"Andrzej Wajda’s films had an enormous influence on me as I began writing and directing. I had lunch with him at the National Film Theatre in London, after he had just made Everything for Sale, a film I loved. It was Wajda’s tribute to Zbigniew Cybulski, his friend and the star of Ashes and Diamonds, who died young. In Ashes, Cybulski plays a resistance fighter stranded by a sellout peace. His broodiness and manner seemed to mourn James Dean."

"I just love this movie. Not sure I can explain exactly why, but the overall tone feels right. It must be Zemeckis magic. I love the time it takes—once stranded on the island. So quiet, peaceful and beautiful at times. It doesn’t rush us but allows us to feel the isolation, and both its scary and beautiful qualities. I really get taken away and transported along with Tom Hanks. Oh right, and Tom Hanks is in this movie!"

"Sure, it’s uneven. For every Book of Job there’s a Book of Leviticus, featuring some of the most boring prose ever written. But if you were stranded on a desert island, what book would better reward long study? And has there ever been a more beautiful distillation of existential philosophy than the Book of Ecclesiastes? Excluding those bizarre final verses, which seem to have been tacked on long after the book’s original composition, by priests nervous about the subversive message."