Ninteen Eighty-Four
Director: Michael Radford
Starring: John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton
Sorry this post is delayed (I was a little busy yesterday...)
So, how cool is it that someone released a film adaptation of Orwell's classic in the year 1984? Genius!
This is one of my favorite books. I read it my freshman year of college in a history class while discussing dictatorships and fascism. This book was clearly written as a commentary on the Soviets and the way they controlled information in the USSR. Making a film adaptation of a classic like this is a daunting task, but this movie pulled it off. It's been to long since I read the book for the to say that it was totally faithful, but it perfectly followed what I remember of it.
The acting was great. John Hurt and Suzanna Hamilton really captured the conflicted nature of a couple of rebels in a thought controlled society trying to figure out how to unlock their human nature. This was Richard Burton's last movie and he went out with a bang as the calm, vicious inquisitor for the film's last act.
The visuals in this movie were what really sold me on it. They built the world of the book magnificently and were spot on in sets, costumes, and atmosphere. The images of Big Brother all over the place really gave the audience the feeling of being watched. The scenes in which the brainwashed crowd were cheering for Oceania in whatever war they were fighting at the time were horrifying and cold. The contrast between the Party's world and that of Julia and Winston was well defined.
I call this movie a success because it brought forth the same thoughts and feelings that I took from reading the book. This was way better than I was expecting and I'm glad.
Lesson learned: Rats are scary
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