Transcription from the video: This scene! It’s so moving because of the obvious incredible performance, the one long shot of his monologue and how the camera slowly brings us in. All of the universal connections that we, as audience members can make with this one specific moment, BUT…as writers, we don’t have control over things like camera angles, the actor’s performance, the lighting or the music (and my god, the castaway theme).
What we do have control over is meaning, emphasis, and theme coming out of the actor’s mouth. Yes, we have control over the visuals, but when we’re dealing with monologues, they are usually presented in this way; just the actor, saying what he needs to say. And that is the beauty of this scene from a writing standpoint. Chuck is stating theme through his character’s evolution. We’re seeing, in real-time, Chuck seeing that he can no longer be how he was in the beginning of the story. He thought he was totally in control of his life. He was a FedEx manager that lived by the clock, by expectations, and how to work with and even manipulate those expectations. What happens to him? He is quite literally cast away - everything he ever believed was cast away. The love of his life was cast away. And now? Now all he can do is just keep breathing. And that line? That line about how the sun will rise, and how you never know what the tide will bring? There is no way he would have been able to say such a thing at the start of his journey.
So let’s get into it. This scene from Castaway - one of my all-time favorites.
This Scene...from Castaway