James

I've grown to appreciate this film even more than I used to do back when I first logged it. I loved every single part of it and though some people are right that it can feel exasperating with how fast it advances, I don't think they're seeing it for what it actually is and that fact alone hurts my soul. Sadly, a lot of filmed content was cut and even if they wanted to make it last longer, they weren't allowed to. It would have helped a lot, but that's just how things are. The acting can get quite silly at times, that's true. Sometimes it's alright, sometimes it's not. They're kids after all, kids that didn't really have a script, kids that were fairly new to acting, and they did what they could. I think that's something that should be treasured a little more. They never even looked at the camera, they were always looking at whichever boy was talking, that's impressive by itself. I can't even keep my eyes off the camera when someone is recording me and I'm a grown man. The only problem is that sometimes the lines needed way more emotion than they could give. But in my opinion, the roughness of the performances makes the descent into violence feel less theatrical and more believable. You're judging a low budget old film like it was something made with today's standards. Appreciate the scenery for once and have a little fun. It's not a perfect adaptation, but it's the most loyal and the best one there is and I don't think we'll ever get anything that outdoes it. Golding himself enjoyed and approved it, that says enough for me. There were little to no new lines added to this, everything is said just like in the book, sometimes shortened a little or with lines switching places. If you like the way it's written, you'll probably like the film too! Most of the people complaining about how "boring" this is aren't crazy fans like me and the other half of the fandom that enjoys the adaptation. This is clearly not for you, go watch the trashy 90s movie instead. Okay, now talking about the actual content. Piggy's character is way softer than what you can see in the book and other adaptations, he seems a little submissive and speaks in such a calm manner, like he doesn't really care about anything. That's something that has left me with a weird feeling ever since I watched the film for the first time. You expect something more from him and never really get it, not even as the movie progresses. He deserved way better than this even if he pissed me off a little. All the scenes where the kids are having fun and laughing feel so real, it's honestly really sweet to see watch. At the same time, it seems like they were difficult to control and that just adds to the whole atmosphere. They were talking a lot and moving all around, literally just being themselves. Even so, it feels way calmer than how real kids behave when they're in a group, I can hardly stand seeing them running everywhere and screaming in my ear. (I went to my aunt's place and my nephews pissed me off, how could you tell?) When the choir introduces themselves, I couldn't help but think "huh, Bill looks way more like Roger than Roger himself". I later realized I was wrong about that, he's very clearly perfect for the role. I found some info on him and apparently, the actor "spent a good deal of the summer catching lizards and throwing them into fires", among other things. Gosh, that boy was an actual menace! That's the most Roger behavior I've ever seen. The scene where Jack tries to kill the pig for the first time and fails feels like it lacked something. In the book they talk about it for a bit, leaving the conversation in couldn't have been that hard. There, it explains that the enormity of the knife cutting into living flesh and the unbearable blood frightened him. He still feels human and still feels like a scared little boy, even if he says next time there would be no mercy. It's sad that Simon was mostly just... there. He didn't really do or say anything important enough to fully show his personality, but I think you can still see how innocent and sweet he was with the little things he did. He picked up Piggy's glasses, gave him food when Jack didn't want to give him any, we can even see him enjoying nature, playing with lizards and touching plants. And still, in that moment where he's appreciating the island's living things, we can see Jack's hatred for him, like when he was touching a plant with such carefulness and Jack cuts it just like that without saying anything. God, what a little fucker he can be. (Unrelated but in the meeting right after that, Jack doesn't have his beret on when he's sitting on the ground, but he does when he starts talking. What?) Why did they even make "a big blaze that would last all night"? Boy, who on earth is gonna see that when the sky is dark? You have to be joking. Sometimes you expect Jack to be smart enough and he always disappoints. Even after saying that, he's still my favorite character in this. He's very complex and a little more likeable if you read the book, where he talks about his fears and feels ashamed about stuff, still showing traits of innocence now and then. Some people treat Jack enjoyers like they're the devil themselves but if you can't enjoy antagonistic characters without bringing stupid morals into it, you shouldn't be allowed to interact with media at all. I'm sorry. After I found out how old Tom Chapin was here, I really couldn't stop thinking about it. The first time I just thought "Oh wow, he's very tall" but I never imagined anything else. I will NEVER believe Jack was actually 12 because DAMN. It's obvious he was almost fully developed since the only reason some of his scenes needed post-production dubbing was the loss of his british accent, unlike James Aubrey whose voice dropped during filming. Still, Jack's voice is really funny, isn't it? I can hardly take it seriously sometimes. I think the miniseries made a way better job with the parachutist, it made more sense and that's probably one of the few things I can actually appreciate from it. I mean, it's really hard to believe a bunch of boys would be scared of a guy with a helmet, don't you think? "But they're kids!!" Yeah, they're kids but they're not stupid. I always laugh at that scene and the way they run away screaming in terror. The scene where Jack decides to split from the group and hopes someone will join him is a little sad. He was so embarrassed that other people saw him that way. In the book it's obviously way worse, he keeps asking over and over if anyone will join him, to be greeted with the silence again and again until he finally gets the message and walks away with a red face and humiliating tears building up in his eyes. At the end of the day, he's still just a kid like everyone else there. A clearly insecure boy who later decides to hide his shame behind a mask. The scene of the dance is something simply incredible. They're kids at their full potential, screaming and running wild. It was giving me a headache only seeing it! Simon's death may not hit too hard since there's simply not enough of the character in the film and it's difficult to connect with him, but it's still depressing because all we see him do is good actions for others and care about the little things in life. The way the boys immediately blame him for his own death is very depressing. I won't even say what my mind compares it to. I have to say that I really, REALLY didn't appreciate having to look at naked kids near the end. Even if they try to not show too much, it was very uncomfortable for me. I feel like they could have done something way different or just... not do this at all. It doesn't add anything to the plot and honestly, why even do such a thing? "If you can't see that kind of stuff as something completely normal and natural, that's your problem!" Yeah, maybe that's true, but I'm a very traumatized individual and it just isn't pleasant for me. And obviously not for a lot of people by today's standards either. Piggy's death is kind of funny, yes, but not because of what happens, not really if you think about it. It's funny because they cut it in such a strange moment. It doesn't even feel like he finished screaming before it abruptly ends a few seconds in. It's incredibly out of place and that's the only reason why some people can't take it seriously... Or at least that's what I want to believe, I don't want to imagine it any other way. Also, no footage of the conch breaking? Lame. I like the change that Jack also looks completely stunned after Piggy dies, just like Ralph. It makes you feel like there's still a little humanity left in that cruel, cruel boy and even if it makes him feel less menacing than in the book, it makes him feel more real, which is something I appreciate. Chapin did such a great job and it's honestly hard to believe he didn't end up pursuing an acting career. Jesus, I can't even imagine anyone else as Jack! He did it better than every actor that came after him and has the whole vibe going on without even trying too hard. It's true that the ending feels like whatever, mostly because it feels like the naval officer was always there, just watching the chaos unfold without a care in the world. And he just... stands there without even saying anything? Pushing that aside, it's quite sweet and sad to see a Percival touching him as if he can't believe what he's seeing is actually real. At that point he can't even remember his name and address... Oh, those poor littluns. They barely understood what was happening.

When post-nut clarity hits so hard you have to start a nuclear war. No, but really, did y'all know that paranoia Ripper had was actually a real thing back then? A conspiracy theory the far right made about water fluoridation. They said it was a "communist plot" designed to weaken American minds and impose a socialist regime. People later realized how stupid it all sounded and just dropped it. Hilarious, isn't it? Honestly, this is the weirdest comedy I've ever seen and that also makes it one of the best. Exaggerated movements at times, dumb quotes that will be stuck in my brain forever, great performances and amazing scenography. Some stuff was predictable and even so, it made me laugh when it really happened. It's sad that it doesn't have enough Dr. Strangelove because he was the absolute best. I don't know as much as I'd like to about the Cold War, but I didn't feel like it was something really necessary to watch it either. I enjoyed it very much with the little knowledge I have. It's a great satire and it makes its point very straight. We're still so damn dumb, paranoid and useless.

I don't like logging tv shows on here but I'll do it for this one. "This is the perfect adaptation!!" Yes. But no. I'm glad we got a really emotional adaptation, I'm not glad of the thousand changes there were in the story. I made a list of all my thoughts as the episodes progressed. Mind you, I had my book in hand the whole time. (I should watch this again) (My original thoughts were in spanish so I used a translator cuz I'm lazy, if anything sounds weird lmk) Eight minutes into the first episode, the directing made me want to throw up a little. There are some pretty trippy camera movements and a scene where the editing cut was so bad that it stuck in my head and might never leave. But hey, it’s not all chaos, the sets are impeccable, and the detail of the kids looking VERY red and sunburned in a harsh way gives it a gritty realism that’s appreciated. In other adaptations, it wasn’t a big deal, but here you can even see scabs, SCABS, I TELL YOU! Jack doesn’t introduce himself by his last name. In the book, even though he mentions his name, he insists on being called Merridew. It’s an important part of the scene, he thinks of himself as an adult, someone superior and more serious than the others. That “Why should I be Jack? I’m Merridew” marks his arrogance from the very first second, and here you feel like it’s missing Changes in the conversations and the order of the dialogue to make it sound more natural, I really liked that. They very much feel like kids being kids, playing and enjoying the moment until everything starts falling apart, but there are still some conversations that are too cut short and don’t feel right (I forgot to mention that there are some very noticeable echoes of Peter Brook’s film; there are scenes where the children play with little crabs and other animals that are literally identical to those in the movie) I’m really annoyed by the current obsession with having perfect protagonists; I don’t like that Ralph is portrayed as completely innocent here. Right at the beginning of the book, it’s clear that he can be a jerk at times, he’s the main reason Piggy gets bullied more. He revealed his secret at the first opportunity he had. Ralph may be a good person, but he still made human mistakes, and that’s what makes him real. Following up on that thought, it seems like Ralph does care about Piggy from the start, and because of that, we lose that arc where he matures and learns to value both Piggy and his advice. The whole point of their relationship is that growth forced by tragedy. There are lines of dialogue that were changed to avoid racism and lowkey xenophobic ideas that were common in the ’50s, good on them for that (remember how in the book they use the N-word to describe savage people? Over time it was changed to “Indians,” but that wasn’t exactly better either). The line I saw that was changed wasn’t a big deal, but it’s still worth pointing out. Another comment about Ralph because this situation bothers me a bit. I don’t think they should have made him mixed, and it’s not because of racism or anything like that, don’t get me wrong. Pitting a white leader against a black one online is going to derail the conversation into superficial racism, ignoring the fact that the original work critiques how white “Western civilization” crumbles just as quickly as any other. The book is an allusion to British imperialism, do you realize how bad that sounds with that context in mind? Plus, it’s ironic that they changed Ralph when there were characters who WERE people of color and they made them white with blue eyes. Roger was dark-skinned, Simon too, and not a single adaptation shows them that way. Hmm... I like the actors in here nonetheless; Roger is a bit unsettling, just as he should be, and Simon looks like a scruffy little dog. But I’d like to see the characters as they’re described in the book. To this day, we don’t even have a red-haired Jack, he’s always blond. There are changed scenes that add depth, like Jack and Piggy trying to hunt. Jack gets scared, doesn’t know what to do, and starts to doubt himself; the pig escapes, and he ends up blaming Piggy. That sense of inferiority and the fragility of Jack’s ego are very well portrayed. Roger!!! We’ve never really seen Roger on screen before. The other versions largely overlook him, even though he’s such an important character to the story. Here, even though he sometimes disappears, he has a stronger presence than ever. He’s evil by nature; from the very beginning, we see him playing pranks on younger kids to scare them, and he even mentions that he used to burn ants with a magnifying glass and found it fascinating, he even had a rhyme about it. He’s that latent sadist that Golding described so well, and I love it. Piggy is more independent, outspoken, and stands up for himself, even knowing they might beat the crap out of him (even so, he doesn’t stay quiet without putting up a verbal fight first) I find it off-putting that in this version they give Piggy a real name because the book had a good reason not to. It completely dehumanizes him and emphasizes that he’s an outcast. And let’s not even mention how important it is to his death too! Hunters kill pigs, and they end up killing him also. It’s too powerful a symbolism to break by giving him a common name. The scene where Jack climbs up to get a piece of the plane seems out of character to me; in the end, the others show fear that he’ll fall and tell him he should come down, to which he eventually gives in. Jack is a character who has always done whatever he wants without letting other people’s decisions influence his way of thinking. At least in those scenes, he asks the others to keep his vulnerable moments a secret, that is understandable for someone like him. Can I just say that I don't like that the characters were given backstories? I think the whole point was that we didn't know anything about their past lives. It makes it seem like everything is the fault of how they were raised, and that’s not the case. It’s a book that literally questions whether humans are evil by nature or if it’s circumstances that make them that way, and you’re throwing in my face that the kids went through traumatic lives, boo-hoo, WHO CARES. The scene where Jack paints his face has so much more emotion than in the book, because there isn’t much dialogue there or it doesn’t seem important, but the context behind it is. The fact that he talks about it with Simon and Simon helps him creates a stronger connection between them that makes its future destruction hurt even more. The scene where they kill a pig for the first time is simply beautiful; it had me on the edge of my seat. I love the detail that Roger was the first to actually attack and hit it so many times until it was weak because it really reflects his character. In the end, the intermittent shock sets in among the boys; they’re all like, “What did we just do?” with sad or worried looks, which contrasts with Roger catching his breath while wearing a smile of absolute happiness on his face. OH MY GOD, THIS IS CINEMA. The added line of dialogue asking, “Now that she (the pig) is dead, does that mean her children will die too?” I think it's great when you stop to think about what it represents... I love Maurice (my interpretation is that it mirrors the situation they're in. They, too, are children who have lost their parental figures and are afraid of going through the same thing as the piglets). The groups split up way too early, and when I say way too early, I mean WAY too early. It feels so out of the blue; personally, I didn’t feel like we were even halfway through the story and they had already split up. Simon feeling rejected by everyone he’s ever loved in his life 😭😭😭😭 MY SON... The whole scene after they broke his heart was a beautiful performance; it’s sad to see how people keep labeling him as batty and how much that affects him, ugh... Simon’s death really hurts and is so brilliant narratively. I love the detail where he sees the missing children while he’s running away from “the beast” and even sees them during his death, never, but NEVER, had an adaptation done that before, and you know why? Because they’d never really developed the character. In the other adaptations, you can’t grow as attached to him as you do in this one and the original book. And now that they actually made the most of him, it leaves you with a knot in your stomach and a terrible urge to vomit. It’s not even because the scene is explicit or anything like that, it’s just knowing what’s happening and seeing that he was just an innocent kid in the worst possible circumstances. Plus, it’s the first adaptation where we can actually hear the words the Lord of the Flies says to Simon, and that hits way harder than you can imagine. Also, Piggy didn’t die instantly??? THEY THREW A HUGE ROCK AT HIS HEAD, you’ve got to be kidding me. In the book, they even mention that stuff spilled out of his head and that his legs and arms twitched like a pig after it has been killed. And yeah, his legs were twitching at one moment, but it’s pointless if you change a death as impactful as that. It’s a scene that left a lasting impression on kids from different generations, and you do this to it? Ugh, what a shame. The last chapter was the hardest to watch, and I wish it were because it’s so intense or whatever, but it’s because of all the changes they made and how little I care about Ralph as a character, to be honest. Audiovisual torture for true fans of the original work. The critics loved it, but what do they know? (It’s probably because I’m so attached to this book; people who haven’t read it might actually find it entertaining) (I feel like they changed Piggy's death to make the episode the desired length, because if they'd kept it as is, the episode would've been over in a flash. They would've just made three episodes and been done with it). Ralph’s despair when he finds the naval officer and tells him everything feels so real that it really breaks my heart a little. With red eyes and struggling to speak, he still takes the blame for everything (the leadership Jack wanted but refused to accept once it no longer suited him). Jack just standing there staring at him like a scolded dog was a fitting end for the character. In the end, what can I say about all this? Go check it out. Yeah, it’s not what you’d hope for, but it’s not bad at all. It’s better than the ’90s movie, if that’s any measure (the bar is set pretty low). My favorite episodes were the second and third. :)

I watched some clips of the musical and I have to say, this has a softer vibe around it that I don't know how it makes me feel. It's so clean for a time where everything is literally falling apart. It surprises me how the troubles in the world then and now seem to be the exact same. Honestly, the first hour or so really caught me, I felt like a lot of stuff was happening in such a short period of time and then, everything changed and it became slower (not that it bothers me). The songs are really catchy and I love the atmosphere, but I have a little ick and it's that I don't like the placement of the moment where Maybe This Time plays. The 1993 one was so perfect and it felt way more vulnerable. Also I want to say something, that scene where Brian was in the bush watching and made a dumb joke made me physically cringe. It was the most cuck energy I've felt and it was such a strange thing to witness.