Cast Away

It’s Saturday afternoon and I have nothing concrete to do. I see the contents of my hard-disk .Yes; I’m in the mood to watch a good movie. A friend gave me a couple of new stuff and one of this movie was called ‘Cast Away ‘ .The protagonist was played by ‘Tom Hanks’ and directed by ‘Robert Henrick’. Well I heard it was a classic and decided to watch it.

It began with the protagonist being this employee of Fed Ex who was obsessed with time and wanted to ensure his delivery standards were impeccable. Well yes, fair enough. He was a workaholic and due to which most of his relationships were put on the back burner. Correct, not correct, don’t know? To each his own.

Then comes the day when he was summoned to Malaysia to check on the processes there. As the aircraft was flying over the Pacific Ocean, it suddenly faced a deadly storm .The aircraft succumbed and so did the fed ex employees in it. But fate had a different story for ‘Chuck Nolan ‘(Tom Hanks). He managed to survive with this float and was thrown on a desolate island.

Now begins the real story. No job, no people, just sheer him and the island. In the beginning he’s desperate with several attempts to get help. However that seemed futile. He even tried to kill himself by hanging himself with a rope .But the branch broke, thus another reminder to him that he was meant to live. He accepted his fate and chose to move on. Some Fed-ex packages were sent to the shore. Most of the items inside seemed useless (divorce papers, video tapes, girls dress, volleyball). However, most of these things become useful when there’s absolutely nothing to your aid. As he was dying of hunger he had to make do with whatever was available. He satiated his thirst with coconut water and learnt the art of nailing fishes. To add on to it, he learnt how to make fire purely out of wood and friction. Something that we read only in our history books but never experienced. He also managed to extract his own tooth and became his own dentist. That sight was disgusting as blood gushed out and that pain put him to sleep. Compelling times enforces compelling remedies. The volleyball turned into his best ally, at all times whom he could confide into everything. He called it ‘Wilson’. This is the best part about the movie. The relationship between the man and inanimate object is woven so well .It actually seemed so beautiful. Nature and he merged as one entity. He made weather charts and could forecast what was coming. Something that most us would not be able to comprehend as we are too busy to watch nature closely or we have sabotaged to it to an extensive level.

Four years that he lived there, he craved for his loved ones .Something that he did not value too much with his job .He cherished them now even more. More so, he thought it was about time to take the risk and venture out of the island .Isolation was something he could not deal with anymore. He managed to make a raft with logs tied together .He used the video tapes for it. A plastic plank found on the island was used as a sail. He managed to construct a pretty formidable structure. Made me wonder and understand, that our brain is a beautiful faculty and can be used in the most creative manner when needed .It prompts you when desperation or need glides in. He tied his ‘Wilson ‘securely to the raft as he was his only companion. He managed to sail quite a distance but lost ‘Wilson’ in the journey. Four years had made him tired and weary and so wasn’t alert enough when Wilson moved away. When he woke up to realize it, he was shattered. His emotions were so real ,it made me want to cry too.

Finally, a ship located him and took him back home. Most of them had assumed he was dead. The fed –ex team hosted him a grand welcome back party. But he did not feel ecstatic to be back as his long time girlfriend had married someone else because of his long absence. Her photograph was the sole inspiration for his survival on a lonely island .Coming back and not having her felt void and ruthless. Made him question the very purpose of his existence.

This movie probably dint have the perfect ending, although I loved it thoroughly. It had so much silence unlike the chaotic movies today .But it brought in a lot of meaning .Every emotion was captured so well .His transition due to circumstances was enthralling and kept me captivated throughout. From the first time he eats a ‘raw fish and crab ‘to how conveniently he knives out blood from his palms to create Wilson again.

From what I gather from the movie is, we as human beings feel it’s easy to conquer nature and make it dance to our tunes. But nature will always take its course. The storm brought the protagonist to live like the most primal human being .That’s how perhaps people lived once upon a time until we ushered in technology and probably will live like that again cause nature will have its threshold. Also how important it is to nurture relationships and value it because it’s painful when you get isolated and there’s no love .That the basic most thing in our DNA.

This writer has somehow visualized it perfectly and the director has executed it carefully capturing every nuance of movement and emotion. This movie is certainly an impressionable one and will always be on my ‘all time favorite list’.