Robert Redford on America: 'Certain things have got lost'

Robert Redford today accused the US of losing its way in the years since the second world war. Speaking at the press conference for his new film All Is Lost at the Cannes film festival.

"Certain things have got lost," said Redford. "Our belief system had holes punched in it by scandals that occurred, whether it was Watergate, the quiz show scandal, or Iran-Contra; it's still going on…Beneath all the propaganda is a big grey area, another America that doesn't get any attention; I decided to make that the subject of my films."

Redford, now 76, also had critical words for the US's never-ending drive for economic and technological development, which he considers has been a damaging force.

"We are in a dire situation; the planet is speaking with a very loud voice. In the US we call it Manifest Destiny, where we keep pushing and developing, never mind what you destroy in your wake, whether its Native American culture or the natural environment.

full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/may/22/robert-redford-america-lost-way-cannes

(Yes that was a sentence fragment after the opening sentence. but Redford is indeed right.)