All Is Lost

All Is Lost

Theatrical release poster
Directed by J. C. Chandor
Produced by
Written by J. C. Chandor
Starring Robert Redford
Music by Alex Ebert
Cinematography Frank G. DeMarco
Edited by Pete Beaudreau
Production
company
Distributed by
Release dates
  • May 22, 2013 (Cannes)
  • October 25, 2013 (North America)
Running time
 105 minutes[2]
Country
Language English
Budget $8.5 million[4]
Box office $10.2–13.6 million[5][6]

All Is Lost is a 2013 survival drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor. The film stars Robert Redford as a man lost at sea.[upper-alpha 1] Redford is the only cast member, and the film has very few spoken words. All Is Lost is Chandor's second feature film, following his 2011 debut Margin Call. It screened out of competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

Somewhere in the Indian Ocean ("1700 nautical miles from the Sumatra Straits"), a man (Robert Redford) says, "I'm sorry. I know that means little at this point, but I am. I tried. I think you would all agree that I tried. To be true, to be strong, to be kind, to love, to be right, but I wasn't." He declares, "All is lost."

Eight days earlier, as he wakes up, he sees that water has started to flood his boat, the Virginia Jean, a Cal 39 yacht.[upper-alpha 2] He goes out onto the deck and sees that his boat has collided with a wayward shipping container which has ripped a hole in the hull. He goes below to get a sea anchor and ties it to the container.[upper-alpha 3] After dislodging the container, water is streaming into his boat. In order to correct this, he has to head in the opposite direction of his original course in order to tilt the boat away from the hole. He goes to work patching up the hole in his boat and uses the manual- or hand-bilge pump hole to remove the water from the cabin. After the cleanup, exhausted, he finds that the boat’s navigational and communications systems have been damaged, due to saltwater intrusion as a result of the collision. He tries to repair the radio and connects it to one of the boat's batteries but is ultimately unsuccessful. When he climbs the mast to repair an antenna lead, he sees an oncoming tropical storm. He immediately descends to make preparations for it.

The storm quickly reaches his position, and he runs before the wind under bare poles for a while, until he feels this storm tactic becomes too tiresome and dangerous. He intends to bring the boat into a hove-to position, but when crawling to the bow to hoist the storm jib, he is thrown overboard and only just regains the deck after a long struggle. The boat capsizes and turtles, and after a further 180-degree roll, is dismasted, and most of the equipment on board destroyed. With the boat badly holed and sinking, he decides to abandon ship in an inflatable life raft, salvaging whatever he can to survive.

As he learns how to operate a sextant he recovered from the boat, he discovers he is near one of the major shipping lanes and, a day or two later, finds that he is being pulled towards it by ocean currents. During the journey, he survives another storm. But his supplies dwindle, and he learns too late that his drinking water has been contaminated with sea water. He improvises a solar still from his water container and a plastic bag to get fresh water.

He reaches the shipping lanes and is passed by two container ships. They do not notice him and continue on, despite his use of signaling flares. He eventually drifts out of the shipping lanes and back to open ocean. However, he is out of food and water and cannot hope to survive much longer. On the eighth day, he writes a letter, puts it in a jar, and throws it in the water as a message in a bottle for anyone to find.

Later that night, he sees a light in the distance, possibly another ship. He doesn't use his last signaling device, but tears pages from his journal along with charts to create a signal fire. After he loses control of the fire and the fire consumes his raft, he falls into the water, struggling to swim. He stops swimming and lets himself sink. As he sinks, he sees the hull of a boat with a search light approaching his burning raft.

He swims up towards the light and the surface to grasp an outstretched hand, and the scene dissolves into white.

Production

Development

All Is Lost was written and directed by J. C. Chandor, his second feature film, following 2011's Margin Call. During his time commuting from Providence, Rhode Island to New York, Chandor developed the idea for All Is Lost.[8] After meeting Robert Redford at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival where Margin Call premiered, Chandor asked the veteran actor to be in the film. On February 9, 2012, Redford's casting was confirmed for All Is Lost as its only cast member.[9] In addition to there being only one actor in the film, Redford also stated that the film has no dialogue, however there are a few spoken lines.[10] Because of these aspects, the shooting script was only 31 pages long.[8]

Filming

Principal photography began in mid-2012 at Baja Studios in Rosarito Beach in Mexico. Baja Studios was originally built for the 1997 film Titanic.[9] Filming took place for two months in the location's water tank.[11] In addition the crew spent "two or three days" filming in the actual ocean.[12] Chandor would later remark that completing the film was "essentially a jigsaw puzzle"[12] and that the crew spent less time on the actual ocean than the film would have viewers believe.[12] At a press conference after the film's screening at Cannes 2013, Redford revealed that his ear was damaged during the production.[13]

Being filmed on the water and largely within the confines of a sailboat and liferaft, the film was technically difficult. It joined ranks with other water-plagued films: Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat; Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water; Kevin Costner's Waterworld;[14] James Cameron's Titanic; Robert Zemeckis's Cast Away and Steven Spielberg's Jaws.

Music

The film score to All Is Lost is composed by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ frontman Alex Ebert, who signed on to the film in November 2012.[15] Speaking of the experience of working on the film, Ebert said, "This project was a dream—an open space to play in but also space to listen to the elements—wind, water, rain, sun, are the story's other characters to me. I knew I had quite a task ahead of me: to at once allow the elements to sing and to give Redford a voice with which to, once in a while, respond."[16] The "extra features" of the Blu-ray Disc explicate on the unique development of the sound track, music, script and other production considerations.

A soundtrack album featuring ten original compositions and one new song all written, composed, and produced by Ebert was released on October 1, 2013 by Community Music.[17] On September 12, 2013, the song "Amen" from the soundtrack was made available for streaming.[18]

Release

All Is Lost screened out of competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival on May 22.[19] The film was distributed theatrically by Lionsgate and by Roadside Attractions in the United States.[20] FilmNation Entertainment handled foreign sales for the film. In February 2012, Universal Pictures purchased distribution of the film in 19 international territories (U.K., France, Italy, Spain, Hong Kong, South Korea, Russia, Portugal and Australia). Other deals were made with HGC in China, Square One in Germany, Sun Distribution in Latin America and Pony Canyon in Japan.[21] It began a limited release in the United States on October 18, 2013.

Reception

Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 93% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 215 reviews, with an average score of 8/10. The site's consensus states: "Anchored by another tremendous performance in a career full of them, All Is Lost offers a moving, eminently worthwhile testament to Robert Redford's ability to hold the screen."[22] On Metacritic the film has a score of 87 based on 45 reviews, considered to be "universal acclaim".[23]

After the screening of the film at the Cannes Film Festival, Redford received a standing ovation.[24] Writing for The Independent, Geoffrey Macnab said the film was "utterly compelling viewing".[25] Andrew Pulver, writing for The Guardian, said that "Redford delivers a tour de force performance: holding the screen effortlessly with no acting support whatsoever."[26] Justin Chang of Variety said of Redford's performance that he "holds the viewer’s attention merely by wincing, scowling, troubleshooting and yelling the occasional expletive".[27] Robbie Collin of The Telegraph said, "The film's scope is limited, but as far as it goes, All Is Lost is very good indeed: a neat idea, very nimbly executed."[28]

Peter Bradshaw, writing also for The Guardian, says the "near-mute performance as a mysterious old man of the sea" to be "a bold, gripping thriller." Being an ambiguous and challenging metaphor, he concludes: "What a strikingly bold and thoughtful film."[29]

Alan Scherstuhl of The Village Voice writes that the film is "a genuine nail-biter, scrupulously made and fully involving, elemental in its simplicity."[30] David Morgan of CBS News gave the film a positive review, stating, "Four decades ago Redford demonstrated a similar capacity for survival skills as the mountain man Jeremiah Johnson. Today, at age 77, without a supporting cast and performing virtually all of his water stunts himself, Redford proves he is still up to the task, shining in what is an extremely physical but also an intellectually demanding role."[31]

Steve Pulaski of Influx Magazine gave the film an A−, commenting, "All is Lost is a strong film in terms of mood and score. I have no idea what audiences will think of it. Some will hail it[...]and others will loathe it for not getting more to the bottom of things and leaving each scene with some element of ambiguity."[32]

The film has been criticized in the sailing world for being unrealistic, and in particular for the bad decisions of the main character,[33] some of which seem to be reckless or incompetent, and thus not in line with the rest of his characterization. An exception to this criticism is English Yachting Monthly, for which Dick Durham claimed: "Certainly the film is authentic and grippingly realistic."[34] Director Chandor himself, who says he went sailing with his parents when young and later a few times as an adult, stated in an interview with German sailing magazine Segeln that everything that happened in the film could have happened in reality. His only reservations were the probability of crossing the Indian Ocean single-handed and of not evading the storm with modern technology and due attention.[35]

Accolades

Awards
Award Category Recipients and nominees Result
AARP Annual Movies for Grownups Awards[36] Judge's Award for Extraordinary Merit All is Lost Won
86th Academy Awards Best Sound Editing Steve Boeddeker, Richard Hymns Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Best Actor Robert Redford Nominated
Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Actor Robert Redford Nominated
Detroit Film Critics Society[37] Best Actor Robert Redford Nominated
71st Golden Globe Awards[38][39] Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Robert Redford Nominated
Best Original Score Alex Ebert Won
Gotham Awards[40] Best Actor Robert Redford Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards[41] Best Feature Nominated
Best Director J. C. Chandor Nominated
Best Male Lead Robert Redford Nominated
Best Cinematography Frank G. DeMarco Nominated
Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards[42][43] Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects & Foley in a Feature Film Richard Hymns, Steve Boeddeker Nominated
New York Film Critics Circle[44] Best Actor Robert Redford Won
Phoenix Film Critics Society[45] Best Actor in a Leading Role Robert Redford Nominated
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Best Actor Robert Redford Nominated
Best Editing Pete Beaudreau Nominated
Satellite Awards[46] Best Motion Picture Nominated
Best Actor – Motion Picture Robert Redford Nominated
Best Sound (Editing and Mixing) Brandon Proctor, Richard Hymns, Steve Boeddeker Nominated
Best Visual Effects Brendon O'Dell, Collin Davies, Robert Munroe Nominated
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association[47] Best Actor Robert Redford Nominated

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Redford is credited as "Our Man", but the character is not named in the film.[7]
  2. ↑ Three boats of this type were used during production.
  3. ↑ The emblazoned container—painted "好運" in Chinese and "Ho Wan" in English—meant "Good Fortune."

References

  1. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (February 9, 2012). "TOLDJA! Robert Redford To Star In J.C. Chandor’s ‘All Is Lost’; FilmNation On Sales: Berlin". Deadline.com. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  2. ↑ "ALL IS LOST". 20th Century Fox. British Board of Film Classification. December 16, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "All Is Lost". British Film Institute. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
  4. ↑ Lawless, Jill (May 24, 2013). "JC Chandor gains a Cannes hit with 'All Is Lost'". Yahoo! News. Yahoo!. Associated Press. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  5. ↑ "All is Lost". The-Numbers. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  6. ↑ "All is Lost". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  7. ↑ Crompton, Sarah (December 19, 2013). "The making of All is Lost: 'Robert Redford lied to me'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Dowd, Maureen (October 9, 2013). "The Sun-Dried Kid: Robert Redford Goes to Sea in ‘All Is Lost’". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. 2. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 McClintock, Pamela (February 9, 2012). "Berlin 2012: Robert Redford Confirmed for J.C. Chandor's 'All Is Lost'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  10. ↑ Jagernauth, Keith (January 17, 2013). "Robert Redford Says 'Margin Call' Director J.C. Chandor's 'All Is Lost' Is Dialogue Free". The Playlist (indieWire). Retrieved January 28, 2013.
  11. ↑ Savage, Sophia (August 7, 2012). "First Look at J.C. Chandor's 'All is Lost' with Robert Redford". indieWire. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Mohan, Marc. "'All Is Lost' interview: Director J.C. Chandor puts Robert Redford to work". Oregon Live. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  13. ↑ UK Screen, May 30, 2013 | Cannes Shows Redford Has Lost Nothing
  14. ↑ Eller, Claudia; Welkos, Robert W. (September 16, 1994). "Plenty of Riptides on 'Waterworld' Set: With key crew people quitting and reported turmoil, logistical and organizational problems, the big-budget film, scheduled for release in summer of '95, could end up costing more than any movie ever made.". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  15. ↑ Barker, Andrew (November 20, 2012). "Edward Sharpe’s Alex Ebert to score J.C. Chandor pic". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  16. ↑ "ALL IS LOST Soundtrack by Alexander Ebert Released 10/1 Read more about ALL IS LOST Soundtrack by Alexander Ebert Released 10/1 - BWWMusicWorld by http://www.broadwayworld.com". Broadway World. Wisdom Digital Media. September 11, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Community Music Announces Release of All Is Lost". Community Music. September 10, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  18. ↑ Rahman, Ray (September 12, 2013). "Hear Alexander Ebert's song 'Amen' from the Robert Redford 'All Is Lost' soundtrack". Entertainment Weekly. CNN. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  19. ↑ "2013 Official Selection". festival-cannes.fr. Cannes Film Festival. April 21, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  20. ↑ Lodderhose, Diana (February 9, 2012). "Lionsgate nabs Redford starrer 'All Is Lost'". Variety. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  21. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (February 12, 2012). "Berlin 2012: FilmNation sells Robert Redford starrer 'All Is Lost' to Universal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  22. ↑ "All Is Lost (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  23. ↑ "All Is Lost Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Cannes: Robert Redford gets ovation for All Is Lost". BBC News. May 23, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Cannes Film Festival 2013 review: All Is Lost starring Robert Redford is almost dialogue-free, but exceptionally compelling nevertheless". The Independent. May 23, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  26. ↑ "Cannes 2013: All Is Lost – first look review". The Guardian. May 23, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  27. ↑ "Cannes Film Review: ‘All Is Lost’". Variety. May 23, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  28. ↑ "Cannes 2013: All Is Lost, review". The Telegraph. May 23, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  29. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (December 26, 2013). "All Is Lost – review". The Guardian. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  30. ↑ "In All Is Lost, Robert Redford Won't Go Down Easily". The Village Voice. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  31. ↑ Morgan, David (October 9, 2013). "NYFF review: Robert Redford in "All Is Lost"". CBS News. CBS. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  32. ↑ Pulaski, Steve. "All is Lost". Influx Magazine.
  33. ↑ Uwe Janßen (10.01.2014). Filmkritik. "All is lost" – so sieht es die YACHT. Yacht (magazine) (retrieved 16.11.2014)
    Tom Lochhaas (undated). Sailor's Review of Movie All Is Lost. Fatal Flaws. about sports (retrieved 16.11.2014)
    without details, but in a list of four films with maritime mistakes: Kreuzpeilung Judith Duller-Mayrhofer (7.2.2014). Wolfgang Mayrhofers monatliche Kolumne aus der Printausgabe der Yachtrevue. Des Seglers Fluch. Yachtrevue (retrieved 16.11.2014)
  34. ↑ Dick Durham (20.12.2013). Redford acts out our worst nightmare. Yachting Monthly (retrieved 16.11.2014)
  35. ↑ Kai Köckeritz (13.1.2014). Robert Redford über "All is Lost". Segeln (retrieved 16.11.2014)
  36. ↑ "AARP Names ’12 Years a Slave’ Best Movie for Grownups". AFI. January 6, 2014. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  37. ↑ Long, Tom (December 9, 2013). "Detroit Film Critics Society nominates top films". The Detroit News. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  38. ↑ "Golden Globes Nominations: The Full List". Variety. January 11, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  39. ↑ "Golden Globe Awards Winners". Variety. January 12, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  40. ↑ Anne Thompson and Beth Hanna (October 24, 2013). "2013 Gotham Nominations, Led by '12 Years a Slave', 'Inside Llewyn Davis' and 'Upstream Color', Boost Spirits and Oscar Hopefuls". Thompson on Hollywood. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  41. ↑ Johnson, Mark (November 26, 2013). "Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced!". The Awards Circuit. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  42. ↑ Walsh, Jason (January 15, 2014). "Sound Editors Announce 2013 Golden Reel Nominees". Variety. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  43. ↑ "'Gravity' and '12 Years a Slave' lead MPSE Golden Reel Awards nominations". HitFix. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  44. ↑ Sheehan, Paul (December 4, 2013). "'12 Years a Slave' came this close to winning New York Film Critics Circle". GoldDerby. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  45. ↑ "Phoenix Film Critics Society 2013 Award Nominations". Phoenix Film Critics Society. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  46. ↑ Kilday, Gregg (December 2, 2013). "Satellite Awards: '12 Years a Slave' Leads Film Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  47. ↑ "The 2013 WAFCA Awards". Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association. December 9, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2013.

External links