Cast Away Analysis

Cast Away

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis

Starring: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt

This film on the surface looks like a survival film - even I was wondering why they took about half an hour for the plan to crash because usually the inciting incident happens in about 15 minutes from the beginning. It's a beautiful film - it's about hope. It's about how he doesn't give up - in spite of not finding any logical reason to live. The film says - just keep breathing and one day things will fall in place. The survival parts have terrific visuals, editing and sound, especially the scenes where he is swimming in water - I could feel the breathlessness he was feeling. The Kuleshov effect is used extensively in this film to enhance tension, the scene where the plane is going to crash - that was a brilliantly shot and edited scene, especially because how they could bring in the effects of being hit by something so authentically. It's also used in a scene where a wave is about to hit and he overcomes that and leaves the island forever - before the wave hits him and also after it hits him, when he looks back at the island, the Kuleshov effect is used well. There is a lot of silence in the film, when he is alone and everything is conveyed visually and it's done in an engaging way. This film and Forrest Gump, by the end of the hell of an experience the protagonist has gone through - we feel like we've seen a lot in life and when they go back to their normal lives, it feels so good. The last 30 mins is the best part of the film, right from when we see Kelly's husband - it hits us right on our faces; it's another failure in spite of facing all odds and finally surviving everything. The scene where they finally kiss; tension is built up so well. Here, they use a certain technique to make us emotional - they have put us, the audience, feeling more bad for the characters than themselves. It feels like we are almost waiting for them to cry and let it out, we subconsciouly beg them to cry and feel better and then when they cry - it feels cathartic.

Wilson symbolizes how we often associate people to certain parts of our lives and cry for them, but in reality we miss that part of our lives and ourselves. The theme is blatantly spoken out by the protagonist in the ending, but it's very cleverly merged with a plot point - which he narrates and hence it doesn't feel preachy. It feels emotional because we know, what he had to go through. The ending was so good; when he goes to deliver a parcel which saved his life, that was an outstanding pay off - because here the setup is something that we don't expect a call back to. This film is inspiring me to write drama. Tom Hanks, in this film and in Forrest Gump; personifies us and takes us with him throughout his journey and comes back to makes us feel that we've grown up as people. If we can feel that we've come-of-age after watching a film, what more can the filmmaker ask for?