In 1980 Randal Kleiser brought to life the romantic teen survival drama of the 1908 novel The Blue Lagoon by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. This movie was a hit despite very adult subject matter with a 14 year old Brook Shields staring opposite Christopher Atkins. With a pristine beach on an uninhabited island in Fuji and two beautiful actors, the viewer can’t help but be caught up in the visual fantasy. The film was caught up in considerable controversy for it’s subject matter in a society that shunned teenage brides, but the innocence of the pair comes away as genuine. Brooke Shields who ran around topless for most of the movie, even had to testify that body doubles were used because the final film seems flawless in this execution.
The story follows two youngsters who are shipwrecked with an old sailor. He dies after teaching them basic survival skills but not much about life. Left on their own and going through adolescence together, the pair eventually fall in love and make natural discoveries about themselves and human biology. They even have a child together. They were once eager to leave the island, but now ignore passing ships, as it has become their home.
At the end of the movie, an incident sees the family cast adrift. When a long lost relative, who has been searching for them for years, discovers their boat: they are not moving. Asking if they are alive, the man is told, that they are just sleeping.
