I remember when I first read 1984, having heard of it as an essential text for many years. I thought it was impressively grim, but I also thought it was a bit far-fetched. That was almost 30 years ago, and I was younger and much more ignorant. Even if I had known about the various real-world factors that influenced the book, I probably would have shrugged with an attitude of “it would never happen here”. And just look at where we are now.
Written and directed by Michael Radford, based on the George Orwell book, this was filmed and released in 1984, allowing everyone involved to make use of the once-in-a-lifetime marketing opportunity. But a film needs more than just canny marketing, and 1984 sadly falters elsewhere.
Radford has taken a couple of great actors, and a timely release schedule, and seems to have neglected almost every other part of the film-making process. There’s no creativity on display, no strength put behind what should always be a gut-punch of a story, and no passion. I understand that the material might work against such an approach, considering how it’s all about breaking spirits and reshaping truth into whatever best serves the leader, but there’s no excuse to film something that feels just like a presentation by a local amateur dramatic society.
For those unfamiliar with the tale, John Hurt plays Winston Smith, a man who falls in love with Julia (Suzanna Hamilton). That love is dangerous, distracting both of them from their main roles, servants to the machine that is the totalitarian society ever-grinding around them. Things become more dangerous, and a happy ending looks increasingly unlikely, especially if anyone ends up in the dreaded Room 101.
Hurt is the best thing onscreen, followed closely by the commanding presence of Richard Burton, past his prime, but still undeniably riveting. Hamilton isn’t quite as good, although she does have the tougher main role, but there are some nice exchanges between herself and Hurt. One or two other familiar faces appear, including Gregor Fisher in a rare dramatic role, but the focus stays tight on our three leads for most of the runtime.
The downside to watching any standard interpretation of 1984 nowadays is that we have had a number of better versions of the tale from people who have used the novel as inspiration. Brazil is the obvious one to mention, but there’s also V For Vendetta, various episode of Black Mirror, The Matrix franchise, and even the gun-fu silliness of Equilibrium. Those are just the titles I can think of right now, but they are all better viewing options than this.
There is one thing about watching 1984 nowadays though, or anything similar to it. The fact that it all feels less like fiction with every passing day should serve as a reminder to call out manipulative nonsense like “alternative facts” and anyone attempting to rewrite even very recent history.
4/10
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