Oscar season means Oscar parties. Usually you need a star or two in attendance to bring out the journalists because there are only a few who will turn up for the free food and drink alone, and even fewer who do it for their jobs. I myself tend to feel awkward at such gatherings, even though it’s theoretically part of my job. The way the bloggers and journalists swarm the talent always puts one in one’s obsolete place, as adorer and worshipper rather than fellow human being. It’s surreal, but nice. Some of these event are impossible to pass up, however, and one such occasion for me was the All Is Lost party held this weekend in Hollywood in the middle of the day.
A colleague of mine complained that it was the wrong time for a party. Who has a party at 1:30pm in the afternoon anyway? But every so often a film production comes along that requires extra effort to keep it in the conversation during Oscar season. When a writer/director takes this kind of risk, to make a film with no dialogue, heavy on metaphor and spiritual interpretation, with a career best performance by Robert Redford, you stop and pay attention. The more box office the film can generate, the more awards attention it gets, the better the chance that more films like this will get made, the more studio backers will say yes to risk-taking in film, rather than always adhering to the kind of formula that works.
Without Robert Redford in attendance, it seemed like it would be hard to get guests to attend. But the room was crowded as the “below the line” artists were introduced to journalists. Most of us had no idea what it took to get a film like All Is Lost made. What seems, on the screen, like one man in a boat with a camera trained on them was a much longer and more detailed process. Chandor had the film’s editor, Pete Beaudreau, who worked on Margin Call, on set to make sure that they had the footage they needed as they went along. There were things they couldn’t take back, like a destroyed boat.
Three different boats were shopped by Chandor and production designer John P. Goldsmith. I asked them what went into deciding which boat to use? Did they look for a particular insight into Redford’s character? But Chandor wanted it to be left ambiguous, to a degree, much like the film itself. That makes it easier to settle into the idea that the film works both literally and metaphorically — he could be anyone. He could be you. He could represent any of us, all of us.
We drank Campari and soda as the sun cracked through the tall windows. Working on the project turned out to be so rewarding for Goldsmith that he was having a hard time accepting the kinds of scripts that were coming to him afterwards. Both he and Beaudreau try to pick projects that they believe in. All Is Lost was the kind of film that required a team who got it. Such a brilliant collaboration overall that comes across seamlessly on screen.
We could have talked about what it was like to work with Robert Redford. We could have talked about difficulties with the weather. We could have talked about what films we’ve seen that we liked. Somehow, though, our conversation veered towards death and religion. That’s not surprising given the film’s subject. Apparently 50% of those who see All Is Lost interpret the ending one way, and 50% interpret it the other way. Those interpretations depend on what we believe is going in. The only strange thing about it is how so many see it differently.
All Is Lost is the kind of film that has to be seen on the big screen to be appreciated. Those who saw and loved Margin Call, as I did, particularly knowing that Chandor took ten years getting it made, will appreciate the giant step forward he’s taken visually. As a director he’s already showing the kind of versatility that builds a lasting and unpredictable career.
Hollywood needs more production crews like those involved in getting All is Lost off the ground — including a big name like Redford who lived through Hollywood’s most daring era, the 1970s, and remembers what taking artistic risks is still about. Given that, attending a party of theirs is as easy as the warm winds that took to the streets of Hollywood that day, cleaning the trash from the sidewalks and depositing it elsewhere, far from where these filmmakers were gathered.