L'île du maître

This is one of those films with an intriguing concept that is ruined by poor execution. "Man Friday" is a revisionist take on the classic novel "Robinson Crusoe" told from the point of view of the castaway Englishman Crusoe's (Peter O'Toole) native companion/servant Friday (Richard Roundtree). Adapted from a stage play, this is basically a two-hander carried by O'Toole and Roundtree's performances. The duo's evolving relationship is obviously a metaphor for racism, slavery, colonialism, and capitalism. That part of the film works well, with Crusoe's more "civilized" Christian and English ways revealed as irrational and unnatural. The problem is that the filmmakers add all sorts of other nonsense, perhaps to broaden the film's appeal. Friday often breaks into his "native" songs, but he sings the lyrics in English and the music sounds too contemporary. There is a comical talking parrot. Worst of all is a sequence where Crusoe and Friday try to escape from the island by inventing all sorts of silly flying machines, with accompanying sound effects borrowed from an old "Roadrunner" cartoon. There are also some plotting problems. Crusoe is not properly introduced and Friday goes from being terrified of Crusoe to amiably calling him "master" way too quickly. Since director Jack Gold can't decide if this is a serious drama or a musical-comedy-adventure, it doesn't succeed as either.

4 out of 10.

Absent the Pandemic, this turns into a brilliant parody of post-George Floyd America and Anarcho-Capitalism. Meant to see it at age 32 and accidentally found it on YouTube, age 82. Yea, O'Toole's slightly hammy but not gratingly. I knew of Richard Roundtree only as the Blaxpolitation-era SHAFT.

Crusoe explaining money and wages to Friday might have been lifted from a Democratic Socialists of America introduction to Karl Marx's theory of indentured labor. The Hang Glider scene doesn't work and didn't then but otherwise MAN FRIDAY has aged itself into front page 2020 relevance.

The late Richard Roundtree's last performance in 2024's "Thelma" motivated me to seek out this forgotten 1975 adventure dramedy directed by Jack Gold, a satirical take on Daniel Dafoe's "Robinson Crusoe". Actually the movie was based more specifically on a 1973 revisionist play by Adrian Mitchell who reinterpreted the classic tale from Friday's perspective with a then-contemporary mindset about civilization, race relations and genocide. It's as patently bizarre as it sounds, but Peter O'Toole and Roundtree inject a lot of brio into their predictably drawn roles. The always watchable O'Toole is particularly manic as Crusoe. Clearly in a move to diversify his career beyond Shaft, Roundtree is called on to say and do some humiliating things in his noble savage role wearing a loincloth for much of the film, but his commitment and natural charisma help overcome many of the plot holes like his immediate fluency in English and his defiantly off-key singing. There are scenes that will make you wince from over-the-top execution, but there are also entertaining moments like their athletic competition and one surprisingly provocative moment when Friday makes himself available to Crusoe out of sheer practicality. Filmed in Puerto Vallarta, the overlong film is visually rich but does sag from its methodical pacing.

I discovered the film while switching through the channels and I had to keep watching it to the end because I was fascinated. First of all I was fascinated because I had no clue that the original story by Defoe is so full of racism. Then I noticed that this version is told from Friday's point of view which turns it into a whole different thing.

The whole situation and Crusoe's behaviour now seems really absurd: The way he tries to rebuild his kind of England on a small island. He has a need to reproduce things which are completely unnecessary and useless in this surrounding. He also sticks to his old rules and schemes and is not able to adapt new attitudes to survive and to get by.

First of all Crusoe is not willing to see Friday as a human being who has the same rights and the same possibilities as he has. He also believes that he himself might have more advantages threatening Friday and to let Friday work for him. Or maybe it is his deep belief that this is the only way to be and that he is in fact really fair and being nice to him.

Crusoe is not able to see that there is no need to put his negative attitudes on Friday, his fear of God (he seems to struggle with God because he struggles with himself), his shame and the need to punish. He sees shame anywhere and he does not listen to Friday who can see clearly that there is no need for shame.

Peter O'Toole is just perfect for portraying that ignorant Englishman who can be really nasty but at the same time the viewer feels sorry for him because he is trapped and torn inside.

Richard Roundtree is great as Friday, being very natural and being relaxed and concentrated at the same time. He is made to be the more attractive one in that team. The film was done four years after his success with "Shaft" and you can find typical blaxploitation elements in it.

Like other IMDb users said before: The songs are a bit disturbing but they cannot ruin a good film.

The plot is a very good starting point for a philosophical discussion on how people can live together and what might be a good basis for an intact society.

I missed the start of this film on tv but managed to tune in to the story's events which appear to carry a strong social message based on prevalent ideas, prejudices and conflicts among people. It brings to mind the movie, Hawaii, in which the white man's ways and beliefs were supposed to transform the local inhabitants but as it turned out, the well-meaning visitors had much to learn from the island people's customs and beliefs. In a way it's a lesson for us all that we should respect cultural differences, customs and values. As the saying goes, There are many roads that lead to Rome. The episode of trying to spread their inventive wings and fly was great fun to watch and O'Toole's furry feet were a hilarious footnote to the scene. I regret some of the violence enacted but then those days were not always pleasant times. A happier ending would have been nice. On the other hand this film makes you stop and think. One can observe the conflict of intellect versus soul wisdom being played out. It's a film well worth seeing.