades, forcing a confrontation over his abandonment. The story is loosely based on the life of Hugh Glass. It stars Richard Harris as Zachary Bass and John Huston as Captain Henry. The expedition is notable in the movie for bringing a large boat with them, borne on wheels. Captain Henry's aim of using the... boat to traverse the rivers comes to naught in the final scene, when the expedition comes across the drained riverbed. The fundamental theme of the story is the spiritual redemption of an emotionally damaged man, Zachary Bass. By using flashbacks to his childhood, the director provides to the viewer the basis for Bass's emotional damage brought about by abandonment by his father and abuse by his schoolmaster.
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