Aly Khan COURSEWORK
Compare two different film versions of Simon’s death in the novel ‘Lord Of The Flies’
The Lord of the Flies takes place on an island during World War II. I think that it is kind of significant since the isolation forms a sort of civilisation and community, a microcosm of the outer society. At the same time the island lacks law and order that results in the boys running wild and showing their true, ugly, evil inner selves. Since the island is a microcosm, in both Brooks and Hooks version they reflect the outside world very effectively. Sir Peter brooks version of the novel is the oldest amongst the two versions, being made in the 1960’s in black and white. Harry Hook’s version was made in the 1980’s and in colour. During the 20 years gap between the two films, Hook’s version has got improved sound quality and better picture quality. The sound quality in Brooks version is very unclear and there is a lot of loud crackling during the scenes. The picture quality in Hook’s version is quite good, however when the hunters spot the beast, it is very hard to believe that they could have mistaken Simon for the beast, the lighting should have been darker and more mysterious.
In Brook’s version the scenes start of with Jack and the hunters dancing and chanting around the fire. Throughout this scene there is very little lighting which gives a realistic feeling that the boys are really alone on the island with only the fire for light. No artificial lighting is used during any of the scenes. In the next scene Simon comes running through the jungle and spots the parachutist. When Simon spots the parachutist, there is a theatrical silence as Simon realises that there was or is no beast and that’s it is only a man that reflected a figure of a beast. During this scene Brooks has a Medium close-up shot of Simon and the parachutist and holds the shot for 2-3 seconds to create a type of crescendo for the audience. This puts the audience in suspense, as they are interested to know what the rest of the boys would make of this. This scene is followed by Simon running back through the jungle to tell the boys about what he saw. However the hunters are so possessed with this overpowering evil of dancing and chanting, that Jack suddenly stops and looks and the running stature through the dense trees and without thinking presumes it’s the beast. All the dancing and chanting in their primal ritual can represent loss of good and democracy. Evil seems to be overpowering them and killing all good there is left within there society. There is again a very effective theatrical silence by Brooks of Simon running and Jack gazing with fury in the following scene, Brooks is building up to a big climax, as the hunters get louder along with the thunderstorm getting worse. Brooks also has a long shot of Simon when he was running through the trees from Jack’s point of view so that the audience can understand that the figure is dark and hard to distinguish whether its Simon or the beast. However, evil does get the better of Jack, and without thinking to see whether it’s one of the boys, he presumes it’s the beast. Suddenly Jack shouts ‘look, the beast!’ and all the hunters with their sticks and other similar weapons rampage towards Simon. Here in Brooks version only Jack spots the beast and shouts it out, I find it very theatrical and unrealistic because it’s nearly impossible for only one person to spot the beast. Still Brooks reaches the peak of his crescendo with the intense music and thunder. Simon can do nothing but stand there helplessly and vulnerably, as he doesn’t have a clue of what has come over the boys. As the boys approach Simon with their weapons Simon screams with horror as they strike him, Simon cries are inaudible over the shouting and brutal ways of the hunters. Once Simon has been murdered by the boy’s ape-like actions Simon body floats away into the ocean, at this same time Brooks creates a brilliant effect by showing the audience that pure goodness and a ‘Christ-Like’ figure has been lost. He plays choir music; this could represent the Choir before they turned into cold-blooded killers. A light is also projected on Simon’s body to show the audience that it was really Simon and also how brutally, cruelly and painfully the boys put him to death. The light shun on Simon could also symbolize peace, that he has passed away and gone to heaven.
