|
Following a plane crash a group of schoolboys find themselves
on a deserted island. They appoint a leader and attempt to
create an organised society for the sake of their survival.
Democracy and order soon begin to crumble when a breakaway
faction forms and quickly regresses to brutal savagery with
horrifying consequences...
Almost
everyone knows the plot at the heart of The Lord of the
Flies as the book, and consequently the film, has been
required reading in UK schools as part of the O' Level (now
GCSE) syllabus for decades.
Peter
Brook's classic adaptation of William Goldring's novel has
lost none of the impact it made when given an X certificate
on its 1963 release. Shot with a raw style the film has a
chilling air of realism and still retains the power to shock.
While
the young actors range from poor to impressive, the end result
does do the source material justice. And to be honest, the
acting doesn't become much of an issue after a while. You
get wrapped up in the tale and even the worst performances
come across as believable.
What
makes this movie even more impressive is the fact that hardly
anyone on the production had any real movie experience.
While
the movie is a classic piece of film making, this DVD release
is a little disappointing. The only extra on the disc, the
audio commentary, was originally available on the Region 1
version which was released as a Criterion Collection disc.
All the other additional content from the Criterion Collection
is missing from this release - there aren't even subtitles
for the hard of hearing.
So
what are UK fans missing? Well, the Criterion Collection also
includes: excerpts
from the novel, read by author William Golding; a deleted
scene, with a reading by Golding and commentary; original
theatrical trailer, with commentary; production scrapbook,
home movies, outtakes; excerpts from Gerald Feil's 1972 documentary
The Empty Space, showing Brook's methods for creating
theatre; and English subtitles for the hearing impaired.
The
audio commentary reveals some interesting facts. For example
the children soon got bored on location and some of them threatened
to go on strike unless certain demands (like ice cream on
the set) weren't met. This was cleverly side-stepped by giving
the children behind the scenes jobs to keep them interested
in the film making process;
and there's the fact that the actor playing Piggy was really
scared when he had to film his final scene.
If
you can find the Criterion Collection I'd strongly recommend
that you purchase that edition instead. For £20, the
Second Sight release doesn't really represent value for money.
Pete
Boomer
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below
to purchase this item.
|
|
|
£14.99
(Amazon.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£11.99
(Play.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£11.99
(HMV.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£13.89
(Sendit.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£12.47
(Thehut.com) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
