Just Re-watched "All Is Lost"

[Capt Gill]

Originally Posted by WingRyder

I agree. its a shame they had to destroy 3 boats to film this...

The title, a double entendre, tells us this, although somewhat veiled.

[ZULU40]

Originally Posted by WingRyder

My biggest problem w/ Private Ryan, was the cowardly typist. When he watched as the german soldier slowly stabbed his buddy to death... there was just no way to recover his character after that, for me. I know, I know... fog of war and all... but, for movie sake, they should have shown him at least, make an effort to stop the bayonet fight.

The opening scene of SPR was probably some of the best cinematography ever! Apparently, Spielberg envisioned the cinema-verrité style of this scene when he was approx 12-13yo. I've seen the youth video, and it was pretty impressive... especially for a preteen. Spielberg is truly a genius.

It was certainly a very powerful cinematic moment, and somewhat disturbing. There are stats that say fewer then 25% of troops at the front lines fired their weapon at the enemy even when in a position to do so. And just 1% of fighter pilots accounted for half the enemy aircraft kills, the other half were downed by the remaining 99%.

I agree about the beech landing, the American sector was certainly very dangerous and bloody, others got in almost unopposed.

[jimp1234]

Originally Posted by WingRyder

The fact that you didn't like his character because he was a "shlump" means that Redford portrayed it well. I was very frustrated with him as well. But that was the point! He was not portraying Jason Bourne, the sailor. It was a realistic portrayal of someone, very human and very vulnerable to interior and exterior forces acting against him.

I expect your right. However, while there was a time in my youth when I would enjoyed a dreary in depth character study from a director like Ingmar Bergman or Kurosawa, now that I'm in my dotage a movie has to be at least a little uplifting, or heaven forbid funny, for me to consider it entertaining. Btw, 2 thumbs up for Captain Ron..

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by Suijin

But he had the most sage advice ever!

“If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen out there.”

Hahah. Another one of my favorites is:

“You heard of St. Croix?”
“Yeah.”
“We're going to the island just to the left of it.”
“What's it called?”
“Ted's.”

[WingRyder]

Originally Posted by jimp1234

I expect your right. However, while there was a time in my youth when I would enjoyed a dreary in depth character study from a director like Ingmar Bergman or Kurosawa, now that I'm in my dotage a movie has to be at least a little uplifting, or heaven forbid funny, for me to consider it entertaining. Btw, 2 thumbs up for Captain Ron..

I enjoy many types of movies. I am a huge fan of Pixar. They are the best storytellers in the industry. I rented Capt Ron the other night and enjoyed it. Not the best movie in history, but fun and entertaining, as I expected. I also liked Russell in Overboard. My favorite Genre is spy-thrillers... but good ones are few and far between these days. I despise super-hero movies, which are 99% action, 1% plot. Just about every action genre has been sucked into the vortex of over-the-top special effects. It's nice to see an action movie that is still rooted in the laws of physics.

I don't seek out artsy fartsy movies to critique, but when I see a movie that I enjoyed, then see that a majority of the people who saw it, didn't see in it what I saw, well, I wanted to express my opinion about it. I'm not advocating that All is Lost should be studied as a masterpiece, but a one scene, one actor movie, with no dialog is pretty hard to pull off, with any success. I was impressed that the entire movie was unspoken, and that it didn't lead the viewer by the nose ring, but rather left them to explore the movie on their own level...

[OldManMirage]

Originally Posted by Suijin

But he had the most sage advice ever!

“If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen out there.”

Captain Ron rocks !! LOL. Sleeping with the patch over the good eye !

Two thumbs way up !

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

Hahah. Another one of my favorites is:



“You heard of St. Croix?”

“Yeah.”

“We're going to the island just to the left of it.”

“What's it called?”

“Ted's.”

My favorite, paraphrased:

In a storm, basically completely lost:

“We’re almost there.”
“How do you know?”
“Because when we left we had just enough fuel to get there and we just ran out of fuel.”

[anacapaisland42]

REAL Movie.....Around Cape Horn" Irving Johnson....Mystic Seaport....Originally Super 8 Stock....Johnson died a few years ago but this movie documents his rounding the Horn....impressive....B & W.....not fiction but nearly unbelievable at times.


Bill

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

Captain Ron is one of my favorites. Just a warning for all the continuity nerds and technical sailing freaks - it’s a MOVIE. Its a goofy one too. It’s entertainment. Take it easy and enjoy it.

[cyan]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

Captain Ron is one of my favorites. Just a warning for all the continuity nerds and technical sailing freaks - it’s a MOVIE. Its a goofy one too. It’s entertainment. Take it easy and enjoy it.

FYI, the nerds naturally take it easy for a comedy, because funny. Dramas / adventures don’t get the same hall pass.

[Group9]

Martin: “We’re at the wrong island?”

Captan Ron: “It’s the tides, Boss. They can work for you, and they can work against you. And, confidentially, I’ve had this problem with the tides before.”.

[SUNCAT365]

Originally Posted by WingRyder

Sorry, but I searched and couldn't find a thread for this movie... and I am sure that it's been discussed here before. But I wanted to discuss my take on it and why I think most reviews from sailors miss the entire point of the movie.





SPOILER ALERT!!!







Most discussions I've read, sailors seem to be critical of the characters poor decisions. I will leave alone some of the technical errors, but I wanted to discuss why I think most people are missing the point.

I think that Redford's character is a man who is solo sailing, not for the adventure, but to escape his miserable life. "All is lost." He had given up on life, long before the trouble even begins. His boat is somewhat neglected, and he is slow to respond to situations, because he is in denial and doesn't want to deal with it. This is apparent when the big storm is coming and he starts drinking and shaving, instead of making storm preps.

He is reactive to every situation, not proactive. Once his boat sinks, and "all is lost", only then does he begin to sober up, and attempt to save himself. He is out of booze and probably realizing what an a-hole he's been to his family (I get this, from the note he reads at the beginning of the movie.) He figures out his sextant, rations his provisions, plots his course adrift, attempts to get rescued, writes the aforementioned, apologetic note to his family, etc. Once his life raft burns to the waterline and he gives up hope and sinks.... all is lost. But the lights of the rescue skiff shine on him and he realizes that he is finally saved.

I can only assume that he became a stronger person after his ordeal, and realized that he had a lot to live for.


Most sailor reviews I've read are from people who assume that the minute he got hit by the container, he should have sprang from his bunk and immediately taken proactive steps, in the proper order, to save the boat and initiate rescue procedures. If he were depressed and passively suicidal, I think his character is spot on.

Any thoughts?

My take was very similar. It was a man committing slow suicide via solo sailing. Seen it enough in real life. With less happy endings. Spend enough time in tropical ports you'll meet this guy.

[Tetepare]

My take on All is Lost is a bit differently.


Redford's constant screw-ups are not ignorance on the part of the writers. Instead, I believe they were intentional to the movie.


It is a good learning experience. So many people jump on this forum and want to sail the world, and too often too many say "go ahead, it's fun". If those people watch the movie, and then are walked through all of the catastrophes and how "the average sailor" would have known to avoid them, then maybe the dreamer would smarten up and realize a bit more experience is warranted.

[ridingdog]

I have to agree with WingRyder. All my sailing friends have trashed this movie but after seeing it twice (I didn't like it the first time) I have remained a defender of it. No naked Nicole but Redford is fine actor. It is about a tired and sad lonely sailor. Its about mistakes you make as you become more fatigued. I read stories all the time about things that went wrong and what you could have done better. It is easy to sit at your computer and judge but under stress and incredible fatigue mistakes happen. And when mistakes happen they lead to more fatigue and more and more problems. If anyone out there thinks that they will perform at 100%, 100% of the time they are delusional. At some point fatigue becomes overwhelming and we let go. I suspect he was tired with life in the very beginning and that is why things slipped away rather rapidly. There are things that we can learn from this movie (like who the f#^k would ever cross an ocean alone) but its not about technical sailing skills or survival at sea but about emotional and physical stamina (and being nice to family and others). I think it was brave cinematic project and well done and greatly misunderstood.

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by jmorrison146

Second dumbest movie ever. Dumbest is "Eyes Wide Shut", even though Nichole Kidman gets naked for a bit early on.

Well, I suppose if you are evaluating them as documentaries, then yeah. But if you are evaluating them as fiction and metaphors for really difficult ideas or concepts, then no. "All is Lost" is the same movie as was ""Leaving Las Vegas". LLV being more literal and AIL more metaphorical. AIL was just using sailing to talk about how hard life can be and how, in the end, we are all doomed. Not a fun topic, but perhaps a worthy one. Eyes Wide Shut was a fascinating attempt to explore psychoanalytic theories of relationships. Psychoanalysis is certainly not everyone's cup of tea.
I can readily understand why someone would not enjoy spending a couple hours with All is Lost, facing the hopelessness of our mortality. But I have to say I thought it was pretty cool to try to make sailing the metaphor. And to try to communicate this notion without the character saying a word. I admire the filmmaker for their skill and bravery to try to do this.
As so many have eloquently written, sailing provides many metaphors for life and that is one reason why so many sailing terms have entered the common parlance. Give me more movies like AIL - another excuse to talk with my non-sailing friends about sailing!

[secrabtree]

A container at sea does not run into a boat, the boat runs into it. And it can happen in a dead calm when the boat is almost not moving forward. The normal swell in a calm sea continually moves the bow up and down, once in a while down onto a stationary object like an almost submerged container. as one that HAS singlehanded at sea (San Francisco to Hawaii) in a Cal 39 (the same boat that Redford was in) I've some experience. The movie was accurate about a numbr of things.
1. The hole was not quite at the bow, it wa.
Important because the bow of a cal 39 can take a direct hit at 6 knots against a hard stationary object with no damages on the side only a couple feet from the bow - experience
2. A singlehandd sailor usually gets his sleep whenever he can, most often during the day - because his boat will be more easily not seen at night
3. A singlehanded sailor at sea is almost always groggy. I seldom slept more than an hour and 15 minutes at a time.
4. and he almost always looks groggy even when not because, being alone, there's no reason to do more than is required for personal hygiene.
5. The comments that ths was not a sailing movie are correct. But singlehanded sailing at sea (rather than a daysail) is less about sailing and more about a person's internal relationship with himself. And that was what the movie portrayed quite well.
6. When I went there were 37 other singlehanded boats that started and only about 25 that made it to Hanelei Bay. The VAST majority of those that dropped out did so because it only took 3 days (average) for the skipper to realize that he didn't like himself well enough to spend his waking hours with only himself.