Lord of the Flies (1963)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Peter Brook

Writers:

Peter Brook (writer)
William Golding (novel)

Release Date:

13 August 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Evil is inherent in the human mind, whatever innocence may cloak it...

Plot:

Shipwrecked on an island, the castaway boys eventually revert to savagery despite the few rational kids' attempts to prevent that.

Plot Keywords:

Boy | Island | Stranded | Hunting | Survivor

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

James Aubrey	...	Ralph
Tom Chapin	...	Jack
Hugh Edwards	...	Piggy
Roger Elwin	...	Roger
Tom Gaman	...	Simon
Roger Allan	...	Piers
David Brunjes	...	Donald
Peter Davy	...	Peter
Kent Fletcher	...	Percival Wemys Madison
Nicholas Hammond	...	Robert
Christopher Harris	...	Bill
Alan Heaps	...	Neville
Jonathan Heaps	...	Howard
Burnes Hollyman	...	Douglas
Andrew Horne	...	Matthew

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:AA (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-11 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

Company:

Two Arts Ltd.

Trivia:

Once filming began, Peter Brook largely dispensed with the script and encouraged his young cast to improvise. He shot over 60 hours of footage which was then edited down into a 90-minute film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Simon leaves the shelters on the beach, he is shirtless. Yet when he watches Jack and the hunters kill the pig, he is wearing a clean, white shirt. Later when we see Simon again, he is shirtless once again.

Quotes:

Jack: We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English! And the English are best at everything!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Infested (2002)

Notorious eyebrow raiser wonders why child cast are under fire.

May I start by saying a pox on those who do not love the cast.

I honestly can't see why you complain. I love the book; I didn't need to read it for school, but I read it anyway and enjoyed it. I understood the message Golding brought about. Then why am I not offended by this movie as I was by Lord of the Rings?

This film is an excellent translation of Golding's novel. It is stark, bold and well directed. The young cast are frighteningly talented, especially Chapin and Edwards. This has everything I expected and much more. Perhaps I was wishing for a more vivid "Lord of the Flies" scene, but it brought it's message across and kept everything in the book alive. I marvel every time I see Edwards' Piggy. I can't understand the capacity the boy had at such an age. Jack was well portrayed also, as was Ralph.

The ending was perfect. I admit the music did throw me off a tad but everything else just came so willingly. The emotions of the boys practically leaked out through to me, and that one little boy in particular (I've forgotten his name, I'm afraid - is it Percy?) looking up at the sea-captain just personified everything that the ending symbolised. This film is one of my favourites and I cannot see how anyone could fault it so drastically.