All is Lost (2013)

[Dementeleus]

Discuss.

[Ezen Baklattan]

Oh my god, this movie.

 

It certainly makes a great companion piece with Gravity: Both are survival stories focusing on a man (or woman) overcoming increasing adversity in order to survive a hostile environment, yet each film takes a unique stand. Whereas Gravity tells an intense story of survival centering around two well established characters, All Is Lost takes a more subdued approach, with a character we're given very little about explicitly (we don't even learn his name) and have to make inferences based on his actions and possessions. Each film takes their approaches with equal elegance and control, keeping an engaging and compelling story on the screen. 

 

And Believe the hype for Robert Redford. Between, this, Life of Pi, and Gravity, he's the only one who only has himself in his isolation, and his determination, desperation, and gradually unearthing fear and anger, and my god, does he carry it all the way through. He brings on the emotions with grace and subtlety, never overacting or becoming too showy. His dramatic "fuck!" sent chills down my spine as well as a few tears, (among many other moments in the film, especially towards the final act) although it may illicit some unwarranted laughter in a few audiences.

 

J.C. Chandor also deserves a heaping of praise for his direction and script. Each shot is masterfully created, with some fantastic water effects and gorgeous camera work. All of the action takes place on Redford's boat/raft, and he uses each setting to its full advantage, in that they almost become characters of their own. His minimalist script, though a bit slow to start, never lets go once the final storm comes. It always keeps you guessing whether or not Redford will survive, an answer that remains unclear up until the last moment of the film. He's truly a new director to look out for in Hollywood. It may take many predictable twists, but then again, so did Gravity, and that didn't stop me from loving each film.

 

It's a beautifully simple story, yet it says a great deal about humanity and our fight to survive. It's one of the best films of the year.

[Sam]

Fantastic movie. I love it. I really don't have much to add cause Spaghetti already covered pretty well how I feel about this movie. I agree with him completely. I love how All Is Lost has a straightforward, simple plot, but is executed very well. Direction from J.C Chandor is definitely deserving of high praises.

 

The one thing I want to say is that Robert Redford is wonderful. The man is a living legend. For me personally, this is the best performance this year from all I've seen so far. He was immensely engaging. 

 

A+ from me.

 

I gotta say that the quality of OCs is so strong this year, and quite many of them live up to the hype. I really look forward to the rest of this year.

[acab]

This is a brilliant, haunting film. A trully well crafted survival thriller full of suspense. It manages to keep your interest from start to finish with just one actor who says almost nothing. But it's full of drama and tension without knowing almost nothing about the protagonist. It's like if Sandra Bullock had no communication with Clooney in Gravity and had to express everything that was happening to her all alone with her actions. The fact that Redford has no name and we know nothing about him gives him an archetypal and allegorical dimension. Man against nature. Feels like a Jack London story. And Robert Redford gives one of his best performances ever. His performance is deep, precise and subtle.

 

I really liked Gravity but this is a better survival thriller and a superior film.

[Sam]

I agree that as a survival thriller, All Is Lost is better. But I would rate Gravity just a bit above it because of all the technical wonders that helped elevate the experience I had watching it in theater. Both are fantastic movies with great directing and acting performances.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Sam

[baumer]

Doing a double bill this afternoon, All is Lost and Kill Your Darlings.

[baumer]

An astonishingly powerful film and despite Redford uttering a few words, one of the performances of the year.  It's incredibly suspenseful and I too did not know if he would survive or not.  I do have a tiny problem with the final shot of the movie.  I understand why it ended the way it did but it just would have been nice (for me anyway) to have maybe 30 more seconds of film.  But that small complaint aside, everything else about the film is close to perfect.

 

9.5/10

[Ezen Baklattan]

YES! Welcome about the S.S. Oscar for Redford, Baumer!

 

Actually, I loved the ending as it was. It said what it needed to and concludes with a beautiful image.

[baumer]

I completely understand why the ending was the way it was and I know most people will love it.  It's just not the way I wanted it to end.  But that really doesn't matter, the rest of it was quite amazing.

[Ezen Baklattan]

Another fantastic thing about this I really had no idea what J.C. Chandor was going to throw at us for the ending. (It's not funny how many times I thought that it would fade to credits.) Granted, each of these endings probably would have been more bleak than what we got.  

[baumer]

Did you know Zachary Quinto was the Executive Producer of the film?  I just thought that was interesting.

[Ezen Baklattan]

Wow, I didn't know that. It makes some sense, though, as he was in Margin Call, Chandor's last movie.

 

Either way, it's easily the best thing he's been a part of this year.

[Sam]

YES! Welcome about the S.S. Oscar for Redford, Baumer! :)Actually, I loved the ending as it was. It said what it needed to and concludes with a beautiful image.

We need more recruits. There are a few more contenders' performances I need to watch, but Redford is the best so far for me, so atm, I'm rooting for him

[baumer]

Redford isn't my choice, that would be Hanks.  But he is fantastic.

[Ezen Baklattan]

We need more recruits.There are a few more contenders' performances I need to watch, but Redford is the best so far for me, so atm, I'm rooting for him

We could probably get Gopher and Rallax on board, but Baumer loving it makes it more challenging on account of the former.

[Sam]

We could probably get Gopher and Rallax on board, but Baumer loving it makes it more challenging on account of the former.

That's true. Gotta say, Gopher and Baumer's "rivalry" is one of the most hilarious things I've seen on this forum.

[Gopher]

I'll hopefully see this tomorrow and baumer's approval only has me more excited. We like a lot of the same movies, guys. It's just that when we disagree it's a pretty violent opposition.

[baumer]

Yea all jokes aside, me and Gopher do have kind of the same opinion on film.  The thing is I like a lot of films that others don't seem to like all that much.  But liking a film and then absolutely loving it are two different things.  I like a lot of films, but loving it is reserved for the best of the best.

[Ezen Baklattan]

I know you two have a stronger rapport than it gets credit for, but hey, we've gotta keep these running jokes alive.

[baumer]

Yes agreed Spaghetti.

 

Gopher really just loves the same movies that Riczhang does.  He hates blockbusters and would be more than in his element watching Brazilian Noir films on Existentialism from the Prohibition era.