Mexico City - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu soared into Hollywood lore on Sunday, giving Mexico a best director triumph at the Oscars for a stunning third straight year.

The former radio DJ became just the third filmmaker to win back-to-back Academy Awards for best director for his epic story of vengeance and survival, "The Revenant."

He won the best director and best picture Oscars last year for "Birdman." His friend and countryman Alfonso Cuaron won the top director award for "Gravity" in 2014.

Only two other Hollywood legends won two straight best director Oscars: John Ford in 1941 and 1942 and Joseph Mankiewicz in 1950 and 1951.

"I couldn't be more happy. Every film is like a song - you can't like one song more than the other," Inarritu told reporters after his win.

"Storytelling is a way for us to confront emotions and possibilities and feel beautiful and horrible emotions. It's a way to control life, to have an oxygen capsule for life without suffering for real."

Inarritu also joins an impressive club of directors who have two golden statuettes: Billy Wilder, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Milos Forman, Oliver Stone and Ang Lee.

"The Revenant" is the result of five years of travel and research that Inarritu dedicated to make the brutal biopic, shot under adverse weather conditions with Leonardo DiCaprio starring as a 19th century frontiersman who seeks revenge after being left for dead.

During a visit to Mexico City in January, Inarritu said that after the grueling filming of "The Revenant," he was ready to "crawl into a cave to hibernate like a bear" for six months.

"I cannot imagine that I will be making another movie any time soon," he said.