Combustible Celluloid


New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.

movies

50% Off DVD Sale at BarnesandNoble.com! Shop Now.

 
Home | Archive | About | Blog | Lists | Links | E-mail me | Sign up for my weekly newsletter! |  
 



The Innkeepers ***1/2
The Woman in Black ***
The Grey ***
Man on a Ledge ***
Underworld Awakening **
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos ***
Haywire ***
Beauty and the Beast ****
Contraband ***
The Divide *
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ****
The Devil Inside **
The Iron Lady **
A Separation ***
Pariah ***1/2
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close ***
The Darkest Hour **
War Horse **1/2
In the Land of Blood and Honey **
The Adventures of Tintin ***1/2
More
 



Adaptation
Dream House
Drive
Frida
The Magnificent Ambersons
Malcolm X
The Mill and the Cross
The Moment of Truth
Outrage
The Piano
The Thing
To Kill a Mockingbird
2011: The Year's Best DVDs and Blu-Rays
More
 

Film Features

2011: The Year's Best Films
Year's Best DVDs and Blu-Rays
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards
Interview: Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender
Interview: Simon Curtis
Interview: Werner Herzog
Interview: John Cho
Interview: Roland Emmerich
Interview: Stephen Bishop on Moneyball
Interview: Nick Swardson
Interview: Lynn Hershman Leeson
Interview: Lone Scherfig
Interview: Jesse Eisenberg & Aziz Ansari
Interview: Wayne Wang
Interview: Andre Ovredal on 'Trollhunter'
Interview: Ewan McGregor & Mike Mills
Interview: Kelly Reichardt (Examiner link)
The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival - 2011 Coverage
Interview: Emma Roberts
Rainn Wilson & James Gunn (Examiner link)
Interview: Tom McCarthy
Interview: Abigail Breslin (Examiner link)
2010: The Year's Best Films
2010: The Year's Best DVDs & Blu-Rays
Interview: Sofia Coppola
Interview: George A. Romero
The Decade's Ten Best Films: 2000-2009
My Top 100 Films [Updated]
My Top 60 Directors [Updated]
Christmas Movies
Essential Halloween & Horror Movies
Cult Movies
Actress Interview Gallery
More Features and Interviews
 

Film Books

Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, by Alonso Duralde
Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
More Books
 



Home
Reviews A-C
Reviews D-F
Reviews G-J
Reviews K-M
Reviews N-Q
Reviews R-T
Reviews U-Z
 

The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

 
SEARCH MOVIES / CELEB

Advanced Search

 
 
© 1997-2012 Combustible Celluloid



Robinson Crusoe (1952)

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Adaptation Island

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Robinson Crusoe on DVD

One of the eight or ten greatest film directors of all time, Spanish-born Luis Buñuel began his career like gangbusters in his late 20s with the shocking, stunning, surrealist short Un Chien Andalou (1928).

It was not until he reached his 60s that he captured the world's attention once more with a series of Mexican and French-financed masterworks that included Viridiana, The Exterminating Angel, Belle de Jour and the Oscar-winning The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.

So what happened to Buñuel in the intervening years? He moved around a lot, making poorly financed or poorly-distributed films, many of which are AWOL today (with the exception of his 1950 film Los Olvidados). He even attempted a couple of English-language films, as if he were sticking a toe in the waters of Hollywood. Fortunately for all of us, he quickly pulled it back out again.

The second English-language film was The Young One (1960), which I haven't seen. The first, Robinson Crusoe (sometimes listed as The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe) was made in 1952 and released in the United States in 1954, hence VCI can correctly call their new DVD a "50th anniversary" release. At the time it was high enough on the radar to earn an Oscar nomination for its lead actor, Dan O'Herlihy, but it has rarely been seen since.

The 90-minute, full-color feature mostly plays as a straightforward adaptation of Daniel Defoe's novel, with Crusoe landing on his island and overcoming various obstacles for some 34 years. O'Herlihy is onscreen alone for roughly half the film, then plays the other half opposite his recovering cannibal friend Friday (Jaime Fernandez).

At second glance, the film is full of Buñuelian touches. Early on, we get a fever-induced dream sequence in which Crusoe's father visits him and taunts him with fresh water. In another, he uses a woman's dress as a scarecrow to protect his new crop of wheat; he walks away, then doubles back and fondles the hem of the garment.

Most of all, though, the film flirts seriously with atheism, which Buñuel practiced in real life. Crusoe salvages a copy of the Bible and reads from it regularly, taking faith that God will protect him. Some time after Friday arrives, the two of them have a discussion about God and the Devil and temptation; Friday asks some basic questions that poke holes in Crusoe's faith. He paces for a moment, pondering, then finally bursts out laughing.

O'Herlihy competed against Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront) for the Oscar that year, and it was an equal contest. O'Herlihy puts himself through all kinds of physical and mental anguish in the process of playing Crusoe; he artfully captures the feel of years passing and growing more and more comfortable with his surroundings, but also less and less at home in his own mind. You can feel the gnawing loneliness in his eyes.

Robinson Crusoe doesn't reveal much of the sly old fox who directed That Obscure Object of Desire, in which every frame is permeated with his edgy sense of humor, while cheerfully poking holes in all the institutions he so despised. With Crusoe, you feel him wrestling with already established material, alternately winning and losing. But just because his personality isn't in every frame doesn't mean he made a bad film. In fact, this is the best Crusoe I've ever seen. Now that it's on DVD, it has a chance to endure long into the new century.

DVD Details: VCI has done a superb job on their DVD, restoring the faded color back to a new brightness, even if the quality of the color wasn't so hot to begin with (this was a fairly low-budget film). The DVD includes a 50-minute audio interview with O'Herlihy recorded in 1985, bios and filmographies, a reproduction of the original press book, a poster and a still gallery (presented, in the best VCI style, floating in a lagoon). This may be the finest disc VCI has yet produced.

Starring: Dan O'Herlihy, Jaime Fernandez
Written by: Luis Buñuel, Phillip Roll, from Daniel Dafoe's novel
Directed by: Luis Buñuel
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 90 minutes
Date: October 29, 2004

Home
New Movies
New DVDs & Blu-Ray
Features
News
Search Reviews
Classic Movies
Film Books
Gallery
Links
About
Contact
All scribblings © 1997-2012 Combustible Celluloid