"My one experience with a director that you would not immediately consider a visual filmmaker was Robert Redford. Up until that time he'd been considered only an actor even though he had a tremendous amount of influence and control over all the films that his company did. He really is a filmmaker although most people didn't recognize it. When I was doing "Ordinary People", I would get asked, 'You're working with an actor; what kind of vision does he have?' Well, he had an incredible vision about what he thought "Ordinary People" should be, not necessarily specifically in terms of shots, but in terms of the tones and textures of the film...He's a very, very articulate and intelligent man."

Cinematographer John Bailey, who photographed "Ordinary People" (1980) and "A Walk in the Woods" (2015)



Robert Redford did not direct "A Walk in the Woods", but it probably would have been a better film if he had. The material seems perfectly suited to a man who has been active in environmental causes since the 1970s. Redford plays travel writer Bill Bryson, who decides to walk the Appalachian Trail. Redford is 15 years older than the real-life Bryson, a fact which bothered some of Bryson's admirers. I am a fan of Bryson's book on Australia, "In a Sunburned Country", but Redford's age really made no difference in terms of the quality of the film. The writing and direction were not up to the standards of Redford's previous films, "Truth" and "The Company You Keep" (both of which I reviewed on the Drama Movies Site).

Redford, who is currently appearing in Disney's "Pete's Dragon", is also a documentary producer. He is the executive producer of an upcoming film on pioneering French director Alice Guy Blache. Titled "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy Blache", the documentary is set to be released sometime before the end of 2016. Guy Blache directed her first film in 1896, was the head of production at Gaumont Film Company from 1896 through 1906, and eventually directed over 400 films in Europe and America. When she died in 1968, however, she was largely forgotten. Due to recent scholarship efforts, she is gradually being recognized as one of early cinema's most important figures.


Here's the latest article from the Drama Movies site at BellaOnline.com.

A Walk in the Woods Film Review
Robert Redford and Nick Nolte star as two men attempting to hike the 2,000 mile Appalachian Trail and repair their friendship in the process. Adapted from Bill Bryson's bestselling book.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art64091.asp

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