I dismissed Cast Away when it first came out. I don’t remember all the reasons why, but I do remember wondering how it could be interesting, I’ve see it done before in Shipwrecked, and similar themes in things like Treasure Island. I was wrong though, there is much more to this
movie than island survival. I urge others who have felt the same way to give it a look and find what you can of yourself in it… maybe you won’t see it, but this film has come to mean so very much too me. I see myself in many parts of Chuck Noland, now more than ever, and as such I am trying to adopt his motto in the film. Here it is… slightly paraphrased for my own usage:
“I had to keep breathing. Even though there was no reason to hope, and all my logic said that I would never see her again. So that’s what I did. I stayed alive. I kept breathing. I’m so sad to say I don’t have her, yet I’m so grateful that she was with me… And now I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing, because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?”
It is so simply stated, such a difficult thing. I am telling myself I know what to do… I gotta live, I gotta keep breathing, I gotta keep going. No matter how much I tell myself there is no way out, and I don’t know where to go from here, tomorrow is going to happen, whether I am ready or not. And just as Chuck when he made his way home, no matter who is around him, or what comfort is provided, I will feel alienated, I will feel alone, I will feel lost, and I will not know how to proceed… but I just have to… I hope I can find a way to do that, though hope may be gone, I cling to it, and the chance that with that new day, with that next tide, I will find what was lost, or simply what I need to keep on going…
The movie is a statement on relationships, and how we function in the world. It’s also a statement on what it means to be alone, and what it means to hope. The movie is so monumentally depressing and uplifting at the same time. Give it a first look, or if you didn’t like it give a second go, you may just find more than the story on the surface. I know I did.
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James Schumacher
A freelance writer and digital artist, operator of this website. My name is James Schumacher, and I hold a degree in Game Art & Design (BoFA) from the Art Institute in Portland. My passions are gaming, music, books, film and my friends. Select Photography to see some of my latests photos, with more found at 500px and Viewbug. Currently you can find much of my game reviews mostly at Only Single Player http://www.onlysp.com. I am available for freelance writing work, as well as for image and graphic editing.
