Lord of the Flies (1963) Movie

I watched the Lord of the Flies (1963). It is in black and white. It is an adaptation of William Golding’s novel. It was directed by Peter Brook and produced by Lewis M. Allen.

It’s about a group of English schoolboys whom are plane-wrecked on a deserted island. They were being evacuated from England in World War II and had crashed. There are no living adults on the island. At first, the boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, build shelters, and maintain a fire. Ralph (played by James Aubrey) and Piggy (Hugh Edwards) are overseeing their efforts, while Jack (Tom Chapin)  is in charge of his choir boys/hunters. Jack is Ralph’s fiercest antagonist.

Ralph tries to maintain order and responsibility, but the other boys would rather play. It doesn’t take long for the boys to challenge or ignore his rules. Jack forms his own tribe and lures the other boys away from Ralph. The situation grows dire as the boys lose their innocence and turn towards evil.

The movie is okay. The movie stuck to very closely with the novel, which is nice. Its special effects aren’t that great, but it works. I also partly blame it on the resources and culture in 1963. It would have been better if the murdered boys had the stab wounds and blood to show what was actually done. I go back to that it may have been too gruesome for the viewers in the 1960s, but I cannot be sure. The boys that end up running around naked matches the book; it’s startling for me to see naked boys in a movie. The director did a great job at making sure that people weren’t seeing the boys’ unmentionable places.

Simon (Tom Gaman) was a little too quiet. He could have had a few more lines. The scene with him and the Lord of the Flies could have been improved with having the Lord of the Flies talking to him.

The movie didn’t pull me into it like other movies do. I felt a disconnected from it. I absolutely knew I was watching a movie.

Genres: Adaptation, Drama, War

Stars (out of 5): ***

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