ROBINSON CRUSOE

“The best version of Crusoe I've ever seen.” - Combustible Celluloid

A Crusoe adaptation by Luis Bunuel? Yep, that’s a fact! But the most surreal aspect of this film is how faithful Bunuel was to the source material. Which is not to say it's sluggish or literary; Bunuel recreates the story with lush scenery and vivid images, as if he himself were discovering the tropical island along with the Englishman shipwrecked in 1659. Crusoe (Daniel O'Herlihy, later to appear in ROBOCOP and HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH) spends 28 years building a home and struggling to maintain his sanity; only a friendship formed with a former cannibal whom he dubs Friday (Jaime Fernandez) breaks his isolation. Bunuel's sharp eye results in a straightforward but superb version of the classic adventure story. Though the movie is in English, Bunuel never spoke a word of it, and O'Herlihy had to learn Spanish so he could take direction!