Friday, May 24, 2013

Cannes note

No, I'm not there, more's the pity; but here's Ann Hornaday on Redford:
Another of the festival’s strongest offerings — J.C. Chandor’s astonishing “All Is Lost” — addresses time’s passing more obliquely, with 76-year-old Robert Redford delivering a bravura performance as a man alone at sea on a sinking sailboat. A magnificent if harrowing example of cinema at its purest, “All Is Lost” contains almost no dialogue; instead, Redford communicates his character through action as he methodically battles the elements. The movie might be about one man against a world he can’t control but, as Chandor noted at a press conference, it’s also about a cinematic icon embodying his own generation’s turbulent passage into a treacherous next phase. “All Is Lost” is an exceptional achievement in every emotional, artistic and technical sense, and it represents a career-redefining moment for Redford. For some reason, it was passed over for competition in favor of far less impressive fare.
Probably good that Redford is doing this now as opposed to playing characters who are twenty years younger, which is what he did in his film The Company You Keep. (He pulled it off, for the most part, and so did Julie Christie, but maybe not entirely.) 

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