LORD OF THE FLIES

William Golding’s classic anti-Utopia depicts the decline of “civilization” into anarchy and barbarism when a group of adolescent schoolboys find themselves castaway without adults on a tropical island in the midst of World War II. At first Ralph tries to organize a mini-democracy based on respect and free speech (the “conch”) in order to build and maintain a fire to serve as a beacon for rescue. But the young boys increasingly come under the spell of Ralph’s rival, Jack, the choirmaster-turned-hunter, as the society breaks down into a carnivorous orgy of superstition, brutality, and holocaust. The video is Peter Brook’s 1963 version. DVD features include: fully restored widescreen picture and sound; audio commentary from the filmmakers; excerpts from the novel read aloud by William Golding; a deleted scene; theatrical trailer; production scrapbook with photos, video, and outtakes; excerpts from Gerald Fells’s 1972 documentary, The Empty Space, on Brook’s directorial methods; and closed captions. Black-and-white. 90 minutes.

“This brilliant work is a frightening parody of man’s return . . . to that state of darkness from which it took him thousands of years to emerge. . . Superbly written.”
—The New York Times

“Remarkable . . . here [Golding] presents the universe, under the guise of a school adventure on a coral island.”
—E. M. Forster

“Though its subject was timely, it possessed all the timelessness of a myth.”
—Malcolm Bradbury

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