Warm, colourful, engaging - one of my favorite films

Rating: 10/10 (3 March 2017)

Tom Hanks answered the question once (on a talk show) and it went something like: What word do you hear most often when fans see you? And he answered that fans often yell "Wiiiiiiilson"!!! :)
His fans like "Cast Away", but not only them. It is difficult not to fall for the movie's charm, not to fall in love with natural beauties and landscape (of Fiji) and not to connect with the main character. I watched the movie ages ago, but I often remember it. It is an ode to human race, a hymn to survival and a story that the average can relate to. *Spoilers* Finally we have a hero with no special powers, well-paid job or a model girlfriend. Chuck Noland is an ordinary man who works at Fed Ex, has an ordinary girlfriend and he survives a plane crash. The story is pretty much simple and resembles the survival tale of Robinson Crusoe. It is not the universal story itself that makes this movie so great: it is the setting, the atmosphere and psychological and physical struggles inside the main character.
Being left on an uninhabited island, Chuck Noland (not to be confused with Chuck Norris :) has to find things from the plane wreckage and use the pieces of material found on the island in order to survive, day by day. While watching, we cannot resist asking ourselves: Would I think of that?, How would I react in the same situation? And by doing so, the viewers have to admit that they are truly embedded in the story.
The director and the whole crew succeeded in making us relate to Chuck. Tom Hanks' acting was tremendous. The audience can relate to his feelings of despair, emotional and physical pain, fear, hunger and loneliness. He had his ups and downs on the island and I think most viewers celebrated his achievements with him, like catching a fish or making fire. Loneliness was the biggest issue for him and therefore he made friends with Wilson, the ball. I bet that the scenes of poor Chuck talking to the bloody face smudged on the white leather background are among the most memorable and humane scenes depicted on screen. Whether we admit it or not, we all have our "Wilsons" in our lives, in one form or another.
Another proof that Tom Hanks is one of the best actors is his wish to make a physical change for a role. His body literally transformed from the average couch potato who doesn't do sports into the skillful and fast athlete with sunny tan and strong muscles. His body changes are really realistic and Tom Hanks put a lot of effort into training, so that his body would reflect malnutrition and other challenges that he faced.
There are many wonderful aspects of the film, but it's difficult to list them all. To sum up: watching "Cast Away" is an emotional and aesthetic 1st class journey.