L'Île oubliée

I watched this movie during my English Class a few weeks back, and I have to say, it was rather disappointing. I loved the book, the story was very interesting, unlike anything I've ever read. When we watched the movie, I knew it would be different, but I didn't think it would be THIS different. The story almost completely changes, nothing but the bear bones of the book are left, and it made me sort of angry. It was cartoonish, and lacked any symbolism whatsoever. The book was great because of it, and here it lacks something. I feel that someone who hasn't read the book will laugh, they probably wouldn't understand what is going on. So much of the plot was taken out. The acting is okay though, Balthazar Getty does a good job as Ralph. Despite the boys being American here, he reminded me of the Ralph in the book.

After a plane crash in the ocean, a group of military students reach an island. The boy Ralph (Balthazar Getty) organizes the other kids, assigning responsibilities for each one. When the rebel Jack Merridew (Chris Furrh) neglects the fire camp and they lose the chance to be seen by a helicopter, the group split under the leadership of Jack. While Ralph rationalizes the survival procedures, Jack returns to the primitivism, using the fear for the unknown (in a metaphor to the religion) and hunger to control the other boys. His group starts hunting and chasing pigs, stealing the possession of Ralph's group and even killing people.

I found this impressive movie very scary, since it shows the behavior of children (and human beings) fighting to survive in a society without perspective and rules. My immediate association was with my and other Third World countries, where many children are abandoned by the Government in their poor communities, and without education, perspectives in life and laws, become very young criminals working in gangs of drug dealers and thieves. In this movie, it is exposed how primitive a kid can be without the authority and respect, and this sort of violence is in the headlines of our newspapers almost every day. There are many discussions presently in Brazil about juvenile criminality. I have never the chance of reading this visionary novel; therefore I can not comment is it is a good or a bad adaptation, but I found this movie a frightening study of characters and sociology. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Senhor das Moscas" ("The Lord of the Flies")

I could nitpick for ages about this film - however I will confine it to mentioning that numerous anachronisms abound in the movie - while it's supposed to be reasonably faithful to the original novel to the point of the children not knowing what day it is, or what time it is, the actors can be seen wearing watches in several scenes. Add in the excessive use of swear-words among the children, and it definitely leaves something lacking that exists in the novel.

Ironically enough, I saw the movie first before reading the novel, but grew to enjoy the novel much more than the movie.

I hope to one day see the black and white 1960s-era version.

I usually read and hear about this Hollywood remake copping a real shellacking when compared to the original 1963 British b/w version and that of William Golding's 1954 novel of the same title. I don't mind this 90's update, but that's considering I haven't read the book or even watched the first film adaptation. The concept (civilized children struggling with order and reverting to savagery to survive and dominate) would have been disturbing back in those times, but now nothing is too surprising. What disappointed me more than anything was that the drama of the situation isn't as powerful or gripping as it should have been. While it's beautifully photographed in presenting the lush island and accumulates an expressively grandeur score, it still does feel a little empty, tidy and mundane when it needed to be raw, passionate and intense for any real impression. I guess there was too much easy-going scenic and textual activity on director Harry Hook's part. Even when it finally busts its guts (in the dying 15 minutes), you can say it was too late and too short to draw much empathy and dramatic suspense. There are exemplary performances by Chris Furrh and Balthazar Getty. Furrah as the bold, rebellious lad who counter-punches Getty's calm, persistently hopeful leader. Danuel Pipoly is the only one of the remaining cast to standout in some shape. Might not be anything grand or rewarding, but it keeps you watching to the very end.

I've read the book so many times and after seeing the first 1963 adaptation of the movie I admit I was a little let down. I was surprised they didn't put in the Simon scene (which is probably one of the most important scenes in the book) and a lot of other important things they missed out on. But then, once I found out there was another version of the movie I quickly rented it. But let me tell you something; This is movie is much worse than the first one, and does an awful job of telling the storyline. Although the boys were very adorable (I'll admit that)that still didn't make up for the bad acting job they did. Plus, I was really confused on why the director chose to make a nonexistent captain the most important symbol in the book. Why he did that is beyond me. So anyways, my point is, if your looking for a good movie based on the book, you should probably just stick to the first one, and don't waste your money on renting/buying this movie.