Lord of the Flies (1963)

Genre

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Director

Peter Brook

Country

UK

Cast

James Aubrey, Tom Chapin, Hugh Edwards, Roger Elwin, Tom Gaman, David Surtees, Nicholas Hammond, Roger Allan

Storyline

Survivors of a plane crash, a group of British young boys are marooned on an island. Left to fend for themselves, they must take on the responsibilities of adults, even if they are not ready to do so.

Opinion

Having read the Classic novel by William Golding, I couldn't help but be disappointed by the film that many people have flattered.

Dull in some parts, Lord of the Flies follows the book pretty well but lacks enthusiasm, and a deep psychological study.

With adaptations of novels often happens that some of detail from the story are removed in the film. This is no exception, and if you're read the book, you may be disappointing to see that some of the parts you found interesting are not included. However, this is not the film's problem. In fact, the film tells the original story in a pretty good way, but the problem is that it simply tells the story.

Director Peter Brook did not manage to convey that sense of restlessness that accompanies the reader through the novel.  The terrible, disturbing presence of the Lord of the Flies, reincarnation of evil and death, is practically absent. There is no presence of that imaginary yet very real monster that creeps in the minds of the hunters, symbolized by the rotting pig's head.

Among the parts left out in the adaptation there is one that should have been in the film: the conch shell smashed into a million pieces when Piggy was killed. This is one of the most important parts of the story, as it symbolizes the ending of civilization. But apparently it was not that important to the screenwriter. 

The cinematography isn't great, the acting is mediocre and the casting is mostly wrong.