FRESH AIR
Robert Redford isn’t merely the star of the movie All Is Lost — he plays the only character. He plays a man stranded alone on a small yacht in the Indian Ocean, and New York Times film critic A.O. Scott says it’s “the performance of a lifetime.” We don’t know the man’s name, why he’s there, or anything about his background — but when disaster strikes, we learn that he’s resourceful and doesn’t succumb to panic. After a stray shipping container rams his vessel and leaves a gaping hole in the hull, he must make the boat seaworthy again in order to survive. “I was very drawn to what was not said,” Redford tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. The 30-page script for the nearly wordless film was made up mostly of sketches. And in a physically demanding role, Redford, 77, did nearly all his own stunts. “I liked that the idea that there were no special effects,” he says. “It was a very low-budget film, very independent in its spirit and its budget. It felt like a more pure cinematic experience — the way films used to be, maybe even going back to silent films.” He says he was glad to get away from the high technology that has “infested the film business.” Redford was nominated for a Golden Globe Award on Thursday, and The New York Film Critics Circle has voted him best actor of the year. His best-known films include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Candidate, The Way We Were, The Sting, All the President’s Men and Out of Africa. He directed several films including Ordinary People and Quiz Show. He directed and starred in The Horse Whisperer and the recent film The Company You Keep. MORE