Cheap Lord of the Flies - Criterion Collection (DVD) (James Aubrey, Tom Chapin (II)) (Peter Brook) Price

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Customer Reviews of Lord of the Flies - Criterion Collection

Are we humans really THAT bad???
This movie is a very skillful presentation of William Golding's eponymous, timeless sociological horror story. A group of boys ranging from around 6 to, I would guesstimate, 14 or 15, are stranded on a desert island. Unfortunately for the boys, the general spirit of their story parts ways with the spirit of "Gilligan's Island" immediately, and they end up deteriorating into tribal, superstitious savages, rent with internecine strife, in a matter of (evidently) weeks.

Any viewer out there who plans to see this movie should absolutely make an effort to read the book. You could possibly see the movie first, if you digest storylines more easily through movies than books. But whatever order you carry out the two activities in, you must see the movie AND read the book, if you want a full understanding of what the director was doing here.

Here are a few good things to notice. First of all, you should be aware that this film was shot mostly on the islet of Vieques, off the coast of Puerto Rico. It's hard to believe that this is true, because it's just so perfect -- Vieques is the island where the U.S. Navy practices bombing these days, and protesters against war have been getting into all kinds of clashes with the authorities the past few months (spring and summer of 2001). Maybe "Lord of the Flies" was more prophetic than the director, actors and writers ever even realized.

A second thing to notice is the song that is constantly playing, throughout most of the movie. The song is "Kyrie Eleison." At first Jack's choir sings it, and then it sort of becomes general background music. If you happen not to be particularly into going to church, let me just clue you in that "kyrie eleison" is Greek for "Lord have mercy," which I think you'll agree is a chillingly apt refrain for this relentlessly dark movie.

A third good thing to notice is the little boy, who progressively loses his memory of his own identity, over the course of the film. At first, he automatically recites his full name, address and phone number to any stranger he meets, as he was apparently taught to do by his parents. Midway through the film, he can remember only his name, and part of his address. By the end, not to spoil the ending by giving too much away, he cannot even recollect his name. "How quickly," one envisions William Golding bemoaning, "we forget!"

But I'm just pointing out a few minor things to notice. The basic theme is obviously the clash between savagery and civilization, and the tendency for things to fall apart, for the center not to hold... George Washington himself used to say that the job of government has to do with Fear -- instilling it in possible malefactors, in enemies of the state, even in respected members of the community, just to keep everyone in line. This movie makes you think about what might happen if that force were removed from society as a whole. If the function of art is to raise awareness of painful truths, as this movie does, then the individual must be sure to bring things other than art into their lives, in order to raise awareness of kinder truths which are no less valid, no less serious, and no less important for being kind. That's what I think anyway.

This is an interesting movie, and it will really make you think. Two thumbs up.

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A poor adaptation but good as far as films go
After reading this book in English Class I loved it. The book is in my opinion one of the best ever, and when I saw this film I felt that it did the book, and everything it says, a great disservice. The main problem with it is that so much is missing. This is perhaps necessary to fit it into two hours, but I think that in cutting it, it looses its moral message to the extent that the film was not worth making. Aulthough there is some excellent use of imigary and some scenes did represent the book very well, (As in the choir walking along the beach scene), the film misses the point. I'm sure that Aubrey fully understood its tragedy and purpose, but he failed to communicate what Lord of the Flies really means. The film focuses on the aspect of the book which tells us that if uncontrolled, children descend into barbarity extremly quickly, this was not the main point of what Golding says. I think the main point of the book is to say that humans are essentialy floored and that evil is intrinsic to human nature. That man is never more than two words away from war. The film is incapable of working on the number of levels that the book does and does a great disservice to the character of Simon. In the scene where Simon is attacked and killed, he screams and appears rather pathetic. This scene in the book, is supposed to parody Christ's crucifixtion yet the film does not give this impression. Aulthough the boys are represented down to a tee, Simon, aulthough well acted, is misinterprited and fails to have the impact he did have in the book.

In conclusion this film is probably worth seeing, but I plead with you to read the book first because I don't think it will have the same impact if you have had the imigary decided for you by the film.

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a disturbing film.
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

This film, based on William Godling's novel, is a film that many will find disturbing.

Having not read the book, I am uncertain if the film is close to the book or not, but I have heard people say both. The story is about some schoolboys who become stranded on an island after a plane crash. They later, (with no adult presence) start regressing to a savage state and do not remain civilized.

The film itself also has nudity which I am surprised the censors let pass given the time period in which the film was made. Even by today's standards, some may question the legality of nudity involving children. Since the nudity is clearly non-sexual it is legal, but still will offend some people.

There are numerous special features which are as follows.

Full length audio comentary by the director Peter Brook, producer Lewis Allen, director of photography Tom Hollyman, camera operator and editor Gerald Feil.

Theatrical trailer with and without audio commentary about a major problem that almost happened at the film's premire.

Deleted scene with and without commentary and a reading by author, William Golding.

Excerpts from the novel read by the author William Golding.
Screen tests and outtakes.

Scenes from a documentary about director Peter Brook's theatrical techniques.