UConn James Posted February 25, 2012 Posted February 25, 2012 (edited) http://blogs.suntimes.com/foreignc/2012/02/the-pursuit-of-powerlessness.html But, third, "Cast Away" is the story of a man trying to salvage his life. Rather, it is the story of a man in three acts facing three distinct scenarios, discovering his utter powerlessness, and through that powerlessness he finds his rebirth. Again, and again. It is not until he casts away any impression of power that he finds his answers. I've learned over and over again through my many mini-misadventures that there are some battles in life that we choose, and there are some battles that choose us. Often, those battles that choose us are battles that we would never otherwise embrace. Sometime the battle is a severe illness. Sometimes the battle is a family tragedy. Sometimes the battle is a social challenge. When faced with such battles we summon our strength and capabilities, but sometimes we must first embrace a notion of powerlessness before we can work through the new challenges. Speaking in some hopeful sense, we would like to think that those challenges make us stronger (and often they do), but at the very least, they require us to transform ourselves into persons we never imagined we'd be. The important point "Cast Away" makes is that the ethos of powerlessness yields unexpected hopes from unexpected places. I thought I had gotten this at the time, but I'm still going to have to give this a revisit soon. Edited February 25, 2012 by UConn James
Fan in San Diego Posted February 25, 2012 Posted February 25, 2012 What's going on to cause a revisit to this train of thought? A life changing event?
SelmonSmith6378 Posted February 25, 2012 Posted February 25, 2012 I love Roger Ebert...But I love Felix Vasquez Jr of Cinema Crazed more.
bbb Posted February 26, 2012 Posted February 26, 2012 Might be my favorite actor's best performance..........I have to re-watch with Ebert's words in mind.
Doc Posted February 26, 2012 Posted February 26, 2012 "Cast Away" is simply a movie about a guy trying to survive and get back home after his plane went down. Nothing more, nothing less. Doesn't mean it wasn't a good movie, but trying to find a deeper meaning seems like mental masturbation.
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted February 26, 2012 Posted February 26, 2012 "Cast Away" is simply a movie about a guy trying to survive and get back home after his plane went down. Nothing more, nothing less. Doesn't mean it wasn't a good movie, but trying to find a deeper meaning seems like mental masturbation. I disagree. Any writer worth his salt does more than just tell a story. Some people are certainly prone to over-analysis, though.
Doc Posted February 26, 2012 Posted February 26, 2012 I disagree. Any writer worth his salt does more than just tell a story. Some people are certainly prone to over-analysis, though. A story can be entertaining without any higher meaning. A good writer will make you care about the story.
CosmicBills Posted February 26, 2012 Posted February 26, 2012 A story can be entertaining without any higher meaning. A good writer will make you care about the story. Sure. But a great writer leaves the interpretation of the story and its meaning up to the reader, or in this case, the viewer. Castaway is as close to a Terrence Malick study in existentialism as Bob Zemeckis will ever get. You don't have to see the deeper meaning in it if you don't want to. Which is the art of it.
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