The Blue Lagoon: A LONG Summary
By Kendra (CharlieGirl)
psychocharlie13@attbi.com
I wrote this out because I hate writing short summaries, especially when they have to be
inaccurate to save space and time. This OBVIOUSLY contains spoilers to the movie, so don't
read it if you don't want to spoil the surprise.
The movie starts out on the ship The Northumberland, bound from New Orleans to 'Frisco.
On board are Arthur Lestrange, his young son Richard, and his neice Emmeline. The ship
catches fire, the children and the ship's cook row out in a dinghy to save themselves.
They are eventually cast onto a deserted island, which Paddy (the cook) calls Nirvana.
This is when the story actually begins.
After finding a spot to build a home, fresh water, and food, the trio begin to settle in
to their new environment. Emmeline spends most of her time making wreaths and crowns
from flowers, while Paddy teaches Richard to build a fire, catch and clean a fish, and
gather fruit from the island. He and Richard also build a house, and both children spend
a good deal of time swimming and observing the wildlife. Then Paddy discovers the island's
secret: There is a valley on the island with a large stone head. This spot, he can see,
is used for canibalistic rituals; there are bloody remains below the stone-head.
He demands that the children promise never to go to the other side of the island, where
the valley is. Then he drinks himself to death. The children pack up their things and
row around the side of the island, eventually coming upon another fertile place, where
they build a house and settle in.
Flash-forward to about six years in the future. 'Em' and Richard have grown tall, strong,
and beautiful. They have survived solely on their resourcefulness, and the bounty of the
island. Currently, they are experiencing the trials and changes of adolesence, with Em
beginning her cycles, and Richard discovering self-pleasure. There are several fights
between the two about moving away, keeping secrets, changing bodies, and a few other tiny
tiffs, which lead to Richard kicking Em out of their house. Em takes shelter under a
cliff, and soon becomes injured. Richard discovers her and nurses her back to health,
and the fighting stops.
Em and Richard, who have fallen in love due to both their solutide, and their real love
for one another, begin to discover sex as a way to express these affections, and make love
quite often for several months. Then Em begins to feel sick, and won't sleep with Richard
anymore. A few months after this, Em gives birth to a baby boy, and Richard discovers the
truth behind the statue when he sees the people kill one of their own. He runs back just
in time to see Em give birth.
Both are confused by the arrival of this tiny creature, and Richard associates him with
himself. He also goes back to the spot where Paddy died, and sees his skeleton. He
recognizes the shape of a hand, the ribs, and then the skull. He leaves, and seems to have
taken a vow to live only for this child. He and Emmeline spend all their time now with
the baby they name Paddy, teaching him to swim, throw a spear, and play in the mud. Then
a ship passes by the island. Unbeknownst to them, Arthur Lestrange is onboard, looking
for them. He sees them on the beach, covered with mud, and doesn't recognize them. The
ship sails away as Richard and Em decide to stay, and carry Paddy back into the forest.
Em then asks Richard to take her to "the other place" where they lived before. He does,
and while he's cutting off a bunch of bananas, Em and Paddy stand on the shore. Paddy, a
toddler, starts to pick some berries, while Em stares at the ruins of their old hut. Then
she and Paddy sit in the boat and wait for Richard. The boat begins to drift, and Paddy
knocks one of the oars out. When Em can't reach it, she calls for Richard. They would
all have been fine, but a shark starts to swim towards Richard, and in saving him, they
sacrifice BOTH oars. They try to paddle with their hands, to no avail. They are adrift.
A couple of days later, they wake in the boat to find that Paddy is eating the berries he
picked, a poisonous berry they call "the never-wake-up" berries. Em tries to get him to
spit them out, but he has swallowed some. In their grief, they each eat a palmful of the
remaining berries, and lie down in the bottom of the boat, awaiting death.
The boat that Arthur Lestrange was sailing on spies the dinghy, and sends out one of their
own dinghies to investigate, with Arthur at the helm. They tie up to the boat, and see the
three lying still in the bottom of the boat. The berry-branch is still in Richard's hand.
Arthur asks if they are dead, to which a sailor replies "No, they're asleep." Thus ends
the movie.
(
geocities.com/bluelagoon1980)