(Robert Redford, US 1980, 124 min., DCP)
The Solar Film
(Saul Bass, Elaine Bass, US 1980, 9 min., 16mm)
Robert Redford did not anticipate making his directing debut with this film, but so identified with the character of Conrad and his difficulty communicating “through the fog of the social structure in which he was raised” that he added the responsibility to his producing work. The Jarrett family - father Calvin (Donald Sutherland), mother Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), and son Conrad (Timothy Hutton) - are struggling with the accidental death of their older son and Conrad’s attempted suicide. Freshly home from the hospital, Conrad is continuing his treatment with Dr. Berger (Judd Hirsch), but the situation at home is not making it easy. Beth has grown cold, Calvin is frustrated at trying to hold the family together, and Conrad must deal with the guilt he feels over what happened to his brother. Honored with four Academy Awards, including Best Director, Reford’s only Oscar win, the film has continued to endure as a critical look at the modern American family. Preceded by The Solar Film, Redford's first producorial credit, a short film detailing the history of fossil fuels and why the use of clean solar energy should be the way of the future.
The Solar film courtesy of University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.