From “all the men of the president” to “My Africa” here are ten films that made Oscar winner Robert Redford one of the Hollywood giants
Robert Redford has gone like this, in silence, leaving a void that seems difficult to fill. In the background, the rural America of his refuge Nello Utah: no theatrical output, no farewell as old glory, only the discreet coherence of those who, under the light of the spotlight, have always brought behind that thread of melancholy as a Californian boy of the fifties. Yet telling Redford means crossing the history of American cinema, but also something more, like entering a room full of memories and not being able to count them all. In the eyes of those who loved him there is still the sisteron smile of Sundance Kid; In the hands of today’s actors, the courage of those who dare become director, producer, innovator.
From the long apprenticeship between New York theater and TV series of the small screen, up to the international triumph in the seventies, Redford has never stopped surprising. From the historical collaborations with Paul Newman to the tributes to the most melancholy American novel, he left his mark in all kinds, changing his face and always remaining himself. And while Hollywood chased fashions, prizes, and blockbuster, he explored other worlds: Sundance, the Festival, the direction, the civil commitment. In spite of the success, he continued to defend the dignity of the narrative, the right of outsiders and the poetics of simplicity. His is a legend that does not let himself be reduced to the numbers or to the Oscars – it is made of low looks, fragile characters and dreams that seem broken, and instead still resist.
Butch Cassidy (1969)
The young and charismatic Sundance Kid, played by Redford, is the perfect shadow to Paul Newman’s charismatic Butch Cassidy. In this revolutionary western, between desert scenarios and legendary shootings, Redford gives a thin irony and a deep melancholy, embodying an outlaw with the soul of a poet. The film deconstructs the myth of the classic western with a fresh, ironic and human look, fixing an unconventional model of hero who still excites.
La Stanata (1973)
In a Chicago from the 1930s, Johnny Hooker (Redford) is a skilled but naive scammer, who finds herself in a tangle of dangers when the friend is killed for an involuntary scam to the powerful Boss Doyle Lonnegan. To take revenge, he seeks help in the astute Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), master of the scam withdrawn from the scenes. Together they archite a complex and wise scam, made of deceptions and twists, in which the skill in the game of double and trust is intertwined with real risks of life. Film with brilliant writing and growing tension, it is a celebration of intelligence over the violence and the alliance between outsider, which earned the film Sette Oscar.
All the men of the President (1976)
Redford becomes Bob Woodward, one of the editors of the Washington Post who together with Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) unmask the Watergate scandal, unchanging one of the most powerful regimes of American politics. The film is a masterful example of investigative journalism transposed on the big screen, a political thriller where the tension is fueled by the search for truth and the struggle for justice. The face composed of Redford embodies the ethical determination and the personal courage that have made history.
The three days of the Condor (1975)
An atmosphere of paranoia pervades this political thriller where Redford is a CIA analyst whose life is turned out to be a fatal conspiracy. Escape from invisible perseciers, he moves with uncertain destiny inside a plot of betrayals and mysteries. His interpretation is a perfect balance between vulnerability and resolve, in a film that tells the anguish and mistrust of an America struggling with its deepest shadows.
My Africa (1985)
Far from the frenetic rhythm of the thriller, Redford gives delicate elegance to the buffalo hunter Denys Finch Hatton, a fascinating and libertine man who intertwines a love story with the intrepid agronoma Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep). The film is a poignant fresco of African nature and human passions, suspended between the wild beauty of the landscapes and the delicate intertwining between freedom and emotional bonds.
As we were (1973)
Redford is Hubbel, an idealist but pragmatic man in the turbulent context of postbellic America, opposite to the passion and political agitation of Ellie, played by Barbra Streisand. The film is an intense reflection on the change that changes, on the choices and compromises that mark the lives of two deeply different people, with a mix of nostalgia and bitterness that makes it a timeless classic of love stories on the big screen.
The Great Gatsby (1974)
Like Jay Gatsby, Redford embodies the American dream in its most fragile and splendid form. Between sumptuous parties and Undercurrent of tragedy, Gatsby is the mysterious millionaire intent on chasing an idealized past, but intended for the inevitable disillusionment. Redford returns an enigmatic and romantic character, the symbol of an era and a dream that crumbles under the weight of appearances.
Ordinary people (1980, direction)
At his debut as a director, Redford tells the story of a family that faces the tragedy and pain with a delicacy and realism as profound as they are moving. The film explores fragility and human strength, reflecting on the sense of loss and love that also resists adversity. With an empathic look and a measured direction, Redford conquers the Oscar for the best direction, also consecrating himself behind the camera.
Indecent proposal (1993)
An ambiguous and fascinating billionaire (Redford) makes a young couple a proposal that puts in crisis every moral and emotional certainty: one night with the woman in exchange for one million dollars. The film explores with bitter and sensual tones the boundaries of love and desire, the fragility of human relationships subjected to hard evidence. Redford gives life to a magnetic character, in which charisma and restlessness intertwine irresistiblely.
The man who whispered to the horses (1998, direction and actor)
Redford directs and interprets a poetic and intimate story, where nature and humanity meet in the healing path of a traumatized young woman. The film is a hymn to the beauty of silence, the power of the link between man and animal, and the ability to find oneself through respect and love. A work that confirms his artistic maturity and his talent in telling authentic emotions delicately.
