I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Blistering performances.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

As a fan of the source material, I can honestly say that this classic film version of "Lord of the Flies" matches, and even exceeds the original novel in many ways. First of all, despite the original novel being gone of the most genuinely shocking and deeply disturbing books I have ever read (and the fact that the book is much more graphic than the film, and some of the book's most striking sequences are altogether ignored in this adaptation), I find this cinematic version to be even more creepy. While it isn't gruesome in any sense of the word, it manages to be more a psychologically damaging work.Mankind's descent into the inevitable pits of madness portrayed in Golding's controversial classic is powerfully captured on gritty black and white film as death and chaos reign. The film is shot in a cinema verite-type style; much of the film doesn't feel like a "film" at all, it feels real. Rather than any possibility of gore being the main aspect of this haunting work of art that is strikingly horrific, much of the terror comes from editing, camera movement, and atmosphere. everything builds up before at last exploding into violent horror at the very end. although it is not listed as such on IMDb at the current time, "Lord of the Flies" is a near masterpiece that I would label as a REAL horror movie.

As a big fan of William Golding's 1954 novel, I was eager to see Peter Brook's 1963 film, as I knew that Golding himself had shown approval of it. In the midst of a school trip (or evacuation as the film makes clear), a plane crashes into the Pacific Ocean. The only survivors are the children. Ralph (James Aubrey) is a natural benevolent leader who gets the group together and decides the first order of business is to make a fire so that they can be rescued. Piggy (Hugh Edwards) is the overweight adviser to Ralph, who although represents reason, is often picked on. Jack Merridew (Tom Chapin) is the malevolent choir boy, who seems to care little about being rescued, and whose desires are hunting and having a cult of personality. Although the boys are productive at first, Jack soon turns most boys against Ralph's democratic practices and begins a new tribe on the island. Soon almost all boys turn against Ralph. The film has very little theme music, and often relies on long running takes to illustrate the story. Cinematography is excellent and the child actors really do a good job. The film follows the novel very carefully and faithfully adapts it to screen. I enjoyed both the book and the movie fully.

I was not a fan of this novel. I want to start by saying that. The story goes that a bunch of British schoolboys are flying out of the UK during wartime, when their plane crashes on a deserted island. The young boys must survive on their own, developing rules and systems to keep themselves going. But as time goes on, religious like beasts are created within some of the boys minds, and the ideas spread quickly. One boy starts his own, individual tribe dedicated to hunting and killing the "beast" and many of the boys follow. These boys become savages and go against the remainder of the island. I don't like the story for many reasons, the main being that it seems too forced. The ideas are understandably a mirror to society and its culture, but done so in an unbelievable way. On top of that, this movie wasn't put together well. Bad acting across the board led to me constantly be taken out of the film. The cinematography was terrible in areas, but made up for it with some amazing and beautiful imagery.The film seemed to drag on for way too long in certain scenes. I just found so many things wrong with this film, and it was not one I would want to re-watch.Soundtrack: 8 Script: 4 Originality: 10 Cinematography: 5 Casting: 8 Acting: 3

Anyone coming to this probably knows how it starts, but the opening credits here do a great job of setting the stage. This is done with a sequence of still images: young boys in an English prep school, boys in a choir singing Kyrie Eleison, boys playing cricket, missiles, bombers, evacuation notices to the London airport, an atom bomb, a plane in the water. These images are inter-cut with a drumbeat soundtrack. No further back-story needed.Many serious themes are broached, the overarching one being to consider what would ensue if the thin veneer of civilization were stripped away. The ninety minutes of the movie follow Golding's book fairly closely and we get his take on the theme by following what happens to some thirty-odd kids on an isolated Pacific island. One of the boys, Ralph (James Aubrey), recognizes the need for organization and the need for a leader. A vote is taken and Ralph is elected, but another boy, Jack, is a rival. Jack, having been chief chorister at the school, gets all of the votes from the choirboys, but none others. Any relevance to contemporary politics is not coincidental. Initially things go all right, with tasks being apportioned: Jack will be in charge of hunting and keeping a fire going as a signal to any possible rescue ships. Ralph will oversee building huts and making executive decisions. Soon a power struggle develops between Ralph and Jack and Jack gets the upper hand, since he is the main provider of food.If you are so inclined, allegorical meanings abound, offering occasion for endless analysis and speculation. Segments of modern society are reflected in the personalities of the main characters: Ralph the reasoned leader representing civilization; Piggy, the intellectual, Ralph's friend and moral adviser; Simon the gentle, dispassionate truth seeker; Jack the militarist; Sam and Eric, the common man. The conclusion that savagery triumphs over good is depressing, but at least there is a recognition that there can be noble impulses embedded in our DNA. Jack makes a comment early on, "After all we're not savages. We're English and the English are best at everything." The irony of that statement is appreciated as the movie moves along.The origins of religion are shown to be rooted in fear, and used by the group in power to their advantage. The corpse of an airman is found and it is mistakenly taken to be a "beast" shrouded in mystery and feared. Jack, recognizing an opportunity, offers protection from the beast and sacrifices pig's heads to feed it to keep it at bay. Since young kids have the least exposure to civilizing influences (read restraints), the implication is that we are all part brute--unfettered ego and the will to power are what make most things go bad.If you are not inclined to allegory or deep meaning, then you can see this simply as an adventure showing what might happen to a bunch of school kids when set loose without authority. Their relationships become pretty much what they probably were in school: Jack, a closet bully; Ralph, a straight-up kid; Piggy, a fat intellectual who was picked on; Simon, a quiet thinker; Sam and Eric, congenial get along guys. They become who they truly are, which is scary to think about. I thought the child actors were quite good, especially for kids with little or no acting experience. They did not speak with great eloquence, they spoke as kids in a believable manner. Hugh Edwards makes a perfect Piggy. Aubrey plays the final scene with such emotion that it had a powerful impact on me; he communicates a sorrow bordering on despair. In that final scene he is made to look much older, which would indicate the effect his experiences on the island have had on him.Black and white is the right medium for this story, since it puts the focus on the kids and their faces. In color the kids would be overshadowed by the lush tropical island setting. The scene near the end where Ralph encounters the sailor is stunning in black and white. Panning up from the sailor's feet along the length of his brilliant white uniform is inspired. The spotless uniform offers a great contrast to the shape the kids were in.The score by Raymond Leppard is gently supportive while being mostly unobtrusive after the opening credits. The choir singing Kyrie Eleison as they march along the beach in their black robes will likely stick in your mind. Fragments of this song are repeated on several occasions throughout the movie. Leppard's score lets the tense drama unfold naturally without having to hit you over the head by what emotion you should be having. Many of the scenes play with no accompanying music; silence is used to great effect.Perhaps Walt Kelly's Pogo quote best sums up the takeaway: "We have met the enemy ... and he is us."