Recommendations of the Editorial team
Robert Redford, who died Tuesday at the age of 89, left a work that combined his commitment to activism closely with film art and narrative art. Jane Fonda, who played at his side in several films, including the comedy “Barefoot in the Park” from 1967, published a moving obituary. In it, she praised how Redford American cinema promoted beyond the big studios.
Grief, gratitude and remorse
In a post aimed at “Bob Redford”, Fonda shared a picture of her last joint film “Our souls at night” from 2017. She wrote: “Bob really made a difference in a good way. He embodied an America that we now have to defend.” With a view to the Sundance Institute founded by Redford and the festival of the same name, which opened the countless young filmmakers, she explained: “He revolutionized the independent cinema and made us rave about in so many films.”
Fonda added that she was “very sad” and “cried all morning”. At the same time, she could look back on many “happy, laughed moments”, in which Redford’s jokes made her laugh. “I am so lucky that I was allowed to make one of his first big films with him (‘barefoot in the park’) – I fell in love with him immortal at the time – and his last (‘Our souls at night’).”
She also confessed a quiet repentance: “I wanted to visit him again in the past few months to make sure that everything was fine between us, but I didn’t learn it in time. Lesson: If people are our age, in late eighties – not wait.” Finally, she wrote: “Thank you, dearest bob, for all the joy you have brought over the years.”
Dignifications from Hollywood
In addition to Fonda, which has been a voice of political and social activism for over five decades, many companions of Redford’s life’s work. They include Woody Harrelson, Barbra Streisand and Scarlett Johansson, all of whom shared their grief and respect.