Ever since at least the eighteenth century, the "desert island", the uninhabited tropical island with golden beaches fringed with palm trees, has frequently been depicted in Western culture as the nearest one can get to paradise on earth, in literature, the cinema and even in advertising campaigns. (The makers of the "Bounty" chocolate bar have for decades centred their entire marketing strategy around this concept). In the twentieth century writers, such as William Golding in "Lord of the Flies", Alex Garland in "The Beach" and J G Ballard in "Rushing to Paradise", started to subvert this idea, but "The Blue Lagoon", based on a novel from 1908, is a film which takes it largely at face value.
The film is set in the late Victorian period. Two young children, Richard and Emmeline, survive a shipwreck in the South Pacific and are stranded on a lush tropical island along with a seaman named Paddy Button. Paddy dies not long afterwards, but not before he has taught the children the skills they need to survive on the island. Richard and Emmeline grow up and turn into beautiful teenagers, fall in love, and have a child of their own. At which point Well, you'll have to watch the film to find out what happens at this point.
An earlier version of the story was filmed in 1949. It is a long time since I last saw that film, but I recall that (as one might expect of a film from the forties) it contains far less nudity and sexual activity than does the 1980 version. The 1980 film was, in fact, quite controversial, largely because the actress playing Emmeline, Brooke Shields, was only 14 years old at the time of filming. (Two years earlier, Shields had starred in the even more controversial "Pretty Baby" about a child prostitute). It was later revealed that body doubles were used in the sex scenes, but even so many people were shocked by the film's sexual frankness and especially by nude scenes which appeared to feature a girl so young. (One thing which aroused surprisingly little comment is the fact that Richard and Emmeline are first cousins, even though cousin marriage is illegal in many American states).
The film was a success at the box office, probably because of its sexual explicitness and the good looks of its two young stars, but today it has a very dated feel. Much of the problem lies in the fact that its stars appear to have been cast on the basis of their looks alone, without regard to acting activity. Shields, in fact, had the dubious honour of winning the first ever "Worst Actress" Razzie. It may have been cruel to give such an award to a teenage girl (Farrah Fawcett-Majors probably deserved it more for "Saturn Three"), but it has to be admitted that Shields is not very good here. She had given a good performance in "Pretty Baby", but the transition from child star to teenage star can be a difficult one, and here she seems horribly embarrassed and self- conscious and, moreover, does not always speak her lines clearly. It might have been better if an older actress aged about 18 or 19 had been cast in the role. Richard and Emmeline are supposed to be around the same age, but Shields is in fact four years younger than her co-star Christopher Atkins, and it shows. Casting an actress in her late teens would also have removed any controversy about underage nudity.
As for Atkins, this was his first film. He has, apparently, gone on to enjoy a long acting career, although I do not recall seeing any of his later films; the only subsequent part I remember him in was as Sue- Ellen's toyboy in "Dallas". His career has been much longer, I suspect, than many would have predicted for him on the basis of "The Blue Lagoon", where he is very stiff and wooden, with little chemistry between him and Shields. The best acting performance comes from the veteran Leo McKern as Paddy, playing him as a mixture of kindly father- figure and drunken old reprobate; the film loses a lot of interest after his death relatively early on.
There are a few holes in the plot. It appears that the island is inhabited by, or at least regularly visited by, a tribe of people (portrayed here, in the best politically incorrect fashion, as bloodthirsty cannibals), but it is never explained how these inhabitants manage to go at least ten years without discovering two strangers living on their island. It might have been more plausible if Paddy had remained alive for longer; the small children we see in the early scenes seem too young to be capable of surviving on their own. And how does Richard manage to stay so clean-shaven throughout? (Presumably the film-makers felt that a bearded Atkins would have seemed much less cute to the teenage girls who made up a large part of the film's intended audience).
Visually, the film is an attractive one, with some striking photography of the island and its wildlife. The cinematographer Néstor Almendros was nominated for a "Best Cinematography" Oscar, the only nomination the film achieved. Overall, however, "The Blue Lagoon" is really no more than yet another sentimental teenage romance movie with an exotic setting and two miscast stars. Its only distinction lies in being possibly the only feature film to have made a greater contribution to science than to the arts. Some scenes were shot on a small island in Fiji, and a herpetologist watching the film realised that the iguanas featured were a species hitherto unknown to science. Today it is classified as the Fiji Crested Iguana (Brachylophus vitiensis); they should have called it Brachylophus bluelagoonii. 4/10
The film is set in the late Victorian period. Two young children, Richard and Emmeline, survive a shipwreck in the South Pacific and are stranded on a lush tropical island along with a seaman named Paddy Button. Paddy dies not long afterwards, but not before he has taught the children the skills they need to survive on the island. Richard and Emmeline grow up and turn into beautiful teenagers, fall in love, and have a child of their own. At which point Well, you'll have to watch the film to find out what happens at this point.
An earlier version of the story was filmed in 1949. It is a long time since I last saw that film, but I recall that (as one might expect of a film from the forties) it contains far less nudity and sexual activity than does the 1980 version. The 1980 film was, in fact, quite controversial, largely because the actress playing Emmeline, Brooke Shields, was only 14 years old at the time of filming. (Two years earlier, Shields had starred in the even more controversial "Pretty Baby" about a child prostitute). It was later revealed that body doubles were used in the sex scenes, but even so many people were shocked by the film's sexual frankness and especially by nude scenes which appeared to feature a girl so young. (One thing which aroused surprisingly little comment is the fact that Richard and Emmeline are first cousins, even though cousin marriage is illegal in many American states).
The film was a success at the box office, probably because of its sexual explicitness and the good looks of its two young stars, but today it has a very dated feel. Much of the problem lies in the fact that its stars appear to have been cast on the basis of their looks alone, without regard to acting activity. Shields, in fact, had the dubious honour of winning the first ever "Worst Actress" Razzie. It may have been cruel to give such an award to a teenage girl (Farrah Fawcett-Majors probably deserved it more for "Saturn Three"), but it has to be admitted that Shields is not very good here. She had given a good performance in "Pretty Baby", but the transition from child star to teenage star can be a difficult one, and here she seems horribly embarrassed and self- conscious and, moreover, does not always speak her lines clearly. It might have been better if an older actress aged about 18 or 19 had been cast in the role. Richard and Emmeline are supposed to be around the same age, but Shields is in fact four years younger than her co-star Christopher Atkins, and it shows. Casting an actress in her late teens would also have removed any controversy about underage nudity.
As for Atkins, this was his first film. He has, apparently, gone on to enjoy a long acting career, although I do not recall seeing any of his later films; the only subsequent part I remember him in was as Sue- Ellen's toyboy in "Dallas". His career has been much longer, I suspect, than many would have predicted for him on the basis of "The Blue Lagoon", where he is very stiff and wooden, with little chemistry between him and Shields. The best acting performance comes from the veteran Leo McKern as Paddy, playing him as a mixture of kindly father- figure and drunken old reprobate; the film loses a lot of interest after his death relatively early on.
There are a few holes in the plot. It appears that the island is inhabited by, or at least regularly visited by, a tribe of people (portrayed here, in the best politically incorrect fashion, as bloodthirsty cannibals), but it is never explained how these inhabitants manage to go at least ten years without discovering two strangers living on their island. It might have been more plausible if Paddy had remained alive for longer; the small children we see in the early scenes seem too young to be capable of surviving on their own. And how does Richard manage to stay so clean-shaven throughout? (Presumably the film-makers felt that a bearded Atkins would have seemed much less cute to the teenage girls who made up a large part of the film's intended audience).
Visually, the film is an attractive one, with some striking photography of the island and its wildlife. The cinematographer Néstor Almendros was nominated for a "Best Cinematography" Oscar, the only nomination the film achieved. Overall, however, "The Blue Lagoon" is really no more than yet another sentimental teenage romance movie with an exotic setting and two miscast stars. Its only distinction lies in being possibly the only feature film to have made a greater contribution to science than to the arts. Some scenes were shot on a small island in Fiji, and a herpetologist watching the film realised that the iguanas featured were a species hitherto unknown to science. Today it is classified as the Fiji Crested Iguana (Brachylophus vitiensis); they should have called it Brachylophus bluelagoonii. 4/10