Lord of the Flies (Blu-ray)

THE CRITERION COLLECTION

In the hands of the renowned experimental theater director Peter Brook, William Golding’s legendary novel about the primitivism lurking beneath civilization becomes a film as raw and ragged as the lost boys at its center. Taking an innovative documentary-like approach, Brook shot Lord of the Flies with an off-the-cuff naturalism, seeming to record a spontaneous eruption of its characters’ ids. The result is a rattling masterpiece, as provocative as its source material.

• New, restored digital transfer (box set edition); new, restored 4K digital film transfer, supervised by editor and cameraman Gerald Feil, ASC, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
• Audio commentary featuring director Peter Brook, producer Lewis Allen, director of photography Tom Hollyman, and Feil
• Audio recordings of William Golding reading from his novel Lord of the Flies, accompanied by the corresponding scenes from the film
• Deleted scene, with optional commentary and Golding reading
• Interview with Brook from 2008.
• Collection of behind-the-scenes material, including home movies, screen tests, outtakes, and stills
• Excerpt from a 1980 episode of The South Bank Show featuring Golding
• New interview with Feil 
• Excerpt from Feil’s 1973 documentary The Empty Space, showcasing Brook’s theater methods
• Living “Lord of the Flies,” a piece composed of never-before-seen footage shot by the boy actors during production, with new voice-over by actor Tom Gaman
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Geoffrey Macnab and an excerpt from Brook’s autobiography The Shifting Point