The World, the Flesh and the Devil stars Harry Belafonte who plays a trapped miner who eventually emerges to discover that a disaster occurred while he was trapped underground, and there appears to be no life on Earth. He travels from Pennsylvania to NYC and begins to make a life for himself when complications present themselves. Will these complications make his life worth living or more difficult?
After I saw Z for Zachariah, a reviewer referenced The World, the Flesh and the Devil, which Z for Zachariah clearly borrowed most of its story from regardless of whether or not it is an alleged adaptation of a book. I love a good apocalyptic movie, am into film history and realized that I have never seen Belafonte act in a movie so I resolved to see The World, the Flesh and the Devil as soon as possible. The World, the Flesh and the Devil is not an easy film to find. I got the DVD through the Minuteman Library Network, but it also appears to be available through Amazon Video streaming, but not as a part of Prime, which means that you will have to pay to rent it.
The World, the Flesh and the Devil uses now familiar iconic imagery of packed, abandoned vehicles on a bridge, empty city streets and using mannequins to populate the world. The World, the Flesh and the Devil reminded me of I Am Legend and The Walking Dead without the bodies or the violence. The World, the Flesh and the Devil is the forefather of the apocalyptic beginning to a dystopian world.
The World, the Flesh and the Devil uses this beginning to address the problem of racism in society. The use of the mannequins is a foreboding symbol of the future conflict at the center of the film. If humanity is at risk of extinction, does it really matter who populates the Earth? “Why should the world fall down just to prove who I am,” Bellafonte screams. The World, the Flesh and the Devil ends with the phrase “The Beginning,” but nothing is really resolved unless polyamory becomes popular. Let’s hope for a stalemate and extinction.
The World, the Flesh and the Devil is only must see viewing for apocalypse aficionados interested in film history.