Robert Redford in "All is Lost": Man of the moment IN HIS new film, Robert Redford plays a nameless man alone on a yacht. In the first shot of the film he wakes to find that his boat has been rammed by debris and is starting to sink in the trackless waste of the Indian Ocean. The electrical systems are down, so he has only his wits to keep him from going down too. J.C. Chandor, who directs, wrote the screenplay with Mr Redford in mind, and he is lucky that Mr Redford said yes. The actor carries the whole film on his own, with no dialogue. It is hard to imagine anyone else pulling that off. The 77-year-old Mr Redford does his own stunts and there are no computerised special effects. His weathered face is instantly recognisable, and the obvious signs of age make him, for once, seem mortal. He gives the performance of a lifetime, well-deserving of the name he is finally given in the end credits: not The Man, an allegorical stick figure, but Our Man, a discreetly Emersonian definition of what a film star is. Survival stories have become popular with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the years since the financial crisis. "All is Lost" is one of four already contending for the Oscars in March. Mr Chandor's Oscar-nominated first feature, "Margin Call" (2011), recounted what one Wall Street firm might have done to ensure its survival during the long night before the start of the meltdown. Here he tells another version of capitalism's founding myth, Robinson Crusoe, with the same fascinated attention to the details of process. In danger of being overshadowed by the sublime three-dimensional images of last year's "Life of Pi" and this year's "Gravity," the film-maker deploys his meagre resources to maximum effect by sticking like glue to Our Man. The viewer has to play constant catch-up with a fast-changing reality, just as the hero is obliged to do. With no voice-over to help explain what is happening, the viewer is dependent on a seamless wedding of camera and performance, and on Mr Redford's gifts as an actor. Wait for the announcement on March 2nd: "And the Oscar for best actor is awarded to..."