The directors Robert Redford learned the most from: “I was impressed”
Routinely classified as one of the few actors who also achieved success in the industry as a director, Robert Redford has done it all. Ranging from his brilliant outing in All the President’s Men to his great directorial work in Ordinary People, Redford has demonstrated his versatility in front of the camera as well as behind it on a number of occasions.
Like all acting icons who triumphantly made the transition to filmmaking efforts in Hollywood, Redford gained invaluable experience while collaborating with some of the greatest cinematic pioneers of his generation. These include the likes of Peter Yates and Alan J. Pakula, directors who changed the course of American cinema during the 20th century.
However, there are a couple of filmmakers who rank the highest on Redford’s list of collaborators who taught him a lot about the craft. The first is obviously Sydney Pollack, the beloved American icon with whom Redford developed a famous creative relationship that spanned several acclaimed projects, from Three Days of the Condor to Out of Africa.
Redford explained: “I’ve had different relationships, the oldest one with Sydney Pollack — he and I go back to being actors together. That was a very collaborative relationship. I was always comfortable with Sydney being the director and my being the actor because he knew what he was doing. I mean, I never paid much attention to what he was doing with the camera — unless we’d be somewhere, and he’d have the camera pointed, and I’d say, ‘How come you have the camera pointed over there? Isn’t this a better view?’ And he’d say, ‘Would you mind? Go have a coffee. Go sit in the woods for a while.'”
Alongside Pollack, Redford also considers George Roy Hill among his masters, having also worked with him on multiple features such as The Sting. According to the actor-director, it was Hill who helped Redford understand how to approach filmmaking from a purely visual standpoint.
He added: “George Roy Hill, I learned something from. He really understood the importance of telling a story visually. He wouldn’t allow any fat anywhere. He told me he had been influenced by comic strips because there were only four or five panels to tell the story. Punch and payoff — he took that approach in his film work. His storytelling was related to simple editing rather than a lot of meandering, self-indulgent stuff that was very much in vogue in the ’60s. I was impressed by that.”
Among the movies that Redford collaborated with Hill on, it’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid that has stood the test of time the best. One of the major highlights of the western genre, it not only contributed to a re-evaluation of western frameworks but also cemented Redford’s status as a star at the top of his game.
