Nineteen Eighty-Four Movie
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
Image From IMDB
Michael Radford’s adaptation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is a masterful exercise in miserable cinema. The movie is unrelentingly grey from the moment it begins. From the vile display of fake patriotism, to Roger Deakins bleached cinematography in the war torn city, and every grimy dirty set and downtrodden face. The movie want to depress you, while also being absolutely brilliant.
Nineteen Eighty-Four is set in a dystopian future where thinking the wrong thing can land you in line with the firing squad. Where truth is what Big Brothers tells you it is. In the words of the movie, if the Party tells you two plus two equals five, then two plus two equals five. Love is practically outlawed. Everything is rationed. War is a constant, yet, it’s also used to rally the citizens to the Party’s side. Life is fucking miserable.
Living amongst this misery is Winston, and its his story we follow as he foolishly falls in loves and believes in a rebellion. He has but a slither of hope that the world can be a better place, but the story won’t allow it as we watch him getting beaten down for two hours before the movie almost evolves into torture porn. It’s brtual. It’s miserable. It’s pure cinema.
There are great performances from both John Hurt as Winston, and Suzanna Hamilton as his love interest Julia. It must have been a draining experience for both, yet both excelled. Richard Burton is also fantastic in his supporting role of O’Brien. The director is on point through-out with the focus always on Big Brother watching us. Every shot feels tense. Our heroes could be found out any moment. It helps massively to have one of the greatest cinematographers of all time alongside you.
As a massive fan of the book I'm happy with how loyal the story is to the original text. Obviously some things needed to be cut out or sped up, but that’s the nature of adapting books. Nothing about the film made me annoyed of its handling of the source material. The ending does have a slightly different feel to it, but I've heard that Orwell himself may have also written the same ending in one of the books numerous publications.
Like I said at the beginning, this isn’t a film designed to wildly entertain you. If it wasn’t for the star quality and budget, it would be considered an arthouse movie, as its stands, it’s probably closer to the British social realism genre, albeit set in a dystopian future.
It’s a fascinating watch, while probably being an absolutely horrible date movie. Fans of the book should love it, and if you’re in the mood to be utterly depressed few movie will be more effective. For those looking for a great time I'd stay away from it, but that said, it is absolutely fantastic, and you should at least give it one watch at some point.
