Cast Away

I remember when this film came out and I could tell it was special. Robert Zemeckis’ “Cast Away” is almost perfect visually. It is a favorite drama of mine to watch not only because of Tom Hanks’ acting but also because of the masterful direction. Zemeckis' work in this show is so wonderful because all the elements of the film work together in order to portray his vision and the film's theme. Feelings of isolation, hardship and hopelessness are utilized and contrasted with success and happiness. I have noticed that the cinematography, music & sound of the film for instance are the forefront cinematic aspects that work to portray the theme of this film. This film will always be at the top of Tom Hanks' filmography.

Zemeckis is a master of the establishing shot and the long shot. Many times, one of his long shots is an establishing shot. This style is used in many of his films such as the opening shot of "Back to the Future". Using this style of his, the director along with the cinematographer creates shots that provide exposition and stimulate feelings. The opening shot of this film produced feelings of isolation for me for example. The camera is situated high above an open plain of barren grassland and the intersection of two Texas roads that seem to go on forever. Also, the camera is panning slowly and this example sets up the same feelings that Chuck has later in the film. Immediately after this though, Zemeckis uses the camera to start telling the story. We see the archway of Bettina's ranch and the painted wings on the FedEx package. Bettina is also shown listening to Elvis music as she works. Once we cut to Russia, we are shown briefly the long package that will eventually be delivered to Chuck. These plot points may appear inconsequential at first but come to be important throughout the movie. Even when we see that Bettina's husband Dick is having an affair in Moscow, we are still under the impression that none of this will matter in the end. Russia contrasts what will come in the rest of the movie very effectively. The music and sound we hear during the opening of "Cast Away" is mostly diegetic, which means that you would hear it naturally if you were physically there watching the scene. In terms of music, we hear either popular songs or Russian music. A sense of reality is established and this use of music creates further contrast with the majority of the film. Speaking of that, the design of the opening sequences of the film helps to create contrast. The use of lush Christmas colors and work-related clutter are some examples. Tom Hanks' genius is in creating the relatable everyman. We see this immediately in his first scene. By the time that first scene is over where Chuck is lecturing the Russian FedEx employees, we have forgotten completely about Forrest Gump. The scene in Red Square is a pretty impressive location for the Russia sequence. We then have a serious plot point of Stan's wife being sick. Chuck tries to understand but it is not in his nature. At the end of the movie however, he has learned compassion and apologizes for not caring enough. I am happy that they show by means of the pictures, certificates and trophies that Chuck can sail. Verisimilitude is very important for a story like this. Suddenly, our hero finds himself adrift in the ocean during a storm. The plane crash is shown from Chuck's perspective and this creates the necessary terror and fear. I love the slow crane shot, which follows Chuck up the rock he has hit and reveals the island in a silhouette type manner. We feel uneasy about the island because of the movement and position of the camera in relation to the island. Chuck's position is very hopeless. He has no shoes, took off his watch & band-aid on the plane, he lost the emergency beacon for the life raft and his plane was not only off course but out of contact when it crashed. It truly is a worst-case scenario and may seem too unbelievable but Zemeckis directs it such that we accept it. Happy accidents can make for great moments on film. When Chuck first crawls out of the life raft on the beach, he collapses and a wave hits him. I don't think something like that can be timed. Maybe it can be achieved by doing take after take but it sure sells the hopelessness of the character's situation from the get-go. Then we have a great tracking shot as Chuck looks at his surroundings. This shot takes us 360 degrees around, ending up where the shot started. In real life, many other islands surround this island but the special effects are so good that we fully accept the isolation that we are shown.

Once Chuck is on the island, we don't have any Steadicam shots. The reason for this is to further separate Chuck from the outside world. We must not be allowed to remember that this is a movie. The cameramen and the director must be invisible for the audience. Zemeckis and his team were winners in this aspect. The use of sound is very important too. There are no animals or insects on the island. There are also no birds and that is important. The major sounds we hear for most of the film are waves, wind, squeaky trees and falling coconuts. We find it funny that Chuck collects and organizes the packages that wash ashore but in Chuck's mind, rescue will come soon. We may know that Chuck is going to be there for years but he doesn't. The last package that arrives ends up making all the difference in Chuck's life. When I first saw the movie, I didn't even remember the painted wings that were established from the start. The use of cinematography to portray isolation and adversity is repeated when Chuck is on the mountain looking down. There is a slow crane shot revealing a different view of the empty sea and island producing more feelings of hardship and isolation. The film demands that Chuck make an initial escape. Who wouldn't anyways with a half-inflated raft and a ship in sight? Chuck's luck hasn't changed as the waves prevent his escape and he is injured. After this ordeal and after loosing his flashlight battery power, Chuck finally goes into survival mode as he looks at the packages. Screenwriter William Broyles Jr. spoke with survival experts in order to write this movie. The needs of food, water, shelter and heat are all explored. I love how the filmmakers came up with what appear to be the most useless items one could want on a deserted island but then come to be useful after all. A great example is the ice skates. The theatre audience laughs at first but thanks to Hanks' acting, the audience sees the extreme value of the blades. Chuck leaves the last package unopened and this is very important for the story because one basic human need is purpose in life and an identity of one's self. This unopened package represents Chuck's desire to maintain his individuality from before the island. He has a job and will get his job done whether by stealing a kid's bike or by not opening the last package. The inner contents could help him but he creates a will to live by not opening it. He also maintains who he was before this crisis to some extent. Another human need is companionship. Enter Wilson the volleyball, who by the way still has a profile on imdb.com for his role. This is one of my favorite examples of product placement in a movie. The people at Wilson deserve a thumbs-up for allowing the filmmakers to use one of their volleyballs. They probably didn't think much of it at the time. Funny enough at the time of the film's release, Wilson made volleyballs of course but were more famous for other sports equipment. Even today, Wilson's line of volleyballs is on the main webpage but last on the list behind tennis, soccer and golf items. At least there is an official "Cast Away" Wilson volleyball still available for sale on the site. Broyles and other members of the cast came up with Wilson as castaways themselves. They were purposefully left on a beach in order to better research the film and a volleyball washed up on shore one day. They used it to take out their frustrations on. Wilson's introduction happens slowly and I like that approach. Chuck finds the volleyball in one of the FedEx packages and when he gets hurt in the hand trying to make fire, Wilson is born out of Chuck's own blood. The reason why Wilson is considered a character in the film is thanks to Hanks' acting. Mark Hamill helped bring Yoda to life, Bob Hopkins' performance made "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" a credible movie and "The Muppet Christmas Carol" wouldn't have been as successful without the serious acting of Michael Caine. In the case of "Cast Away", Tom Hanks and his genius gives Wilson life. The sequence of Chuck making fire is one of the best sequences in the film. After a long period of time and much failure, Chuck is beginning to make progress. At this point, the shots consist of the kindling he is trying to start on fire, his face and eyes. Also, these shots are all close ups or extreme close-ups. We are drawn into the situation and feel anticipation because of cinematography and Hanks. We understand how Chuck must push himself just a little further to start the fire and in the end he succeeds. We get some comedy as Chuck imitates a caveman in triumph. The crabmeat appears to taste like it is from a gourmet restaurant again thanks to Hanks' performance. I also wish to point out the do-it-yourself dental surgery. We have another long take in which we see Chuck's hand pick up an ice-skate. The camera then slowly pans over to another skate for which Chuck is using the blade as a mirror to put the tip of the other blade inside his mouth against his aching tooth. The camera then pans over to a close up Chuck's face with the blade in his mouth and then focuses on a rock behind Chuck which he picks up and places on the other end of the blade. The next shot is a medium long shot of Chuck and as he prepares to knock his tooth out, the camera moves in on the rock again. This movement of the camera is a little faster than we are accustomed to for this film. The rest of the scene is in slow motion as Chuck knocks his tooth out. This is once again a great marriage between Zemeckis' direction and Hanks' performance.

I think everyone is a little shocked at the title card, "Four Years Later". We knew subconsciously that Chuck would be on the island for a long time, just not that long. Chuck has gone from fat and clean at the beginning to skinny, hairy, scarred and dirty. Chuck has also gone a little insane in terms of his relationship with Wilson because in Chuck's mind, Wilson can now talk back. In one scene however, Chuck makes it obvious that he still has some sanity when he acknowledges that Wilson is just a volleyball. I like how on Chuck's "calendar", he nicknames the time of escape as "D-day". That could be a little reference to a previous film role of Tom Hanks'. Once Chuck escapes, for the first time in the movie, we hear Alan Silvestri’s powerful score. The purpose of the musical score for this film is to “take it home.” Throughout the film, there hasn’t been any need for musical score but by this point, we require climatic drama. The score is more powerful than if it had been there throughout the rest of the film. Another purpose of the score in "Cast Away" is to portray the emotional challenges that Chuck is having once he is off the island. For example, Wilson has been Chuck's friend for four years and his departure is very sad for Chuck and all of us. The score makes these feeling more poignant. We are affected more emotionally than ever before and this was the first scene in the film that brought tears to my eyes. The reason why I find this scene so powerful is the fact that Wilson is still just a volleyball. Despite this, the subtext of the scene has been so well created that the scene becomes a death scene for Wilson. Zemeckis and his storytelling skills once again win the day as does Tom Hanks and his acting. Chuck has done all he could to overcome the many obstacles that have come upon him but at this point, he gives up for good. Salvation ends up coming just in time and Chuck now finds himself back in society, which provides new challenges and drama. When Chuck visits Kelly at her house, there is some obvious awkwardness. As the scene passes, we want them to kiss and as Chuck is about to drive out of the garage, they do. There is some resolution that comes from that but even as Chuck drives away, we still feel like things are unresolved. I love how Zemeckis manipulates us to feel just the way he wants us to in this instance. Because Chuck and Kelly kissed in the garage, we are left to wonder if Chuck has gone for good. The music is used very well in this manipulation. As Kelly calls out for Chuck and runs out in the rain, the music swells, Chuck backs up extremely fast into the shot and we get the moment we have been begging for. The cool thing is that Zemeckis has led us to beg for this moment and that is what masterful directors do best. One of Tom Hanks' best examples of facial acting is after this climax as he sits in the car with Kelly. You can't read his expression in order to figure out what is going to happen next. Chuck is happy as he looks at Kelly but it is still quite a poker face. We should already know that Kelly can't go with Chuck but Hanks is able to provide his own sense of manipulation here.

As in “Forrest Gump”, Tom Hanks’ second last scene has him talking about the events we have seen in terms of what he has learned from them. In both those films, he explains the theme of the movie. In "Cast Away", the second-last scene has only two shots. The first is a short establishing shot of Chuck's glass that he is holding in his hand and then there is quite a long take of Chuck talking to Stan. As he talks, the camera slowly tracks almost 180 degrees from Chuck’s left side to his right. Then the camera very slowly moves in a little bit towards Chuck (an almost unnoticeable movement of the camera) so that when Chuck turns his head towards Stan, we have a good view of his face. At this point, Chuck explains that despite the sorrow he has, he just has to keep going “because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?” Through these and other examples in the cinematography of the film, the filmmakers portrays many different types of feelings in order that we might understand the importance of endurance. We must endure through hardships both great and small in order for the good times to come. Solutions to our problems come but sometimes only for the patient. In Chuck Noland's case, he is confronted with many problems and he has to survive despite the overwhelming odds in a worst-case scenario. Just quickly, I want to point out the scar that Chuck has over his eye. He got it because his four-year ordeal and you can still see it in the final scene on the Texas crossroads. I am betting everyone who has seen this show is asking by the end, "What was in the final package?" Both the 2003 Super Bowl commercial and Zemeckis himself tell us that inside the package was a waterproof solar powered satellite phone. Seriously though, what is inside is not important. What is important is the aforementioned reason for not opening the package. Many members of the audience may feel that "Cast Away" has a cliffhanger ending. I disagree. Previous to the final shot, there are two instances where Chuck decides to give up. First, he tried to hang himself on the island and once on the sea, he throws away his oars. He gets through these instances and in the end realizes that giving up is not the answer. If times get tough for us, sooner or later we will find happiness and peace if we but endure. What does this have to do with the final shot? After all he has been through, do you really think that Chuck didn't go back? Also, it has been established that Bettina is single and an Elvis fan. You do the math. I love how the movie ends the way it begins: at the crossroads.

This movie was filmed in two parts. Tom Hanks gained 50 pounds for the start of filming and then there was a year-long hiatus so that Hanks could loose weight even more weight and grow our his hair & beard. I remember celebrity photos of Hanks during that time. Zemeckis meanwhile used the same crew during that year to make "What Lies Beneath". Hanks' transformation is one of the most impressive in recent Hollywood history. Helen Hunt's role was important because we needed a well-known star to create a character worth fighting for. I keep trying to see Elden Hensen in the Christmas party but fail everytime (he is Fulton on "The Mighty Ducks" Trilogy). I do recognize Nan Martin in the same scene from "The Drew Carrey Show". Around this time in Zemeckis' career, I noticed how seamless the special effects were in his movies such as the previously mentioned long shot of Chuck on the beach that depicts his isolation. Whenever Tom Hanks is on the mountaintop, he is really on a fake set in a parking lot or sound studio. The special effects added later again create the needed feeling of isolation. A brief as it is, this is one favorite music scores as written by Alan Silvestri. One thing that "Cast Away" is known for is that the movie trailer spoiled the ending. As a teenager, it wasn't the trailer that spoiled the ending but instead Roger Ebert's review that talked about this problem. The worst thing you can do concerning the spoiled ending of a movie is to pass it along. That may sound hypocritical right now but my reviews are designed to appeal to those who have already seen the film.

The two Oscar nominations for this film were rightfully deserved. In some ways, I think that Tom Hanks deserved the Academy Award for Best Actor over Russell Crowe. At least Hanks won the Golden Globe. The sound mixing team was also nominated. This was almost my favorite movie of 2000 but "Remember the Titans" was a tad better. "Cast Away" indirectly lead to the TV series "Lost" and this was the last live action film to be directed by Robert Zemeckis until "Flight" twelve years later. Because of the involvement of Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis, "Cast Away" has become part of pop culture. People who have found themselves in real life survival circumstances have recalled this movie. Besides Hanks' acting, the cinematography, sound and music are the best qualities of this movie. All the cinematic aspects support the story and produced the necessary moods very well. The use of contrast was also paramount to this film's success. I have cried many times watching this film. No matter how bad our lives may be, if we are doing our best to achieve a goal, “tomorrow the sun will rise”.

5 Stars