The Blue Lagoon (1980 film)

The Blue Lagoon is a 1980 romance/adventure film starring Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins, directed by Randal Kleiser. The screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart was based on the novel The Blue Lagoon by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The original music score was composed by Basil Poledouris.

Plot summary

In the Victorian period, two young children and a galley cook are the sole survivors of a shipwreck, and are stranded on a lush tropical island, a real paradise. The cook Paddy Button teaches the children one valuable lesson: certain berries shouldn't be eaten because they will put you to sleep. Eventually Paddy dies and together, cousins Richard and Emmeline Lestrange have to survive, which is quite easy as there are no dangerous animals on the island. Years later, they have grown tall, strong and beautiful. The two teenagers are living in a self-constructed hut, strange emotions start influencing their relationship. Although they have no grown-ups to educate them for all that time, their behavior always stays very civilized.

Related Topics:
Victorian period - Shipwreck - Cousin - Hut

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Because of both their solitude, and their real love for each other, Richard and Emmeline fall in love and begin to discover their sexuality as a way to express their affections. They make love quite often for several months, and Emmeline gets pregnant, totally unaware of the fact that a child is growing inside her. On the night their baby boy is born, Richard finds out about the origins of the drums they hear from time to time from the forbidden side of the island. They come from a savage group of natives who apparently practice human sacrifices. Richard runs back in time to see Emmeline give birth. They spend all their time with the baby boy they named Paddy, teaching him how to swim, throw a spear, and play in the mud.

Related Topics:
Love - Sexuality - Human sacrifice

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One day the two young parents and Paddy are out in a boat and lose their oars. Though not far from shore, they are unable to return because of the presence of sharks. After days of being adrift at sea, Paddy eats some berries that were in the boat. The parents recognize the berries as being the ones that will put them to sleep. Hopelessly lost at sea, they decide to eat the berries as well. Somewhat later, a ship finds them floating in the boat. The ship is led by one of the children's father Arthur Lestrange, who has been searching for them for years. He asks, "Are they dead?" and a sailor answers, "No, sir. They're asleep." It is left to the viewer to decide whether they are in fact asleep and can be revived or if they will die.

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The story is eventually continued in Return to the Blue Lagoon.

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