Lord of the Flies

     William Golding won the literature Nobel Prize several years ago; it's been said all of his novels deal with human nature's dark side, now I begin to understand that. I'm sad to say I have not read Golding's book nor I have watched the 1963 version of "Lord of the Flies", which is supossed to be better (according to critics).

An airplane containing a group of kids crashes into the sea, they reach a deserted island and the only adult is the injured pilot. The kids seem to belong to certain academy, so they're used to being strict and respect the leaders. Ralph (Balthazar Getty) is chosen as the leader, he wants the kids to work as a group and doesn't want to see them playing around. But the kids are all alone in the island, with no grownups, not even more clothes than what they're wearing, some of them don't want to be following orders all the time. Jack (Chris Furrh) is the one that first turns against Ralph, he and his 'gang' are bulding another camp, a camp for kids who want to have fun.

Eventually most of the kids end up in Jack's group, leaving Ralph almost by himself. The two bands fight over a knife and Piggy's glasses, that are used to make fire. Now here's where the dark side of the human mind starts to show, the kids just get wilder every day, the level of savagery keeps increasing to the point where people die. That's what the conditins have led the kids to, they've completely forgoten everything about manners and civilization and now don't even think twice before killing another person. They've become murderes, and Ralph is all on his own.

That's basically what it's all about, the entire process of the beggining of both bands, their leaders, the followers, the change in their conduct, the fatal results. I liked the direction here, most of the scenes were nicely shot. The film is a bit slow at times, but I guess it's impossible not to be while telling this particular story.

Most of the kids weren't that great, that's why nearly all of them have never been on screen ever since, with the exception of Balthazar Getty, the lead character, who's still acting. I believe this quite an interesting story, with an interesting meaning, but I reckon it's not the most pleasant film to watch, at many points during the firs half I wanted to stop watching it. Still, I'd recommend it anyways, it was well done and greatly written.

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