Alert icon
We're changing our privacy policy. This stuff matters.  Learn more  Dismiss

Robinson Crusoe -- Bunuel (1954)

Loading...

Sign in or sign up now!
Alert icon
Upgrade to the latest Flash Player for improved playback performance. Upgrade now or more info.
47,714
Loading...
Alert icon
Sign in or sign up now!
Alert icon

Uploaded by on Sep 14, 2011

Robinson Crusoe -- Luis Buñuel (1954)

"The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe was both Luis Buñuel's first color film and his only film written entirely in English. Fulfilling his father's prophecy of disaster, Robinson Crusoe (Dan O'Herlihy, in an Oscar-nominated performance) is stranded on a deserted island along with his cat Sam and his dog Felix while on a trip to purchase African slaves. His curiosity is unending and his recycling of the land's resources highly economical (he protects himself from wild beasts and savages using the pilfered remains of his now-sunken ship). More so than any other dramatization of Daniel Dafoe's classic novel, Buñuel's Robinson Crusoe is both morally ambitious and spiritually daring. Crusoe's surreal encounter with his father's spirit reveals the castaway's complex view of religion, forgiveness and guilt. He turns to a copy of the Holy Bible not long after Sam gives birth to a litter of kittens (Buñuel, though, is careful not to call too much attention to the feline's immaculate conception). It's easy to see the wheat grain Crusoe discovers outside his makeshift shelter as a gift from God (indeed, the scruffy O'Herlihy stands atop the island's highest mountain like Moses waiting for his people's manna) yet Buñuel never suggests that Crusoe is in conflict with a Christian deity. Instead, the director posits a more existential relationship between Crusoe and nature. O'Herlihy's narration is redundant ("I learned to master everything but myself") and preachy yet there's no denying the complexity of the film's moral ambiguity. Friday (Jaime Fernández) is both Crusoe's friend and slave. Though startled by the native man's cross-dressing and insatiable need for human flesh, Crusoe nonetheless respects the purity of Friday's untainted morality. Through Friday, Crusoe comes to understand that Good cannot exist without Evil and, most importantly, Buñuel dares his audience to question everything they've come to know about morality, savagery and everything in-between."

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

License:

Standard YouTube License

Link to this comment:

Share to:

Top Comments

  • really good movie, but is that chuck norris at 1:17:32 at the left side?

  • Epic.

see all

All Comments (16)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • thank you for the post this movie

  • @welcometotheshack i would love to live on an island by myself

  • @nahkasaapas11 they ran away into the wild

  • boring

  • WTF the main character in the beginning looks like matt LeBlanc from Friends.

  • هل تسطيع العيش بعيداُ عن وطنك ؟

    الفلم اعجبني مرررررة

  • @zoilo72 lets say cats there where more then one.

  • @nahkasaapas11 Well, I found a perfect solution for sorting out misbehaving cat. It's in the book "Good soldier Svejk" by Jaroslav Hasek.I recommend you read it.

  • How did the cats die?

Loading...
Alert icon
0 / 00Unsaved Playlist Return to active list
    1. Your queue is empty. Add videos to your queue using this button:
      or sign in to load a different list.
    Loading...Loading...Saving...
    • Clear all videos from this list
    • Learn more