All Is Lost by J C Chandor

I am not sure what to write about this film.  I'll begin by saying that I am happy to live in a world in which such films are produced.

As the quote goes, great art is when everything unessential has been chipped away. When what remains is the pure essence of what is to be conveyed. In a film, it means not a superfluous sight, sound or word. Only that which serves the art. As in Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011) Not even the name of the protagonist is needed.

I am not sure how the idea of this film came about, and what must have convinced Robert Redford, at 77, to take this role. But he did, and his depiction is nothing short of outstanding. Showing restraint, grace, hope, defiance, grit as well as resignation and despair, all in silence and without at any moment overdoing it - this is method acting at its finest. This is one of the greatest performances of our times.

See this film, and if possible, in silence and without distraction. It is a journey which might have a message, but the message is, in the final analysis, unimportant. What, I believe, is important is the reflection on resilience, science and mortality that this film might provoke.

It is natural to compare this film with another recent highly acclaimed film about survival. That too is almost silent. I am of course referring to Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, 2013). Both films can be said to be about solitude and resilience. Gravity too is an outstanding film, but I consider it more a superlative spectacle about space.

This film, on the other hand, is a film about humanity.

This is only the second feature by director J C Chandor. I look forward to his third film, due to release this year: A Most Violent Year (2014).

Protocol Error

H-M and H-F were top-of-the-line robots from SurvivalFittest Industries.  H-M, from the M line, was engineered to do the heavy work and to defend against predators.  H-F, from the F line, was designed to give attention to detail, and to make sure the habitat was comfortable.

The two robots were required to communicate with each other without much overhead.  The communication protocol (called InterMingle) had gone through a gradual evolution.  It was version 4.334 now, in the year 2276 AD.  This protocol was very efficient and enabled both H-M and H-F to understand each other quickly and clearly.  Sometimes the protocol could reliably predict future messages and the robots could undertake predictive execution of what needed to be done.

SF Industries were very proud of what they had produced.

In 2277 AD, after a great many of H-M and H-F robots had been put into operation, it was discovered that in some instances H-F was restricted in certain acts that H-M was free to undertake.  When the factory designers were interviewed, they mentioned that in their design, H-F and H-M both had their areas of strength.  They said that careful evolution of the line had specialized H-F for safe tasks.  It was not designed to operate in conditions which had chemical effluents, possibilities of electrocution and extreme temperatures.

These findings were unacceptable to the Robotic Equality Commission.  It was decided to allocate enormous resources to all the regions in which H-F and H-F were supposed to operate.  Those regions were to be made safe for H-F as well.  Re-engineering H-F instead was considered too complex an undertaking.

This safety exercise took many years, but still all areas could not be certified as safe for H-F.  Never mind, most areas were.  The commission was mostly satisfied.

H-F could now be expected to operate in almost all conditions that H-M earlier did.

And obviously, the protocol InterMingle also evolved.  It went through a rapid cycle of revisions.    Now it was at version 12.3.

In this version, however, there was an enormous overhead to the communication.  Less messages were substantive, and more messages were about control and negotiation.  Predictive execution was non-existent.  There was much repetition and re-transmission for messages to go through the channels.  Frequently, messages were unacknowledged and the robots displayed a kind of competitiveness, even hostility.

Nobody knew what had gone wrong.  It was felt that perhaps H-F was still not at an equal footing.  On the other hand, H-M was increasingly suspected to be creating unsafe situations for H-F.  More and more resources were poured into enforcement of H-M's activities and to make sure H-F was safe not just from the elements, but from H-M's machinations as well.

The protocol, now a mess, was not comprehensible to any single researcher.  Teams of scientists were now allocated to work on making sure the protocol was mostly bug-free.

It was consuming enormous resources at SF just to keep the protocol functional.

A new researcher at SF came up with, it then seemed, a brilliant idea.  He decided that the robots would negotiate their own protocol whenever they came together.  Instead of operating from a fixed protocol, the robots would engage in bargaining and come to a mutually acceptable set of messages and interactions.

The InterMingle protocol was abolished.  The existing robots continued to work with their protocol stack, but they could no longer communicate with the newer line.

Because of this new computational load on the new line, the new line robots started running out of their charge.  They needed to be charged every half hour now.  The old robots, some of them still running InterMingle 4.334, were able to run for days without requiring a recharge.  And inexplicably, many robots, of all lines, were getting stuck in protocol processing instead of executing the acts.  They required a manual reboot to again get going.  Many robots were found to be unfit for general activity and were isolated in a military complex.

SF Industries went bankrupt in 2311.

Five Easy Pieces by Bob Rafelson

Jack Nicholson, in his early years, appeared in many films as a drifter, a drop-out, a man who could not accept the rules or the suffocation of his environment.  The fact that he speaks in such a measured voice, pronouncing each word like claret poured into a crystal glass, makes us feel that there is a seething cauldron just beneath the surface.  And when he explodes, it is truly marvelous to witness.

In The Shining, contrast his interview at the hotel at the beginning of the film, and then his breakdown toward the end:

In Five Easy Pieces, we find ourselves witnessing a vignette from the life of a bitter, alienated man.  The film was widely acclaimed, and is open to many interpretations.  There is even a Christian interpretation here.

His character in this film doesn't love anybody, and it is doubtful whether he loves himself.  He cannot stand anyone making any demands on him.  And love is demanding, so he rejects love.  First within himself, then in those who profess love for him.

What is the fate of such a man?  What is the fate of many such men who are thoughtful, have an evolved mind, but are restless and cannot seem to find a way to exert themselves towards some kind of fulfillment?

Such men are talented, but because they are too proud, they reject authority of any kind.  Even the shackle of time and practice which would make them good at something.  They drift, from one relationship to the other, one job to the other, one town to the other, and perhaps that is the natural life for them.  It might be somewhat agonizing, but so would be a life where they feel imprisoned and stale.  And one can only imagine the agony that they cause to those who cross their path in life: friends, lovers, family, ...  For instance, it is heartbreaking to imagine the state of mind of his lover (she can't be called his beloved, at least not without explanation) at the end of the film.  It is one of the darkest film endings, especially because though we disagree with the choices he makes, we also understand why he does so.

His character says at one point: "I leave things before they go bad."  There are moments in the film where we can see that he is not a sociopath.  He does have a heart, but he is at war with it.  Because at some level, perhaps he realizes the ephemeral nature of its pleasures.

"There is no permanent happiness, so why bother?" seems to be his credo.

On Non-Attachment, part 6

Part 5.

A strong belief in an idea or a principle makes us undergo suffering to uphold it.  Without that strength (or attachment) to it, we would not be willing to inconvenience ourselves.  Cognitive beliefs and ideas are rarely triggers for change.  It is when something takes root in our being that its strength has the potential to change the environment.

Look at any of the great personalities from human history.  From Socrates to Nelson Mandela, all sacrificed something of themselves so that the idea that they stood for did not get defeated.  They were exceptional individuals and were consumed by the passion of their beliefs.  They were willing to suffer for the sake of what they thought was right.  Had the goal of their life been "avoidance of suffering", they would have lived mediocre lives, grumbling about injustices but not having the motivation to do something about it.

In day-to-day life, the impetus for action lies in our hearts and minds.  If one is just doing one's job or some mundane act, not much motivation is needed.  But to embark upon a long project, journey, effort-for-change, a battle to uphold a way of life, attachment and passion are essential.

To be willing to suffer for something is a mark of attachment.  Understanding this, should "avoidance of suffering" or "non-attachment" be the goal of one's life?  Or should suffering be seen as the price of achieving anything worthwhile and should one therefore develop the fortitude for handling adversity while progressing toward one's goal?

It is a well-known aphorism/quotation: "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."  The focus is still on oneself, what about the wider ramifications of non-attachment?

Let us rephrase the statement: If you are moved by nothing, nothing shall be moved by you.

Attachment is the very name of emotional involvement in something or someone.

Without that involvement, one can only be concerned, not caring.  Only thoughtful, not passionate.  Only reflective, not motivated.  Only observant, not touched.

It is life lived at a distance, immune from sorrow as well as from ecstasy.

But no one can completely isolate oneself from life.  As long as one is alive, the waves of life will continue to splash against the shore of one's heart and mind.  One can go into a cave and live in darkness, but that's hardly living.

Attachment is what life is.  Non-attachment is death.

The Fast

It was a strange quandary for the king, the father of the beautiful princess Husn.

Three of his knights, Agyaan, Aham and Aveer, were on a fast unto death, wanting to prove their love for Husn.

Agyaan wasn't very bright, but was willing to die for the love that he proclaimed for her.  Aham was no less.  Though he wasn't handsome, he insisted that he was the only man worthy of being Husn's husband.  Aveer was known to be a coward, and his going on the fast had surprised many, but he also maintained that he was just the man for Husn.

Husn wanted someone who wasn't lacking in anything.  Someone who was bright, handsome and brave.

The days and nights were going by and all three knights were getting weaker and weaker.  The kingdom's physician gave only a day more before one of the knights would die of self-starvation.

The king had come to his wits' end.  In desperation, he left the decision to Husn.

Husn was supremely perplexed.  She had asked every wise person that she knew but none had any advice for her but to accept one of Agyaan, Aham or Aveer and to let the other two die.

Husn was a sensitive woman and she didn't want anyone to die for her.

The night went on, and the whole kingdom was sleepless.

The next morning, she came to the town square, where the three knights were fasting.  She was veiled and only by seeing her chariot could people guess that it was the princess herself.

She announced that she would be taking off her veil at noon.  And whoever among the three knights was the first to come to her in her chariot and take her hand, she would marry him.

The three knights wearily sat on the ground, ready to run with whatever little energy they had to get at the princess.

At noon the princess unveiled herself.  As her veil fell on the ground, a shriek of horror echoed through the entire town.  She had mutilated her face with a chemical during the night, and was hideous to look at.

None of the knights moved an inch.

In a few hours, as the townspeople went their way and the now-ugly princess went to the palace, the three knights ended their fast.