For THE REVENANT (which garnered Leonardo DiCaprio his long-awaited first Best Actor Academy Award), Alejandro G. Iñárritu tapped Sakomoto to compose the original score after using some of his work for the soundtrack of BABEL (2006). For the epic tale of a 1820s fur trader fighting for survival, Sakamoto’s composition, which marked his return to work after being diagnosed with cancer, is a contemplative, pensive masterwork of dread, seemingly building–if not guiding–the film to its violent, epic conclusion.