All is Lost

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Robert Redford began his acting career in the ‘60s, playing small roles on the small screen (Maverick and Perry Mason). In the ‘70s he became a leading man in Hollywood, starring in such Oscar winners as The Sting, and while these projects presented many challenges to Redford, none have been like J.C. Chandor’s All Is Lost, in which Redford is the entire cast.

Redford stars as an unnamed character on a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean. He wakes up to find his yacht taking on water and his navigation equipment disabled. He is also unknowingly headed towards a destructive storm. With his supplies diminishing, this man must confront his mortality and face his destiny.

Writer/director Chandor delivers a film that would have Ernest Hemingway blushing. Like his previous film Margin Call, the writing in All is Lost is top notch. Chandor strays from the usual film clichés and doesn’t feed the audience with narration to understand the main character’s thought process, in fact there is no dialogue or monologue at all. The director is confident that the audience is  smart enough to understand the character’s decision making  and that Redford’s acting can make up for the minimalist nature of the film.

Cinematographers Frank G. DeMarco and Peter Zuccarini use the camera to make the audience a voyeur into the character’s isolation, loneliness and intense dread. We also see both the beauty of the Indian Ocean, and its terrifying prowess. Ultimately, Chandor creates a character without words or a backstory and makes the audience latch onto him. He is unafraid of letting us get up close and personal with a man who is doomed. Unfortunately the film feels a bit too long, perhaps a 20 minute trim could have still made an effective point without being too drawn out. Regardless, All is Lost is an excellent spiritual film that is open to many interpretations. 

Published in Volume 68, Number 10 of The Uniter (November 6, 2013)

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