L'uomo venerdì

I discovered the film while switching through the channels and I had to keep watching it to the end because I was fascinated. First of all I was fascinated because I had no clue that the original story by Defoe is so full of racism. Then I noticed that this version is told from Friday's point of view which turns it into a whole different thing.

The whole situation and Crusoe's behaviour now seems really absurd: The way he tries to rebuild his kind of England on a small island. He has a need to reproduce things which are completely unnecessary and useless in this surrounding. He also sticks to his old rules and schemes and is not able to adapt new attitudes to survive and to get by.

First of all Crusoe is not willing to see Friday as a human being who has the same rights and the same possibilities as he has. He also believes that he himself might have more advantages threatening Friday and to let Friday work for him. Or maybe it is his deep belief that this is the only way to be and that he is in fact really fair and being nice to him.

Crusoe is not able to see that there is no need to put his negative attitudes on Friday, his fear of God (he seems to struggle with God because he struggles with himself), his shame and the need to punish. He sees shame anywhere and he does not listen to Friday who can see clearly that there is no need for shame.

Peter O'Toole is just perfect for portraying that ignorant Englishman who can be really nasty but at the same time the viewer feels sorry for him because he is trapped and torn inside.

Richard Roundtree is great as Friday, being very natural and being relaxed and concentrated at the same time. He is made to be the more attractive one in that team. The film was done four years after his success with "Shaft" and you can find typical blaxploitation elements in it.

Like other IMDb users said before: The songs are a bit disturbing but they cannot ruin a good film.

The plot is a very good starting point for a philosophical discussion on how people can live together and what might be a good basis for an intact society.

The late Richard Roundtree's last performance in 2024's "Thelma" motivated me to seek out this forgotten 1975 adventure dramedy directed by Jack Gold, a satirical take on Daniel Dafoe's "Robinson Crusoe". Actually the movie was based more specifically on a 1973 revisionist play by Adrian Mitchell who reinterpreted the classic tale from Friday's perspective with a then-contemporary mindset about civilization, race relations and genocide. It's as patently bizarre as it sounds, but Peter O'Toole and Roundtree inject a lot of brio into their predictably drawn roles. The always watchable O'Toole is particularly manic as Crusoe. Clearly in a move to diversify his career beyond Shaft, Roundtree is called on to say and do some humiliating things in his noble savage role wearing a loincloth for much of the film, but his commitment and natural charisma help overcome many of the plot holes like his immediate fluency in English and his defiantly off-key singing. There are scenes that will make you wince from over-the-top execution, but there are also entertaining moments like their athletic competition and one surprisingly provocative moment when Friday makes himself available to Crusoe out of sheer practicality. Filmed in Puerto Vallarta, the overlong film is visually rich but does sag from its methodical pacing.

This half-baked version of the brilliant novel "Robinson Crusoe," is ruined by shoddy production values, poor plotting and woeful dialogue. Peter O' Toole - one of the greatest actors of his generation - should have been offered a better film than "Man Friday." Richard Roundtree (a flash in the pan) was making poor film after poor film. There may be some good photography but that can only compensate for so much.

I wasn't expecting much when I decided to take a look at this underrated film, one of Peter O'Toole's forgotten works. Well, I think it's great. The ideological consistency of this reinterpretation is definitely more welcome than a "classic" adaptation of Defoe's novel.

What strikes me is the movie's relevance after all these years. It's amazing how little has changed from those days, when racism and slavery were widely accepted as "normality". I mean, the laws have changed of course, manners have improved - we live in the era of "political correctness" and all - but in terms of how we FEEL about the Other, nothing has changed, unfortunately. Robinson Crusoe is in fact the typical Englishman. This deep rooted idea of superiority still exists today, even if it doesn't manifest itself in the same ways."Man Friday" makes a powerful statement about human nature, about man's failure to communicate, to understand and respect others.

Various themes are explored, like religion, sexuality, freedom, xenophobia, capitalism, multiculturalism, moral relativism and so on. The movie succeeds in making some good points, sometimes with a great sense of humor, and sometimes with a tragic feel. Crusoe's relationship with Friday, its development and psychological implications are very interesting.

Peter O'Toole is splendid as the nasty and arrogant Englishman, while being sympathetic to some extent due to his human frailty. Not even those funny-looking furry boots and outfits can diminish his aristocratic elegance, and it's a pleasure to listen to his beautifully spoken phrase. O'Toole's Crusoe has the tragic aura of a Shakespearean hero, and this superb performance is the movie's highlight. Roundtree also does a very good job.

The absence of a remastered DVD transfer must be the only reason why "Man Friday" remains basically unknown, and that's a shame.

Absent the Pandemic, this turns into a brilliant parody of post-George Floyd America and Anarcho-Capitalism. Meant to see it at age 32 and accidentally found it on YouTube, age 82. Yea, O'Toole's slightly hammy but not gratingly. I knew of Richard Roundtree only as the Blaxpolitation-era SHAFT.

Crusoe explaining money and wages to Friday might have been lifted from a Democratic Socialists of America introduction to Karl Marx's theory of indentured labor. The Hang Glider scene doesn't work and didn't then but otherwise MAN FRIDAY has aged itself into front page 2020 relevance.