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From the Page to the Screen – Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies is a 1954 allegorical novel written by William Golding. It’s not a great book, but it’s still an effective thematically speaking novel which spoke volumes about the human condition and the darkness that looms beneath all of us. It’s a classic, respected novel which naturally got its cinematic treatment and it got two films actually.

THE 1963 VERSION

The 1963 version was the first cinematic adaptation of this story, coming exactly 9 years after the novel was released. It was directed by Peter Brook and starred James Aubrey. Although most would regard this film so well, I personally found it quite flawed.

PLOT

The plot of the film is so incredibly faithful to the novel itself that I may call it ridiculously faithful. Entire sequences were recreated in the exact same order, including the conversations themselves. Although I like my adaptations to be faithful, this was honestly too much and the film needed to stand out more from the source material.

WINNER – BOOK

CHARACTERIZATION

Although the acting is so mediocre excluding pretty good James Aubrey, the kids themselves are quite well utilized as characters and that’s probably the best part of this movie, including their interactions. They are just as good as in the book.

WINNER – TIE

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EMOTION

The original novel certainly isn’t emotional and is too cold, but that’s also the point as it tries to make you feel despair and hopelessness in the kids’ situation. The film followed that again extremely closely, but the novel did it first.

WINNER – BOOK

THEMES

This is obviously the category where the book trumps the cinematic adaptation the most. Yes, the film is effective in its ending and overall message, but it’s far from the book’s many well explored, amazing themes.

WINNER – BOOK

TECHNICAL ASPECTS

I would say this one’s a tie. The novel is very well written with particularly the dialogue being fantastic and some descriptions, but the film itself is shot on a real island with beautiful black-and-white photography.

WINNER – TIE

BOOK 5: FILM 2

Although the first film ended up being pretty solid, it’s never great unfortunately. Yes, the characterization and photography are great, but the themes are lacking and it’s too faithful to the much better and much more sophisticated novel.

THE 1990 VERSION

The second major adaptation of the book came in 1990. Directed by Harry Hook and starring Balthazar Getty and Chris Furrh, it utterly failed at the box office and it continues to receive mixed reviews which is unfortunate as the film is quite good and in my opinion highly underrated.

PLOT

Again, the plot remains much better in the book. Yes, here the film isn’t too faithful and I loved some changes personally, but for the most part, even though the adventure elements are better, the drama is much more effective in the source material.

WINNER – BOOK

CHARACTERIZATION

The acting here is pretty solid, especially from the two leads, plus I found most of the characters and their interactions satisfactory which again leads to a tie in this particular category.

WINNER – TIE

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EMOTION

I would personally go and say that this film is more emotional than the book itself. The book is horrible and blunt which makes an effect, but Ralph’s speech in particular after Simon’s death and the final scene where he breaks down in front of a man are much more effective and poignant in the movie.

WINNER – FILM

THEMES

The movie is again too straightforward and certainly not a thinking piece of material whereas the book as at its strongest when exploration the darkness of the human mind, the dangers of isolation and our animalistic instincts.

WINNER – BOOK

TECHNICAL ASPECTS

I loved the jungle scenery in this film and the color photography is gorgeous. The island is so well utilized which led to some particularly strong adventure scenes. Again, this category is most definitely a tie.

WINNER – TIE

BOOK 4: FILM 3

Now this was a better fight and even though the book clearly won and is much better of course, this flick from 1990 still remains immensely underrated and actually my favorite when it comes to the two cinematic adaptations. Such a solid movie.