Lord Of The Flies - 7.5/10
Another reason Google sucks. When you type in the movie, you get some ****ty re-make. Respect the original, even if it isn't as good (which has never been the case).
I have seen this movie before, and after noticing it would be appearing on TCM, I decided it would be a good idea to see it again, since it has been a handful of years since initially viewing this.
I'm wont to like movies with simple stories, but encompass society. The movie is very political/social.
There are two groups that appear shortly after the movie begins. They realize they are stranded, but think "We'll survive, we're English" and mention democracy and have a vote on how to operate. The choir boys (initially dressed in black robes) are led by Jack (who I will call "Group #2"), but Ralph is elected as Chief (who I will call "Group #1"). They decide to have meetings to decide on how they are structured, and future decisions, using the conch shell for communication; to call out, and to hold as if it were a microphone and to have some order, with everyone else is silent while the one who holds the conch is listened to before further discussion takes place.
When Group #2 comes with the dead pig, Ralph looks a little defeated that it had nothing to do with his leadership and just sits and watches until one of the younger kids brings Ralph a big piece of pork (sounds like politics, eh?).
Jack who is the de-facto leader in part because he has a knife, kills a pig and they finally have something substantial to eat. Jack has the other choir boys responsible for keeping the fire going, but they become negligent and the passing aeroplane does not notice because the smoke has dissipated.
A nice young lad is told "Damn you for being weak", and like any society, those who aren't "useful" will not enjoy the benefits others have, enabling a caste system.
Jack seems emboldened after his bloodthirsty expedition, and breaks away by telling the others, "MY hunters will protect you from the beast, which could be a ghost" after one boy looks around and sees nothing after Piggy claims a giant squid could never come on land, to which Jack can only reply with "Who cares what you think, Fatty?" and smashes one of Piggy's spectacles, making him half-blind. Jack goes on and on about this mysterious "beast" - the age of misinformation and religion - having an answer to consolidate power by having a solution for something unknown, something that doesn't exist, but the boys are gullible, just like many who fall prey to superstition. Even on the hunt, the boys use face paint as if they were native warriors. Ralph even sticks the head of the dead animal on a stick as a tribute to the gods.
During a meeting, Ralph talks about rules, and Jack quickly interjects with "We hunt, who cares about the rules?" and mentions how Piggy can't do anything, with Ralph yelling back wondering how a boy with one-eye can do anything. Welfare. Not all people are equal, and to this day, it's a constant argument between the haves and have-not and what is fair when it comes to the distribution of scarce necessities. Piggy is subsequently told by Ralph to watch the little ones, and with some intelligence and imagination, Piggy tells the boys stories to keep them occupied. Even during the most dire moments and circumstances, entertainment is always necessary to function normally.
When Ralph is alone with Piggy, he says he should quit, after it seems he has lost his power. Despite Ralph telling the others in the beginning of Piggy's nickname after being told to keep it a secret, Piggy urges Ralph to keep going as leader, probably because he is defenseless and being closer to the chief is for his own survival.
As an aside, one boy says aloud, "Grown-ups would have tea, discuss, and everything would be all right" as if the mere fact being over a certain age were to solve every problem, including theirs, man vs. nature and man vs. man.
At night, a boy sees a dead pilot but as he tries to tell Group #2, they figure (in their frenzy) it must be the beast, and instead kill him, developing the swarming behavior not unlike some who stormed The US Capitol on January 6th. Ralph is troubled and calls it murder, while Piggy tries to ignore the fact and quickly changing the subject, but scared of even using the word "murder" and attributing it to an accident.
Even though both sides need each other, Jack challenges the power of Ralph and anyone else with comments like "Who says so?" and how "My tribe does what I want".
Group #2 steals Piggy's glasses, and when Piggy takes the conch, the hunters disregard the rules, and one of the wicked hunters rolls a boulder from a hill that kills Piggy, whose body washes away into the ocean, which only leaves Ralph, who is being pursued by the others, until he stumbles upon the feet of a man who is part of the rescue crew.
It's important that the characters are all children - who have yet to be conditioned by the adult society - because they are more prone to behave by instinct, instead of influence. I never saw the re-make of this movie, but it would have been an interesting sociological experiment to survey the disparity in behavior had the children been younger, and perhaps less interested in ego, but perhaps with other problems, such as further immaturity and co-operation.
It might have been a nice idea (maybe as an epilogue or the introduction) to show the children as they were before this incident, and to show how certain events can change a person. We certainly see less division and more uniting initially before the groups become more fractured.
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