As Aventuras de Robinson Crusoé

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.

On 30 September 1659, the ship of the aristocratic British Robinson Crusoe (Daniel O'Herlihy) sinks and he miraculously survives in a deserted island somewhere in South America. He retrieves the dog Rex and the cat Sam, together with some supplies, weapons, clothes and tools from the shipwreck; builds a shelter; and learns how to survive, cooking, farming, harvesting the crop and gathering a cattle. Then the loneliness disturbs him, especially after the loss of Rex. When he sees a group of cannibals in the island, tension and fear become part of his life. Later he saves the life of a savage that was going to be eaten by the cannibals; he names him Friday (Jaime Fernández) and they become friends. When Robinson Crusoe sees Caucasians in the island, he finds that Captain Oberzo (Felipe de Alba) was the victim of a mutiny and he helps him to retrieve his ship. After twenty-eight years, two months and nineteen days, Robinson Crusoe leaves the island to return to the civilization.

"Robinson Crusoe" was my favorite novel in my childhood and I do not know how many times I have read this book. Luis Buñuel, who is one of my favorite directors, makes a faithful transposition of this timeless story of survival, loneliness, fear and friendship to the cinema. This is probably the first conventional movie of Buñuel that I have ever seen and his usual surrealism is limited to the sickness and daydream of Robinson Crusoe. Daniel O'Herlihy is a perfect Robinson Crusoe and this movie is recommended for the whole family. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Robinson Crusoé" ("Robinson Crusoe")

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.

It's a movie that draws you in , even though it portrays the very tedium of being stranded alone years on an island with just a dog and a cat. This movie is in such need of a restoration as the prints are grainy and the color muddy.