The state of independent, hard journalism hangs in the balance in Truth, a docudrama about the pivotal 2004 60 Minutes report in which veteran broadcaster Dan Rather called into question the validity of then-President George W. Bush’s military past. Based on the memoir by former 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes, the film trumpets the heroism of journalists not afraid to ask any question necessary to get to the almighty truth. Writer and first-time director James Vanderbilt‘s messaging is heavy-handed to say the least (the script is full of loud monologues about journalistic integrity), but the humanistic layers of the story engage on a deeper level, with subtle, powerful character moments counter-balancing the bursts of righteous melodrama.

At the heart of the film is the relationship between Mapes (Cate Blanchett) and Rather (Robert Redford), who together broke the Bush story on CBS News. During their September 8, 2004 episode of 60 Minutes, they presented memos that indicated Bush may have pulled some strings in order to avoid the draft and falsified documents regarding his tenure at the Texas Air National Guard. In no time, right-wing media and bloggers offered up evidence that Bush’s record was legitimate, and that the documents uncovered by the 60 Minutes team were, in fact, fakes. Following a firestorm of controversy, Mapes, Rather and their team went down with their ship, losing their jobs at CBS News in a move that changed the complexion of modern news reporting.

The tragedy, according to Truth, isn’t that two of the most accomplished journalists in the field were fired, but that their original question about Bush’s records got swept aside so quickly. CBS’ media competitors spent an ungodly amount of time and resources covering the controversy surrounding Mapes and Rather and whether or not they were duped by their sources, time and resources that could have been better spent supporting the original question about the President committing fraudulence. Mapes and Rather are icons of old media, and their dismissal signaled the end of a more level-headed era of journalism when figures of power were forced to answer real questions face-to-face with someone like Rather, who at one time had the public’s full trust.

The most gripping aspect of the story revolves not around mass media, however, but Mapes and Rather, old friends who have a quasi father-daughter relationship (subtly expressed by Vanderbilt). As we learn, Mapes was reprimanded by her father for asking questions when she was young. In Rather, she finds a mentor who asks questions with her, a last-of-a-dying-breed confidant for whom she has bottomless admiration. Whenever Mary starts breaking down under pressure, Dan soothes her with his unflappable calmness and deliberately timed jabs of self-deprecation.

The casting of both Redford and Blanchett is excellent; they’re capturing the essence of their real-world counterparts rather than doing a shallow imitation. It comes as no surprise that the veteran actors are magic together, but the supporting get short-changed a bit. Filling out the rest of the 60 Minutes team are military consultant Lt. Colonel Roger Charles (Dennis Quaid) and researchers Lucy Scott (Elizabeth Moss) and Mike Smith (Topher Grace). It hurts a little to watch these three sit so far in the background (Grace goes for broke in his one showcase scene) though it’s understandable that Vanderbilt keeps the focus on Mapes.

The assignment of blame with regards to the scandal is a tricky thing since no party handled every situation properly. While Truth is clearly going to see Mapes’ side of the story the most clearly, the film does acknowledge the mistakes she and her team made in collecting evidence to back up their claims. The suits at CBS, who many believe should have stood by their people, aren’t painted as villains though it’s made very clear that their decision to fire the 60 Minutes team stood on the wrong side of journalism history.

In his first feature, Vanderbilt exhibits little style, though he does respect how priceless Redford and Blanchett look on-screen. At its most heavy-handed, the script is actually pretty cringeworthy. The film alludes to the connection between Mapes’ abusive father and the abusive media monster too heavily, to the point where she actually says she and her news team are being “smacked down” for asking honest questions. The symbolism would’ve rung true without all the underscoring.

Something we’ve seldom seen in movies is the chaotic hustle of a TV news production, something Truth depicts thrillingly. We see the Mapes team, just minutes prior to their deadline to turn in their Bush piece, gathered in the editing room, agonizing over what to cut to meet their required runtime. In the last moment, Mapes makes quick edits with a few flicks of the wrist and the show is ready to go. Frantic moments like these make Truth feel urgent and alive and incredibly entertaining. Were it not for the on-the-nose dramatic outbursts that throw everything out of whack, this might have been the best newsroom drama in years.

Joining the show this week is James Vanderbilt, a veteran screenwriter whose directorial debut, Truth, is out in theaters this weekend. The movie stars Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford and revolves around a the controversial report Dan Rather gave on 60 minutes in 2004 about the alleged fraudulence of George W. Bush’s military record, a piece that would lead to Rather (Redford) and his longtime producer, Mary Mapes (Blanchett) losing their jobs. Also on the show Bernard and CJ run their mouths (as always) about the Mill Valley Film Festival and festival fatigue as well as share their Indie Picks of the Week.

Topics

• Indie Picks (1:17)
• MVFF38 (7:18)
• Festival Fatigue (31:27)
• James Vanderbilt Truth Interview (39:57)

WTI Articles Referenced in the Podcast

MVFF38 Diaries
I Smile Back TIFF Review
Room TIFF Review
Son of Saul Cannes Review
The Forbidden Room Review

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All is Lost reveals the true essence of who Robert Redford is as an actor as much as any other film in his career, which spans over half a century. It’s a story of survival at sea, stripped bare, down to the bone: One man. One boat. One ocean. One question: In the end, when all is lost, is life worth fighting for?

The film opens with a voice-over by Redford, in which he confesses he “fought to the end,” but doesn’t know what that’s worth (we’re given no backstory on Redford’s nameless character, because we don’t need it). We then flash back to the beginning of his sea-faring woes; a freshly-punched hole in the side of his boat, caused by a giant crate full of sneakers that’s fallen off the back of a much bigger boat. He keeps his composure as he assesses the damage, and quickly begins patching up his humble home on the water.

His problems accumulate: his fresh water supply gets contaminated, he’s running out of food, the crushing weather continues to batter the boat, and his radio’s been shorted out. The seriousness of his situation slowly whittles away at his once cool composure, and we watch helplessly as what’s left of his fighting spirit is exhausted. Why does he continue to fight?

You’ll ask yourself that question over and over again as we watch his situation become more desperate. That’s because writer-director J.C. Chandor gives you no other choice; he doesn’t cloud his story with traditional devices like plot, exposition, and dialogue. As the pounding elements punishes the sides of the boat and we hear the deep bellow of an approaching storm cloud in the distance, we’re constantly reminded of the bitter inevitability that nature will devour him (and us). Yet still, even with death at his doorstep, Redford fights for his life. But why? Surely it would be easier for him to give in accept his fate. The question swirls around in your brain throughout the entire 107-minute length of the film, growing more potent, powerful, and moving as it sinks in.

Chandor pushes Redford’s skills to the limit, giving him no crutches to lean on. He’s given only three (short) lines of dialogue to work with. His character has virtually zero backstory, operates in a tiny, isolated space, and has no other characters to interact with. He’s tightrope walking without a safety net, and he rises to the occasion like only a screen veteran could.

Redford’s forced to communicate emotions and ideas to us with the most primitive of tools; his face and his body. He’s the perfect “old man at sea”; as the boat creaks, so do his joints. He scrunches his weathered face and furrows his brow as he labors to keep his boat from falling apart. We see him rub the skin his hands raw as he operates a manual water pump for hours. His eyes glimmer with hope when an idea strikes him, and when nature thwarts his schemes for survival, we see his spirit deflate as he slumps down in defeat. Chaplin and Keaton would be proud.

This is one of the best performances of Redford’s career. Look at this virtually silent, understated performance, and then look at his charming, verbose, bombastic turns in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, and you’ll see just how staggering his range is as an actor.

All is Lost is best viewed in the dark box of a movie theater, primarily due to the unbelievably immersive sound design. It’s amazing to watch Redford ‘s reactions to the swarm of creaks and bumps that surround him on the boat, which are positioned perfectly on the speakers. When we hear a loud bang, his eyes dart to exactly where we heard it. It really does cast a spell on you; as I watched him wade his way through the flooded cabin, a muffled thunderstorm raging outside, I caught myself shivering, even though it was perfectly warm in the theater.

The storytelling Chandor employs harkens back to directors like Vertov, Akerman, and Kubrick, who with their work made the bold assertation that the clash of image and sound is all you need to tell a story. Nothing more. He keeps his camera close to Redford at all times, so that we can identify with him on a deep level. When he’s exhausted, we’re exhausted. When he’s encouraged, so are we. I struggle to think of a film more cinematically immersive. What’s amazing is, this silent, almost experimental film is Chandor’s follow-up to Margin Call, a dialogue-driven ensemble piece. Just as All is Lost is a testament to Redford’s range, it’s a testament to Chandor’s, as well.

The film’s conclusion is a disappointment and feels at odds with the message of the film. If you cut off the final two minutes, All is Lost would be a bonafide masterpiece. Still, it can’t undo the brilliance of everything that precedes it. This is a glorious piece of cinema that revels in the core values of silent film, a tale of man versus nature that speaks to the heart rather than the mind.

In All is Lost, JC Chandor’s man-at-sea movie starring a 77-year-old Robert Redford, the director takes a dramatic departure from his dialogue-driven ensemble piece, Margin Call, and delivers a moving, intimate piece of cinema that, quite simply, follows a man on a boat as he fights to survive crushing waves, rainstorms, starvation, and all the mental and emotional trials that come along with it. Redford’s performance–which is nearly silent (he only has three lines in the film)–is as captivating as any he’s given, but in a way that’s wholly unique.

We spoke to Chandor about how you must see this film in the theater, his choice to go the silent route, the difficulties of filming a boat capsizing, Robert Redford’s ego, and more.

All is Lost is in theaters this Friday, October 25th.

The film is pure cinema, essentially silent. It’s different than Margin Call on that and a lot of other levels.
Most of my directing up until this point was in bizarrely action-y sports commercials. When I was coming up, that was the only thing that would allow cheap production values. I thought it was a good entry point. I was doing stuff for DC Shoes, Red Bull. Margin Call, as a writing piece, was a chamber piece, basically. I wanted to get out of that, as a director.

Was it refreshing?
It was. It ended up being exhausting and intense. I went a little too far in one direction (laughs). There was also something fun in the way Margin Call was released. I gave in to the fact that it was going to be released day-and-date, because I actually thought it would be better for the film and more people would see it. It can be seen on a smaller screen and still have the same impact. For [All is Lost], that’s not the case at all.

I completely agree.
You have to see it in a movie theater. I love that about it. A lot of the films this fall have that in spirit. They realize that there is something great about the film experience. Not all stories need three years to tell them. Some people’s lives are most interesting just for a moment.

There’s a spectacular shot where the ship barrel-rolls. How the hell did you shoot that?
We had chopped off some of the bottom of [our ship] so it was easier to keel. They basically sprung-loaded it. They were pulling the ship from one side–jacked it, jacked it, jacked it–then essentially had a release. They popped the release, the boat started going, flipping. The whole trick of the movies is that, within any 40 second sequence, there’ll be six or seven totally different locations we use to shoot it. It’s all done like a jigsaw puzzle–it’s post traumatic stress syndrome. I don’t even want to think about it (laughs). We had to organize it, because it was shot out of order. Moment by moment, shot by shot, it was completely out of order. We had my editor right there in the studio and near the port in Mexico where we were doing a lot of the shooting, so I would just check in with him. It was very efficient–I could be walking from one tank to another, one stage to another. I’d just be constantly how things were working and learning what was getting used and what wasn’t.

That’s the only shot that’s blatantly, admittedly a stunt guy swimming up as it’s [rolling]. That’s the one divine intervention moment of the film, where it’s good luck instead of bad luck, but it’s just luck. Bizarrely, most of the people who go overboard and live to tell the story had something weird like this happen. For everybody else who falls overboard–which is, like, 90 percent of them–it ends there. There are these stories where a person will get washed over by a wave, but the wave has such a huge pattern that it’ll sometimes suck you back [to the boat]. People talk about literally being “dead” in their mind, and then being sucked back. We thought that was pretty cool.

Your camerawork is really, really intimate.
The film was totally meant to be that you are just in the moment with this guy. We shot the film in the style of a “bungie cord effect”, as I like to call it. Essentially, we shouldn’t be more than 6 or 7 feet away from this guy, ever. Every shot is eye-level, hovering over his shoulder. You’re always right there. We shot most of the movie handheld. There’s not dolly in the movie because it’s a boat, so you don’t want a dolly on it (laughs). We had a 60-foot Technocrane, and the crazy thing about that tool is, the tendency is to do a J.J. Abrams type shot. He’ll have two or three huge Technocranes all kind of dancing around something, which is beautiful in that context. This film was about feeling you were literally hovering with this guy. The cool thing is, that tool allowed me to hover anywhere in such a quick way. It wasn’t about the tricks you could do once it was there. It was about quickly being able to reach out to a particular spot in the action or follow along with him where you sort of float along. We had these amazing operators. Your tendency is to say, “Now, swoop up and see what he’s doing!” Then, you’d immediately realize, that’s just Robert Redford climbing around on a weird little boat. It took us the first week or two to realize that. The two shots that peel away the furthest are there for very specific informational purposes, like showing the hole in the boat. Besides that, the [camera] is tight.

Talk a bit about Robert’s performance. It’s almost entirely physical, and he looks perfect for the part.
Yeah, he’s led that kind of life (laughs). There are tricks that you can do when preparing for a role, frankly, that aren’t plastic surgery or anything, but can make you look better. He could have required me to do things to make him look better, but he didn’t. He knew that that was where I was going with it as a look, and he–at this point in his career–embraced that, which is awesome. “This is what I look like.” It was about pushing himself. He admits–in a joking fashion–that his ego kicked in. He didn’t have to do all those stunts, but once he started to, he liked it (laughs). He’s tremendously fit. He’s so athletic. I think his knees are starting to be a little arthritic because he’s used them so much, but his upper body is fitter than I am. He’s ripped. We built triple rows of handholds into the boat, and as long as he was firmly planted with his hand on something, he was able to do whatever. It was pretty amazing.

In the same way that Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman is about a woman’s work, this film feels like it’s about a man’s work–he’s patching things up, lifting things, fixing things.
The whole point of the film is that what he’s doing is not necessary in any way. The boat serves no function besides enjoyment. There’s a sense of false adventure to the adventure. He gets his adventure, but from that point forward he’s kind of stuck in it (laughs). I would question to call it “work” in only that the fact that it’s all forced was pretty integral. It’s strictly about survival in its most basic form. There’s no other purpose to it.

I love the first line in the film. Do you think what this man does in the film is worth anything?
Yeah, I do. He says, “I fought to the end. I’m not sure what that’s worth, but know that I did.” I think, for him, making sure people knew that he fought to the end was very important. It is for me, too. It’s certainly my relationship with life and death being worked out in the film.

People are already talking about Oscar potential for Robert Redford’s performance in J.C. Chandor’s (Margin Call) open-water thriller, All Is Lost. The film is about a man’s struggle to survive the elements at sea and face mortality after his sailboat is severely damaged. To celebrate the theatrical release of the film we are giving away two free movie tickets to All Is Lost to one lucky readers! This contest is open to the U.S. and Cananda. All Is Lost opens in NY and LA October 18th, nationwide October 25th.

How to enter this giveaway

Use the form below to send a tweet at us to enter the giveaway. Bonus entries for following us on Twitter and Facebook.
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All Is Lost Interactive Movie Poster

All Is Lost trailer

All Is Lost movie poster

This morning’s press screening of J.C. Chandor’s All Is Lost marks my second and final screening in the famous Grand Théâtre Lumière. The theater features one of the world’s best projection screens and produces without a doubt the best sound I have ever heard come from a theater. Grand Théâtre Lumière can literally hold a couple thousand (approximately 2,300) and yet there is not a single bad seat in the house. Adding to the prestige of it all is walking up the famous set red carpet stairs to approach this astounding theater.

Grand Théâtre Lumière

Red Carpet at Cannes

All Is Lost

The very opening scene of All Is Lost contains all of the dialog found in this hour and a half story of survival of a man lost at sea. We hear him recounting a farewell letter that he just penned where he admits his faults and states just how sorry he is, though we cannot relate. All Is Lost then jumps eight days back to show the struggles he had to endure from the wrath of mother nature.

Director J.C. Chandor does not provide many background details in the film, which is a brave move just as much as it is a burden. Questions such as who this man is or how he got in this situation are left completely unanswered. We have no idea what his faults are or why he is so apologetic in his letter. As far as the film is concerned, the only important thing is the impending doom that lies ahead for the unnamed character (played by Robert Redford). A storm is brewing on the horizon and his boat has already taken some damage, letting water in. Furthermore, his water pumps no longer function on their own anymore nor does his radio that would allow him to call for help.

You must credit Chandor on making these storms come to life with realistic visuals that combine with haunting sounds of massive storms found in the middle of the ocean. Although most of All Is Lost is about surviving days worth of storms, something that does eventually grew tiresome by the end, the best shots are when the camera is underwater showing the abundant sea life that surrounds him from below. The film offers very little hope, but with a title such as All Is Lost, I expected that to be the case. The biggest flaw for me is that no details are given about his life or what he has to live for, therefore, I found myself not caring as much as I could have about the character. Also, I will not go into too much detail about the ending other than to say it is a disservice to the rest of the film.

RATING: 6

The Great Beauty

Paolo Sorrentino’s latest film La grande bellezza (The Great Beauty) is essentially a day in the life of a wealthy journalist named Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), who on his 65th birthday begins to reflect on his life. He openly admits that his life adds up to nothing, despite being surrounded by an extravagant lifestyle of rich and fame. There is a chance that he has simply grown tired of the playboy lifestyle that he has been accustomed to his whole life. Jep is a man who lives without a care in the world, yet desperately wants to care about something again.

The somewhat lengthy runtime allows Sorrentino to explore many tangents in The Great Beauty, some of which probably could have been shortened. One particularly interesting one is a satirical take on performance art when a nude woman runs head first into a Roman monument in front of a cheering crowd. Afterwards, she is pressed on what makes her an artist but she breaks down without an answer, humiliating herself as a self-proclaimed artist. The Great Beauty takes a few jabs at the current snapshot of Italian culture as one character claims, “The best people here are tourists.” Ultimately, Jep is looking for the great beauty; Sorrentino seems to have found it.

RATING: 8.3

Venice Film Festival announced the 2012 lineup this morning which will feature a premiere of Terrence Malick’s To The Wonder starring; Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Rachel Weisz, and Rachel McAdams. Malick is one of the 17 directors that will be competing for the Golden Lion trophy at this year’s Venice Film Festival. One of the other directors that will be representing the United States is Harmony Korine with his film Spring Breakers featuring James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, and Selena Gomez.

The biggest surprise was the absence of Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master. According to many rumors the film was going to premiere at Venice and when it was left off the TIFF announcement two days ago that only made it more likely to appear here. Variety even made the mistake of initially reporting The Master making the lineup.

The 69th annual Venice Film Festival will run from August 29th through September 8th.

See the full Venice Film Festival lineup below:

Opening Film (Out Of Competition)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mira Nair (U.S.,Qatar)

Competition
To The Wonder – Terrence Malick (U.S.)
Something in the Air – Olivier Assayas (France)
Outrage: Beyond – Takeshi Kitano (Japan)
Fill The Void – Rama Bursztyn and Yigal Bursztyn (Israel)
Pieta – Kim Ki-duk (South Korea)
Dormant Beauty – Marco Bellocchio (Italy)
E’ stato il figlio – Daniele Cipri (Italy)
At Any Price – Ramin Bahrani (US, UK)
La Cinquieme Saison – Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth (Belgium, Netherlands, France)
Un Giorno Speciale – Francesca Comencini (Italy)
Passion – Brian De Palma (France, Germany)
Superstar – Xavier Giannoli (France, Belgium)
Spring Breakers – Harmony Korine (US)
Thy Womb – Brillante Mendoza (Philippines)
Linhas de Wellington – Valeria Sarmiento (Portugal, France)
Paradise: Faith – Ulrich Seidl (Austria, France, Germany)
Betrayal – Kirill Serebrennikov (Russia)

Out Of Competition
L’homme qui rit – Jean-Pierre Ameris (France-Czech Republic)
Love Is All You Need – Susanne Bier (Denmark-Sweden)
Cherchez Hortense – Pascal Bonitzer (France)
Sur un fil – Simon Brook (France-Italy)
Enzo Avitabile Music Life – Jonathan Demme (Italy-US)
Tai Chi 0 – Stephen Fung (China)
Lullaby To My Father – Amos Gitai (Israel-France-Switzerland)
Penance (Shokuzai) – Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Japan)
Bad 25 – Spike Lee (US)
O Gebo e a Sombra – Manoel de Oliveira (Portugal-France)
The Company You Keep – Robert Redford (US)
Shark (Bait 3D) – Kimble Rendall (Australia-Singapore-China)
Disconnect – Henry-Alex Rubin (US)
The Iceman – Ariel Vromen (US)

Out Of Competition: Special Events
Anton’s Right Here – Lyubov Arkus (Russia)
It Was Better Tomorrow – Hinde Boujemaa (Tunisia)
Clarisse – Liliana Cavani (Italy)
Sfiorando il muro – Silvia Giralucci and Luca Ricciardi (Italy)
Carmel – Amos Gitai (Israel-France-Italy)
El impenetrable – Daniele Incalcaterra and Fausta Quattrini (Argentina-France)
Witness: Libya – Michael Mann (US)
Medici con l’Africa – Carlo Mazzacurati (Italy)
La nave dolce – Daniele Vicari (Italy-Albania)

Orrizonti
Wadjda – Haifaa Al Mansour (Saudi Arabia-Germany)
The Paternal House – Kianoosh Ayari (Iran)
I Also Want It -, Alexey Balabanov (Russia)
Gli Equilibristi – Ivano De Matteo (Italy-France)
L’intervallo – Leonardo Di Costanzo (Italy-Switzerland-Germany)
Winter of Discontent – Ibrahim El Batout (Egypt)
Tango Libre – Frederic Fonteyne (Belgium-France-Luxembourg)
The Cutoff Man – Idan Hubel (Israel)
Fly With The Crane – Li Ruijun (China)
A Hijacking – Tobias Lindholm (Denmark)
Leones – Jazmin Lopez (Argentina-France-Netherlands)
Bellas Mariposas – Salvatore Mereu (Italy)
Low Tide – Roberto Minervini (US-Italy-Belgium)
Boxing Day – Bernard Rose (UK-US)
Yema – Djamila Sahraoui (Algeria-France)
Araf – Somewhere In Between – Yesim Ustaoglu (Turkey-France-Germany)
The Millennial Rapture – Koji Wakamatsu (Japan)
Three Sisters – Wang Bing (France-Hong Kong-China)