Topic of Life in Isolation in Movies

I have used the method of writing a movie review in this assignment, on the topic “Life in Isolation”. In the movie, “Cast away” there are many things that require to be pointed out but in this assignment I am going to tell something about ‘life in isolation’, a life lived in total isolation almost for 4 years on an uninhabited island. Social isolation has been found to impact health, so it’s necessary to have social contact. Having others around, appreciating and giving support, can encourage appropriate behaviours, provide emotional support and help a person to deal with the conditions. Loneliness is not simply being alone, but a psychological condition that has features of deep emptiness, worthlessness and personal threat, says John Cacioppo the director of the university of Chicago center. He points out that many of us crave for solitude, but for some, it would be a misery in different situations. The movie ‘Cast away’ was directed by well-known director Robert Zemeckis. He is one of the greatest visual story tellers in film making. Some of the movies directed by him are Romancing the stone (1984), Science fiction, Comedy back to the Future, Live action animated comedy Who Framed Roger Rabbit etc.

The movie is written by William Broyles junior, an American screenwriter, who has worked on television series ‘China Beach’ and the movies like Apollo 13, Planet of the Apes, Unfaithful, etc. The character of Wilson, the volley ball, was created by the writer as he was conducting the research and consulting the professional survival experts. He chose to be stranded in an isolated island of California to force him to find food and water and shelter. During this time a volley ball washed up on the shore that inspired him to have the character in the movie. The main stars of this movie are TOM HANKS, HELEN HUNT AND NICK SEARCY. The movie depicts a Federal Express employee stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean, and the struggles he goes through to survive in the island, using the remnant of the cargo that he was carrying which also washes up on the shore. The movie was released in 2000 and had a great critic and commercial success with 468 million dollars worldwide and Hanks being nominated for best actor in leading role male at 73rd Academy awards. The movie is all about Chuck Noland, a Federal express engineer who travels worldwide to resolve the productivity of federal express depots. He is in long term relationship with Kelly Fears. On Christmas, though he comes to celebrate the Christmas with his relatives he was called back to resolve a problem at Malaysia.

On the way to Malaysia as he was flying through a storm, the plane crashes into the Pacific Ocean. Chuck manages to take the help of the raft and floats unconsciously on the water and reaches an island. Once he is awake, he explores the island and finds that it is an uninhabited island. His busy and fast life comes to a halt without knowing when he will be back to the life that once he knew. He begins to open the Federal express packages and uses them for his survival on the island. As he had no human contact so he befriends the volley ball that he finds in the package. This movie gives a powerful character that struggles to survive in an isolated island and return back home after almost 3 years. The character of Chuck Noland, who was stranded on the island, learns to live. He uses all the goods that he finds in the passage to fulfil his basic needs. What I want to stress here is the need for social contact, or a communion which he finds in the volley ball whom he names Wilson, who becomes an excuse for him to talk aloud, ague and express his frustrations. The movie helps us to understand the need of a companion without whom it’s impossible for a human to function as a human.

The one third of the movie concentrates only on the main character of Chuck and his struggles in the island. Though there were not many dialogues and a bit boring, this demonstrates the pain and turmoil of loneliness that the character goes through. Also, his struggles to fulfil the basic necessities and his hopefulness to return back to his world. Chuck Nolan kept his sanity with repeated conversing with Wilson, the bloody volleyball. Before that, he seemed to be tuning insane without having anyone to speak and also attempted to commit suicide. The other important thing that needs to be mentioned is that the main character goes through a real physical transformation. The plump Chuck transforms into a skinny, gaunt survivor who keeps muttering something. It wasn’t easy to understand the story in one watch. The movie, though tells a lot about the character’s life in the island, it doesn’t say much as suddenly you see a skinny and a different person altogether. It has not explained how such a drastic transformation may be, it is for us to imply. It doesn’t even mention about the health issues that the person faces except the toothache which he had before the journey itself. According to the article that published in the ‘Psychology Today’, the people who are lonely are more inclined to health woes than the non-lonely. The way each person reacts to the shock of isolation is different, depending on the mindset in which he was at that moment. Chuck was also shocked as he saw around and screamed without understanding how he is going to survive.

One of the most important challenges that he had to face was social desolation, which he manages by befriending the volleyball, Wilson. The experiments that were conducted on their regard show that there is a correlation between how lonely one is and their tendency to describe gadgets or pets in human like mental state. A person in isolation becomes desperate, delusional, and has a completely different state of mind by the end of their experience. In case of Chuck, he is hopeful and makes a journey by himself with Wilson. My query is how a person can think about the direction of the wind or be so hopeful in such situation. The movie is worth watching as it depicts the importance of a company which at times we feel burdensome, so irritating. The movie stresses our need for each other. Though it is long and a bit difficult to understand as it also takes into consideration other characters along with Chuck. I was able to understand how a person becomes so desperate without any companion and is not able to conduct the basic functions. The situation makes persons to adapt to the situation and also to value the things which we take for granted otherwise.