At one point during my university days and my love of philosophy, I learned the basics of Ancient Greek. One of the words that always stuck in my mind was ἄγγελος. And this particular word lit me up in the strongest way possible when I saw Cast Away in the theatre not long after.
Oh, my friends, the joy of seeing the FedEx courier driving past angel wings left me with such a grin on my face, ἄγγελος being Greek for “messenger”, and the root of the word “angel”.
And inextricably tied in with the word angel is the concept of salvation and hope. And so it captivated me that when all seems lost for Chuck, the person best known as the most relentless driver of messengers, he finds a washed-up strand of hope and holds on to this one package adorned with angel wings. By keeping its message unopened, unknown and intact, there remains the remotest chance of delivering it to its destined receiver as originally intended, and he can return from where he’s been cast away.
And just as an aside, one of the many other things I love about this movie are the crossroads at the opening and closing of the film.
