The Old Man And The Sea

Robert Redford's All Is Lost reminds all viewers of Hemingway's The Old Man And The Sea and Ang Lee's Life of Pi. But its originality trumps any other movie out there this year. It's about an experienced sailor facing mortality in a tempest, but it's also a study of humanity as well as a horror movie at sea!

Hollywood seemed to dwell a lot lately on how men and women combat adversities - whether it's Sandra Bullock stranded in space in Gravity or Our Man, Robert Redford, fighting for survival at sea in this film. The entire movie is almost like a silent one featuring a one-man show. There's no other actor, not even any animals, except for Redford who only uttered two lines in the entire movie.

You don't have to be an avid sailor to appreciate this movie, but if you love to sail, you might even like it better. I loved Margin Call, the first feature film by the same director J.C. Chandor, who earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay last year. With All Is Lost, he tried a totally different genre with men's fight against nature. Maybe it's because Margin Call was first shown at Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival that the 39-year-old up-and-coming director teamed up with the 77-year-old Redford in this unusual work.

If you think you'll be bored during this movie because there's no dialogue, then you're totally wrong! In fact, I kept asking myself throughout the film what possibly would be the next move of Our Man, the character played by Redford. He managed to survive adversity after adversity and his hope never faded. The ending is magnificent and is subject to different interpretations. Like Ron Howard's Rush, which is more than a racecar movie, All Is Lost is really a film about our approach to life.

This year's Academy Awards contention will be very competitive - Redford is rumoured to be definitely nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. Because he's never won an Oscar before, chances of his winning this one at his age are pretty high. I personally think he should definitely be awarded for his efforts - four months of shooting this movie at sea in the Bahamas, California and Mexico without having one dry day. Plus, he refused to use any stunt man even for the most challenging storm scenes. But Redford might have to compete with Forest Whitaker in The Butler, Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips, Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years A Slave and possibly Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club.

In the meantime, I'll be interested in your interpretation of the concluding scene of All Is Lost!