Inferno ou Paraíso

Two people who barely know each other, spend a year on an island together. They suffer malnutrition, stormy weather, and just plain I'm-sick-of-you-itis. I managed to catch this movie a while back on cable. I love watching movies from England, Australia or New Zealand because they're so different from what I'm used to. This movie didn't disappoint there. There was only one thing missing from this movie to make it totally realistic. Amanda Donohoe played a young, presumably fertile woman on an island for 12 months and never so much as had PMS, if you catch my drift. Forgive me, but as a woman, this is something I think of *whenever* I think about being stranded *anywhere* for months at a time. All in all, though, a very entertaining movie.

Roeg is always interesting and challenging so I make a point of watching his films even though I don't always like them. This film reminded me of Bad Timing, in the sense that it is a movie about an incompatible couple drawn together for the wrong reasons, their relationship put under duress and under the microscope of a reality they can't escape from, until everything snaps.

He has an obsessive, idealistic fantasy about living on a desert island with a woman, her reasons are never made clear, but they both seem to want the adventure so they ignore their problems during their first few months of their relationship, and embark on the survivalist project. The problems start already on the first day, with his ideals and fantasies getting in the way of real work that needs to be done, and she takes all the wind out of his sails by suddenly denying him any more sex, and nagging him to do more house-wo... I mean island-work.

At least that's the way I see it. Watching this movie, I found myself constantly wondering what's going on in his mind. His mind seems to be a mess, his behaviour is extremely erratic, and everything he does is criticized by her, blatantly chauvinistic to the point of being a caricature, or just wrong. He doesn't feel like a real person. Whereas she can do no wrong, and her emotional needs are explained to death.

And then it dawned on me: This is a one-sided story told only from the woman's side, consisting of rants against a man she doesn't like nor understand, who finds herself in a survivalist adventure that didn't match her romantic ideals.

Imagine my lack of surprise when I looked up the credits and found that this is based on a real-life adventure book written from her point of view.

Another flaw is the lack of realism and changes in their always-displayed nude bodies, Roeg having to insert awkward shots of another emaciated body to convey the idea that they are in bad health. Compare this with Tom Hanks' physical work in his desert island movie.

In summary: I like the idea, I like the acting, I like Roeg's constantly challenging cinematic work and inventive methods of telling a story, but the material this is based on feels fundamentally flawed and biased, with Reed's character making no sense as a result. This is fatal in a character study.

After Walkabout this is Nic Roeg's most beautiful film. Stunning photography by Harvey Harrison complements the story of two loners who set out to live on a deserted Pacific island for a whole year. Oliver Reed and Amanda Donohoe are both excellent as the two frustrated Britons who don't exactly enjoy their year together.

Castaway is based on the novel by Lucy Irvine about a young woman answering an ad in the paper placed by a man seeking a wife, to live with him on an island. Oliver Reed is perfectly cast as the gruff, thickly bearded 50yrs+ man who places the ad. And for once in a brilliant casting decision, an actress was chosen who shares much chemistry with him onscreen! Amanda Donohue is the much younger blonde and an aura of sensuality about her chosen to play his reluctant love interest in the film, Lucy. His young bride is only interested in learning island life, and the frustrated Gerald broods and seethes as young Lucy parades either naked, or wearing the tiniest of loin cloths. She is ever the tease and as she becomes more accustomed to island life, Gerald silently broods in his own lust. She has no interest in this man old enough to be her father, other than basic companionship. Gerald has other ideas. The movie is full of powerful scenes of the struggle of the sexes, and beautifully shot on a gorgeous island. Gerald and Lucy heat up the screen, and it is the contrast in their ages, and physical make-up that only add to the film. The story deals with their trials and tribulations, and contains many interesting twists. It builds up to a fantastic climax that shows the viewer the fate of both characters. Very powerful film, and beautifully cast, Castaway is highly recommended. More films of this nature should be made.

Don't be misled by other comments posted here. The original uncensored version of this film shows Amanda Donohoe full frontal completely nude (yes, pubic hair and all). In fact she is fully nude in many, many scenes and with long lingering shots (almost voyeuristic).

She is a very beautiful woman and her nudity made the film far more realistic for 2 reasons. One is that people do often go about nude when there is nobody around, her nudity helped to convincingly portray a sense of isolation. Secondly, as a man I can get a sense of the frustration that Reed has when he sees her walking about and he can't touch.

I feel bad for the people who have seen this movie censored because there is very frequent high level nudity in this film, which means that the censored version would have been cut to ribbons. This may also explain the experience some people had with "short scenes" or "scenes that ended abruptly".

A very good film worth while watching (uncensored).