“All Is Lost” is a set piece made as simple as it gets. We can compare it to “Gravity” as well as “Castaway”
and “Life of Pi”, and maybe even to some Hemmingway (“The Old Man and the Sea”
has a bit more plotting). But here there is no volleyball and no lovable tiger
to set free. The sea is not so much a
source of wonder here.
The sailor, a 77-year-old freckled Robert Redford, has been
enjoying his solitude on a sailboat yacht in the Indian Ocean for no explainable
reason. One day, the boat gets hit by a floating shipping container with tennis
shoes inside. Sea debris can be as deadly as space waste. The sailor even makes some
crude repairs, but with subsequent storms the boat takes on too much water. He
winds up on his inflatable life raft with a sextant, but even that isn’t
enough, and big Maesrsk line ships don’t stop for him. As the film starts, the
sailor is writing a letter to his family, to put in a jar.
The film, for most of its 107-minute length, does takes us through the
losses that make happen at the end of life.
In that sense, it becomes a powerful metaphor.
It isn’t fair to say whether he makes it. The film is directed by J. C. Chandor and
Zachary Quinto is listed as an executive producer. Much of the film was shot off Baja
California.
The official site is here. The film represents another distribution collaboration
between Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions.
I saw the film in a late afternoon presentation at the
Angelika Mosaic in Merrifield, VA.
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