Other Titles • Lord of the Flies • Herr der Fliegen (1971)
Synopses for Lord of the Flies (1963)
1.
In this classic 1963 adaptation of William Golding's novel, a planeload of schoolboys is stranded on a tropical island. They've got food and water; all that's left is to peacefully govern themselves until they're rescued. "After all," says choir leader Jack, "We're English. We're the best in the world at everything!" Unfortunately, living peacefully is not as easy as it seems. Though Ralph is named chief, Jack and the choristers quickly form a clique of their own, using the ever-effective political promise of fun rather than responsibility to draw converts. Director Peter Brook draws some excellent performances out of his young cast; the moment when Ralph realizes that even if he blows the conch for a meeting people might not come is an excruciating one. Well acted and faithfully executed, Lord of the Flies is as compelling today as when first released. --Ali Davis
(10 votes)
2.
Director Peter Brook's faithful adaptation of William Golding's 1954 novel stars James Aubrey and Tom Chapin as antagonists Ralph and Jack, respectively. When a plane carrying 30-odd British schoolboys out of a war zone crashes on an island, all the adults are killed. The boys organize for survival, naming Ralph as their chief, in charge of providing fire and shelter. Jack is designated to lead a group of boys to hunt the wild pigs that roam the island. Almost inevitably, as time passes, the two boys, representatives of civilization and savagery, begin a deadly struggle for dominance. The frequently invoked image of life as a "war of all against all," in which civility is merely another weapon in the battle to gain one's ends, is given a particularly disturbing twist because it is enacted by children. Brooks shot an enormous amount of footage, a documentary style ratio of 60:1, and used nonprofessional actors to achieve a raw, visceral realism. With a jauntily ironic score by Raymond Leppard, the film succeeds completely in suggesting the chilling malignity that can lurk beneath a bland exterior.
(10 votes)
3.
The Criterion Collection, A continuing series of important classic and contemporary films..
Lord Of The Flies is famed theater director Peter Brook's daring translation of William Golding's brilliant novel. The story of 30 English schoolboys stranded on an uncharted island at the start of the "next" war, Lord Of The Flies is a seminal film of the New American Cinema and a fascinating anti-Hollywood experiment in location filmmaking. As the cast relived Golding's frightening fable, Brook found the cinematic "evidence" of the author's terrifying thesis: there is a beast in us all.
(10 votes)
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