Movie vs the Bokk

How many people know this film was based on a real experience? This film script comes from Lucy Irvine's wonderful autobiography 'Castaway' (1983 Random House). It's a real shame that this film wasn't given a decent budget and proper marketing. The real story is an extraordinary one. In my opinion, a man named Gerald Kingsland (a writer in the novel) was something of a difficult personality. The problems between them had nothing to do with age. I don't think Lu cared one wit about G's age. As for me, to have the opportunity of spending a year alone on an island with an extraordinary woman like Lucy Irvine would certainly be an experience I'd never forget. The film unfortunately culls the relationship between G and Lu down to Lu's decision to remain celibate, when in fact that was never a deliberate intention. In fact, the issue of sex wasn't something she thought much about.

When the two arrived in Brisbane the Australian government had yet to find them an appropriate island. This gave them several weeks alone in Brisbane and it was during this time that Lu came to realize that what she had chosen to do was impulsive and that she really had nothing in common with G beyond their desire to live alone on a deserted island for a year. The Australian government compelled them to marry before they would permit them to spend a year alone and this caught Lu by surprise since it was never part of the deal. She could have backed out at that point but she had sold all of her belongings, quit her job, and was committed to the project. Perhaps she hoped she would become attacked to G, who was most certainly attracted to her. Lu was more interested in the project not the relationship. She suffered various degrees of angst over this but she simply couldn't compel herself to make love to a man with whom she felt no emotional attachment. G didn't help matters because he was often crude, insulting, and when she didn't put out he grew distant. Marriage and sex were never part of the original agreement. Lu's perspective was rather simple: Two people who didn't know each other agreed to live alone on a deserted island. She signed on to be an individual participant in this adventure not serve as a middle age male's fantasy. G picked the wrong woman if he thought he could bulldog her. I think Lu would have been happy to conjugate with G if she found him remotely appealing and or if they shared things in common. Once it was clear that wasn't going to happen, Lu focused on survival.