Robert Redford, one of Hollywood's most enduring icons, died at 89. Among his many screen milestones, one stands out as a special chapter late in his career, his 2017 reunion with Jane Fonda in Our Souls at Night.
A Reunion After Four Decades
The film, directed by Indian filmmaker Ritesh Batra, brought Robert Redford and Jane Fonda together on screen after nearly four decades. The duo, who first sparked magic in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park (1967), had worked together in The Chase (1966) and later in Sydney Pollack's The Electric Horseman (1979).
However, the pair never shared the screen again until Batra offered them a late-life love story.
Based on Kent Haruf's novel, Our Souls at Night is set in small-town Colorado and tells the story of Addie Moore (Fonda) and Louis Waters (Redford), widowed neighbors who seek comfort in each other's companionship. It was not a conventional Hollywood romance, instead, it was a meditation on loneliness, second chances, and the quiet courage of intimacy in later years. For both Redford and Fonda, the film offered an opportunity to explore love from a perspective rarely seen on screen.
"It was a movie about two old people that have an extraordinary relationship, and that doesn't come along that often," Fonda told The Hollywood Reporter at the time of its release. For her, the project was also a "perfect" chance to reunite with Redford after so long.
Ritesh Batra's Unique Perspective
Ritesh Batra, who had gained international acclaim with The Lunchbox, did not set out to "go Hollywood." As he told PTI, he was drawn to the chance of working with actors of such caliber. "You do it because you love your job and get a chance to work with these great actors," he said.
The director viewed Our Souls at Night not as a story of decline but of growth. "I always saw this movie as a coming-of-age story," he explained, adding, "I've been coming of age every decade in my life in a small way."
Writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H Weber echoed this sentiment, noting their excitement at telling a story about love beyond first romances. "We all have family, and we want to make sure that every generation knows that if you're still alive, you still have love that you can find in your life," Neustadter said.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival, where both Redford and Fonda received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, the film found a home on Netflix.
For Redford, Our Souls at Night was a reminder of his versatility and his openness to experiment even in the later years of his career.
On the other hand, for Batra, it was proof that an Indian storyteller could shape a tender Hollywood drama while preserving its universal heart.
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