(1963) Written and directed by Peter Brook; Based on the
novel by William Golding; James Aubrey, Tom Chapin, Hugh Edwards, Roger Elwin
and Tom Gaman; Available on Blu-ray and DVD
Rating: ***½
“All I wanted was a small sum of money, no script; just
kids, a camera, and a beach.”
– Peter Brook (excerpt from Peter Brook’s autobiography, The
Shifting Point)
“Grown-ups know things. They ain’t afraid of the dark.
They’d meet and have tea, and discuss, and things would be all right.” – Piggy
(Hugh Edwards)
I’m honored to have been invited to participate in the first
ever blogathon hosted by Paul Batters of Silver Screen Classics,
the 2020 Classic Literature on Film Blogathon. May this be the first of many blogathons to come.
Director Peter Brook’s
(mostly known for his work in the theater) mostly faithful adaptation of
William Golding’s enduring novel captures the source material’s key events, illustrating
what happens when a group of boys stranded on an island are left to their own
devices. Set on a remote South Pacific isle, Lord of the Flies was filmed on location in Puerto Rico and off
the coast on the island of Vieques. Adding to the realism of the production, Brook
cast boys without previous acting experience, which proves to be a boon and
detriment.
The opening title
sequence, told in a montage of photos, establishes the boys’ sheltered
lifestyle back home in England. After their chartered flight crashes,
with no surviving adults, it becomes clear that the boys must fend for
themselves if they hope to survive. Attempting to maintain some semblance of order, the children elect
a leader, Ralph (James Aubrey). Almost immediately, he’s at odds with Jack (Tom
Chapin), a choir boy who leads a pack of hunters. While Ralph endeavors to preserve
the status quo as the de facto chief (“The rules are the only thing we’ve
got.”), he finds his control giving way to Jack, who rules with fear and
intimidation.
While the actors playing Ralph and Jack do an admirable job,
Hugh Edwards first and only film role as Piggy is a trifle underwhelming. As established
in Golding’s book, Piggy is the moral and intellectual center, representing Ralph’s
conscience and a thorn in belligerent Jack’s side. A conch shell, which Piggy discovers
on the beach, becomes an important symbol of law and order amidst chaos. When Jack
and his followers fail to respect what the conch represents, it’s another sign
of a shift in power. Unfortunately, Edwards reads his lines rather than
acts them, and his wooden performance diminishes the impact of his scenes.
In the translation from book to screen, one casualty is the significance
of the title, made clear in the novel but more oblique in the film. A festering
pig’s head on a pike, covered in flies, remains a powerful image, however. The
Beast, which figures prominently in the book and movie, is a manifestation of
the children’s fears and uncertainty about the unknown. It’s something they can
ignore or conquer (with disastrous results). One of the smaller boys, Simon,
observes, in a moment of lucidity before his descent into madness, “Maybe it’s
only us.” We’re reminded the most formidable opponent is ourselves.
Lord of the Flies is a story that, given our planet’s
current events, couldn’t have been timelier. Although the dramatis personae are
children, it’s a cynical, yet sadly accurate microcosm of society. Left to our
own devices, many of us might likely resort back to a more primal state, where violence
and rash behavior supersede intellect and compassion. The film illustrates how
typical schoolyard behavior that many may dismiss as a rite of passage (cliques,
bullying and scapegoating), unchecked, can have fatal consequences. Compared to
the book, the events in the film seem accelerated, and perhaps they should be.
Brook opined that it wouldn’t have taken very long for the kids, without
direction, to lapse into anarchy. Constructs like civilization and laws are a
veneer to the ugliness that lies underneath. Lord of the Flies is an exploration
of the end of innocence, and human nature at its darkest.
