ALL
IS LOST (2013) – A Review
A remarkably simple yet engaging
story: An old man (Robert Redford) alone on a boat in the Indian Ocean awakens
to find that his vessel has collided with a stray shipping container. Said
collision has put a sizable hole in the side of his boat. Troubles follow.
This simple-yet-radical film is one
that can be taken or interpreted several different ways…
The Monster Movie: This is terror in a
truly elemental form. In All is Lost,
the monster is the biggest one ever seen on screen – an ocean. As Redford’s
troubles mount, so does the tension. Very, very few full-on horror films have
ever achieved the sustained level of tension that this film does. As a straight
ahead thriller, All is Lost more than
holds its own.
The Metaphor, Part 1: The old man is
America, adrift on the world economy. The shipping container is China, which
fatally damages America’s ability to stay afloat.
The Metaphor, Part 2: It’s the
environment, stupid. Our tiny little boat (civilization), afloat on the ocean
(the natural world) is finally sunk by the weight of pollution our disposable
culture produces (symbolized by a shipping container full of Chinese-made shoes).
The Experimental Film: How many films
are there that you can think of that feature just one person, and essentially no dialogue? I can’t think of any. But
that’s what you get here. With CGI and special effects extravaganzas having
become almost the only thing Hollywood produces, we’ve gotten used to thinking
of films as a visual medium more than ever. But the absence of any dialogue in All is Lost shows just how ubiquitous
and important the spoken word has become in films. Not that the film suffers
from the lack of it – not at all. It’s just that the lack of language is so
novel at this point. This could easily have been a silent film – three or four title
cards would take care of all the speaking you’ll hear.
It was an oddly circular week of films
for my wife and me. We started off on Monday with a digital projection of an actual
silent film (The Golem) from 1920.
Though The Golem was a digital print,
the image was a little soft, due to the age of the original materials.
Then, on Friday, when
silent-but-with-sound All is Lost started
up, I could hear the familiar soft whirr of the 35mm projector in the booth
behind us. It was a pleasant surprise. The print of the film had a few lines
and scratches, but the images, free from the weaknesses of digital imagery,
were sharp and clear. As we watched, and the projector whirred behind us, I
thought that the film’s title, All is
Lost, was appropriate for what will probably be the last new, mainstream
movie I see in 35mm. That is a technology now essentially lost to the digital
era – an era that does not, in my opinion, live up to its hype. Digital is
cheaper, and easier, and too often looks it.
But I digress. All is Lost is a film I think would appeal to many different film
goers, many different perspectives. While fully engaging you as a viewer, it
also allows you a great deal more room to ponder and interpret for yourself
than most films do. If the film is indeed a kind of experiment, I think it is a
successful one. Sadly, we now know that success does not include any real recognition from Oscar voters, but the Oscars
have never really been about quality anyway.
All is Lost is a film of quality. It deserves
your attention. You will not be disappointed.