Les Aventures de Robinson Crusoé

I saw this film as a small boy in 1954 and it had a profound effect on me.Even as a simple minded boy at the time, it had a power that i've never forgotten.....i've searched for video release of this film but have never found it....i would love to see it again

As someone who is not a great admirer of surrealism in any of its forms, and who found works like Le Chien Andalou or The Obscure Object of Desire gratuitously disturbing or pretensious respectively, I was delighted to come across this beautifully sensitive telling of the Robinson Crusoe story. A story not only of survival but also of friendship it is told with great feeling and warmth.

Robinson honoring the day of the Lord?When you know Bunuel's huge body of work,you do know that scene can only be ironical.If there's a moral to draw from his "Robinson" it's probably "God helps those who help themselves".That's what he says to his prisoner .In "La Mort en Ce Jardin" (1957) Bunuel would go further:his characters ,lost in the jungle ,light a fire with the pages of the Bible.

My favorite scene is Robinson screaming in front of the vast ocean :God is nothing but the echo of Man's voice.

Bunuel's Robinson is rather unpleasant.He is at first an idle lazy young bourgeois who has to work for the first time in his life.As always in Bunuel's canon,the nightmare scene where a mocking father appears is impressive;ditto for the voices of Robinson's old companions singing about good old time.

Robinson's relationship with Friday is very well depicted; the hero confesses he was a potential slave trader :the goal of his voyage?The dialog Robinson/Friday includes these immortal lines:

-If God's stronger than the Devil,why doesn't He kill him?

-God wants to put Man to the test.Man has choice between good and bad.

A writer,Michel Tournier ,was probably influenced by Bunuel for his book "Vendredi ou les Limbes du Pacifique" :he made Friday Robinson's equal.

An essential Bunuel? probably not.But even a minor film by this extraordinary director deserves your undivided attention.

For viewers who might be most familiar with Luis Bunuel's work in surreal films such as The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, his approach here might be surprising. It's a mostly straightforward retelling of the Defoe story, although with a few dream-like touches. Bunuel was in exile from Spain and facing McCarthyism in the U.S. when he made this film (his first in English and his first in color), making the Crusoe metaphor a very personal one. So it's his personal reinterpretation, and has lots to offer regarding man's relationship with God, and his views on morality.

This film has been almost impossible to see for a very long time, but in May 2004, VCI Entertainment announced a deal to distribute it. It's well worth your time, whether you're a student of Bunuel or Defoe, or just a student of the important questions of life.

This is an excellent film, not only in its acting, but also in color and photography. I always remember it for the best acting of Viernes (Friday) and also Crusoe. The film follows well the plot given by Dafoe in his wonderful book. If somebody never read the book, my advice is to see this excellent film.