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Lord of the Flies (1963)

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Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

An underrated adaptation of William Golding's 1954 novel about a gang of English schoolboys stranded on a desert island after a nuclear holocaust. At first their unscheduled outward bound adventure is a great wheeze. But then things degenerate into tribal warfare based on class differences - the public school chaps are the hunters, and the oicks are virtual slaves. Golding's novel took Darwin's theories of natural selection to their ultimate conclusion, and while the apocalyptic parable is hardly the subtlest ever devised, the imagistic prose made it a devastating one. Brook knows he can't have his 10- to 12-year-olds mouthing philosophical and poetic paragraphs, so he shoots it like a documentary, overcoming the starvation budget, the location problems, and the sometimes awkward performances. However, the principals are excellent: Aubrey's Ralph, who just about keeps his dignity while all around are losing theirs, Chapin's beastly Jack, and Edwards' tragic Piggy, who loses his glasses and then his life.

Author: ATu

Time Out Film Guide

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Lisa said...

Posted on Jun 05 2008 10:08 see other comment

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Lisa said...

Posted on Jun 05 2008 10:05 Personally i found this to be a pathetic film. Compared to the book it omitted often very important scenes which helped convey the theme of the darkness of mans heart.
This film could perhaps be enhanced if the actors had even a small amount of acting talent. Unfortunately, Brook chose the boys not on acting ability or appearance since the characters do not resemble their counterparts in the novel. This leaves me to wonder what did he pick them on!!
I find the dialogue disjointed and unemotional, Ralph keeps a severe expression on his face even through the apparently fun parts.
This movie leaves much to be desired, if you haven't read the book it will most likely make little sense without reference since the dialogue in the last part was entirely omitted.
Watch it anyway and tell me what you think.. I'm sure some people like it I just don't.

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