Lord of the Flies

[dragonyphoenix]

I've never read the book. I just saw Peter Brook's film adaptation.

Damn!

There are scenes where the physical violence is implied rather than shown. For example, when one boy is being stabbed and beaten to death by the others, he is never in frame with them. You see his shock as he realizes they are attacking. You see him with his arms up to protect himself. The next time you see him, his corpse is floating in the ocean. No violence actually shown, but it's one of the most brutal things I've seen.

Comments

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

I think violence in films has much greater impact when it's dealt with the way you describe.


Gabrielle

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

I think so too. Also, the violence in this movie is limited compared to say a modern horror movie which can get to be slash-slash-slash. And there was great psychological build-up.

[devo79.livejournal.com]

The best movies are the ones that can make you feel sad, horrified, happy and afraid by the slightest changes in the scenes.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

This one didn't have much going in the elated category, but yeah.

[devo79.livejournal.com]

I've never read the book or seen the movie. But I've heard enough about it to know what the themes are and how it ends. I'm not much for books that tell me how horrible humans are or that depict cruelty to children or animals.

I once bought a book about a serial killer. I read a few chapters of it on the bus on the way home and in pure disgust, with the descriptions not the writing or the author, I just let the book slip down between my seat at the window and left it there when I got off the bus.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

I'd never read or seen it before either, but I had a pretty accurate general idea what it's about. I had to take a break of a few days in the middle of watching it.

[devo79.livejournal.com]

I was going to tell you a story about some kids in Russia back in the day and how they dealt with starvation but... I don't want to write about it and you certainly do not want to read it.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Great, now I'm thinking about the Donner party. Ick!

[comlodge.livejournal.com]

We read that book in high school. It was a brutal and thought provoking story. The film was so well done. A lesson that we can fill in the scene perfectly well and better often than graphic gore with a much greater impact. I love films that invite you in to fill out the scene rather than spoon feeding you everything as though we are incapable of working things out for ourselves.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

It reminded me of Understanding Comics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understanding_Comics) where Scott McCloud talks about how the viewer fills in between the frames.