Redford Week: Jeremiah Johnson

Before and after going out to see All Is Lost, I revisited Robert Redford in an earlier cinematic tale of Man VS Nature, 1972's Jeremiah Johnson.  In what would be Redford's 2nd of 7 collaborations with director Sydney Pollack, Jeremiah Johnson is the tale of a wandering former soldier who arrives in Colorado to become a mountain man, hunting "bears, beavers and other critters worth cash money when skinned".  Utilizing the vast landscape of Utah, Pollack alternates harsh winters and arid desert vistas to give us an idea of just how hard life could be back then.

At first, Johnson struggles in the wilderness to survive, his hunting skills are lacking and he resorts to trying to catch fish with his bare hands in a frigid creek.  He's taken in by a local grizzly bear hunting mountain fella who teaches him the way of living off the rock.  Soon, Johnson becomes a self described "great hunter", the "fine figure of a man" who makes "damn good biscuits".  Along the way he runs into trouble with a pack of tribal nations people who end up slaughtering his wife and adopted child.  With nothing left, Johnson becomes a famed killer of the tribe and lives on the move, always waiting for the next attack.

Jeremiah Johnson is a great adventure flick that strangely parallels All Is Lost on simple things like men choosing isolation over society, accepting each new uninvited challenge and never giving up.  There's also weird coincidences like shaving before the storm (literal and figurative storms), forehead wound placement and screaming at the sky in both.  What I forgot about the movie is how funny it is at times as well as brutal.  The action is rough and tumble but still packs a wallop after all these years.  Sometimes seeing a nasty, animalistic scrap is more effective than the most choreographed display of physical prowess.  The film was co-written by John Milius, ya know, from Conan the Barbarian and Apocalypse Now?  The guy Walt from The Big Lebowski is based on?  Exactly.  Having worked on many a studio picture officially and unofficially, Milius has it written into his contract that in addition to a fee, he receives a firearm of significant value.

Apparently, Johnson is based on a real individual who after losing his family to braves from the Crow tribe, enlisted other mountain men and rival tribes to exact revenge over 25 years.  Rumor is he would eat the liver of each man he killed as a sign of disrespect to his enemies beliefs.  Respect.

The power of Yes:

Fall Flicks: All Is Lost

Some more critical and award fodder with J.C. Chandor's All Is Lost starring the one and only Bobby the Robert Redford.  The story concerns a seasoned sailor in the middle of the ocean whose vessel is struck by a stray shipping container from China holding a boatload of shoes.

Then it is basically:  Redford.  On a boat.  Suffering hardship.  After hardship.  Then another hardship.  Phew.  I love Redford but I feel all of the praise his performance is garnering is a bit of an insult.  There is no dialog to speak of, it's a very realistic account of one man's quest to survive.  There are moments of true terror, the film is simple yet deftly constructed and quite a departure from Chandor's previous film, 2011's dialog heavy Margin Call.

We've seen how strong, funny, endearing and romantic Redford can be from Barefoot in the Park, The Candidate, Jeremiah Johnson, The Great Waldo Pepper and Sneakers among dozens of others.  To to hail a performance where he says next to nothing and instead gives us a how-to on seminar on boat repair and survival techniques seems erroneous.  It's a role any actor, put in the situation under the created elements, would probably receive our sympathy for.

Redford Week: Winter Weather Warning

Tell me you've watched the trailer for Captain America:  The Winter Soldier!  And tell me you're not excited to see Bobby Redford aka Robert in it!  Ssssh, let's watch it again:



Doesn't that look awesome?!  I'm guessing Redford ends up being the villain and if Marvel really wants to push it, is Cap's World War II nemesis, The Red Skull, in present day!  I always thought Robert Redford would have been a perfect Steve Rogers/Cap.  Don't believe me?  Just watch The Way We Were.  The Way We Were?  That chick flick with Barbara Streisand?!  Yup, Redford is the spitting image of 70's and 80's era Cap where he wasn't super muscular, had some style and hadn't been turned into a big, bland, flag waver who memorizes names of vice presidents on a Saturday night.  Oh and Redford's character in TWWW is named is Hubbell, which is also sweet.

It's like looking into a comic book to black and white photo mirror!