All Is Lost

"The rules of survival never change, whether you're in a desert or in an arena." Bear Grylls

No need to be stranded in the Indian Ocean in your sailboat because writer/director J.C. Chandor has masterfully provided the experience for you in All is Lost. In fact, you can be an Ancient Mariner retelling your story and never have starved or cursed an albatross. It's that good, that authentic a feeling, that pared down to the basics of survival.

"Our Man" (read "Everyman"), played with his signature cool by Robert Redford, is a rich, handsome, aging, expert sailor (he is probably a professional something when not sailing), whose back-story is unknown except for a few bits such as his voice over at the beginning lamenting he has not been all he should to his family and does not look at a gift card in a box for a new sextant, which he is reduced to using after almost all is lost in the storm.

The special effects are as fine as you might expect from such a high-end production—shots from depths upward to the boat are lyrically contradictory to the danger he is experiencing topside. The tumult inside the boat feels real as water takes its inevitable toll.

All is Lost serves as appropriate metaphor, among others, for the commercial forces that interfere in one's life and the end of life fight to survive in the face of inevitable death. The dignity Our Man displays, his resourcefulness, mostly lack of resentment, and his rare moments of anger at himself are how I hope I would react and probably wouldn't (I'd be a big baby because I don't favor the idea of leaving this beautiful world).

Redford's well-known minimalism lends just the right touch of gravity and loneliness to a role Hemingway wrote for his Old Man and Joseph Conrad could have fashioned for one of his brooding narrators. The New York Times' A.O. Scott reminds us you can hope to gain a Conradian truth from this vicarious adventure, "that glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask" (Conrad's "Nigger of the 'Narcissus'," 1897). The other truth is, Redford is so believable as to deserve an Oscar nomination, his finest role on screen in a career for which he has constantly underplayed. He's still doing it, but this time he has no one else to distract us.

All is Lost leaves me with a small dissatisfaction because I'd like to know what his life has been so I can understand his possible death. Of course, Chandor seems to wish we would generalize the story to all men, and he's right to demand it. For me, surviving is what I always want to do—this film puts me right there:

"The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival." Aristotle

Redford is great and this film shows how such a simple idea with one actor can work. As a filmmaker, it was interesting to see how a dialogue-free movie can work visually with a story that reminded me of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea." For me, the story was a metaphor or allegory for life and our struggles. Cinematography was good, shot on the Arri Alexa, one of the hot cameras at the moment. The lack of dialogue and having only one actor made it a meditation for me on the visual elements. I hope Redford gets Oscar nomination. I'm inspired that a veteran like Redford had confidence in Chandor to go on this experimental film journey together.

This is one to watch, especially if you have watched and enjoyed Cast Away. To be honest I did not expect to like it so much, knowing the type of movie this is. It is really fascinating though to realise how well this movie goes on based purely on one man's resourcefulness. The pace of the film is great with the action scenes keeping me on the edge of my seat. Redford in his late 70s gives a truly solid performance confronting his misadventures with extreme calmness and pure dignity. The character gives real time lessons on how to survive under such dire circumstances. A film dedicated to mortality. Quite different from what you may have seen in related films. I definitely recommend it!

Ocean sailing that went sour. Man wakes up in the middle of absolute oceanic nowhere to find he had collided with a container, causing damage to his boat as well as rendering communications totally ineffective.

The film is made as a series of events aiming for this man to fail. Once restoration and improvement of conditions is achieved, a setback occurs. He is exposed, unprotected and threatened once again. Death is constantly around the corner.

The sequences are very realistic, accurately depicting the inherent risk of sea adventure. The calm is followed by a storm which is succeeded by another calm.

The success of this film lies in the fact that it is held well together, despite the complete absence of dialogue and this why only an actor of the stature of Robert Redford could pull this off and is in terrific shape despite his 77 years.

Ultimately, it is a tale of triumph of the human spirit that will not yield in the face of adversity and will fight to the very end to survive.

Robert Redford now an elder certainly in the final years of his acting time and life gives a performance to remember. And that's just a turn as a plain sailor man who without a name and really he has no words to say during the film! It proves that actions speak louder than words! Anyway "All is Lost" is a moving film of one man's will and determination to stay alive as the scenes show the forces of mother nature can put us at our strongest as a human will resort to many methods for the chance to live. The film is a tale of a sea collision involving a shipping container at sea. And Robert Redford is the sailor man at sea in the Indian ocean on the yacht when a powerful storm that's very violent hits the high sea. By watching you see how it's one character's struggle to survive and live. It proves that you should never give up it takes a lot of courage and will to live as just like the high sea life too is a violent storm many times. Overall this picture doesn't do many words it's actions of a struggle for life speaks the loudest and Redford in his wise age perhaps gives his strongest and smartest performance.