"All Is Lost" at Durham Library Thursday

Movie Notes by Don Bourret

All Is Lost opens with a shot at water level of a placid sea and a notice that we are 1700 nautical miles from the Sumatra Straits. We then hear a brief voiceover by Robert Redford reciting what sounds like it might be a note left in a bottle, expressing regrets. As the screen fades to black, we learn we now are going back eight days.

With the sound of a crash the screen opens to a shot of Redford rousing from a deep sleep on his bunk to see water pouring across a boat’s floorboards and around his feet. Thus begins this intense, harrowing film.

The hull of his 39-ft. sailing yacht has been breached, and the remainder of the film follows his struggles to survive against the elements and near-insurmountable odds through intelligence and unshakable resolve. I am not going into detail here as to what he encounters. Suffice it to say that a storm, massive waves, falling overboard, a broken mast, the yacht’s rolling over, fire, thirst and hunger, jubilation and despair (often within fifteen minutes of each other) all are in play. This is a film to be seen and experienced, and inadequate descriptions can only mar your appreciation of it. I normally like seeing the Bonus Features on DVDs for background on how a film was made; but I actually learned more than I wanted this time. Take this one on its own merits, and don’t be concerned with how they did it.

Apart from that opening voiceover, there is no dialogue in the film. Billed in the end credits as “Our Man,” Redford is the only person in the film, and he provides a master class in film acting. His moving performance holds the screen effortlessly through facial expressions and body language alone as he runs the gamut of emotions: fear, confusion, elation, anger, terror, despair, resignation, they’re all there. You’re never in doubt as to what’s going on in his mind because you share each moment’s sensation and reaction with him.

This film was very demanding physically; and Redford at 77, who insisted on doing all his own stunts, many of them in or under water, obviously was very fit. But he admitted in an interview that there were several times during the two-month shoot that he was tempted to call in a double. But he persevered. And it is to Director J.C. Chandor’s credit that he insisted on using a genuine elderly actor in the role rather than use doubles or fake it with someone younger. For this reason AARP gave the film its Extraordinary Merit Award, for its depiction and celebration of the value, dependability and durability of older persons.

This is a nail biter start to finish. Don’t miss it.