Well, At Least Big Brother Was Watching

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) – George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel gets a full exploration on the big screen. It’s the future, and Big Brother is watching. There is a single party in charge of Oceania (North and South America, Western Europe and southern Africa. The Party controls everything. From how you think to what you eat, and every other aspect of life. Winston Smith’s job is altering history so that it meets the current Party-determined position. That won’t save him from the Party’s demand for “rightthink”.

Directed by Michael Radford

Starring John Hurt, Richard Burton, Phyllis Logan

Why I Liked It – I didn’t fall asleep.

Orwell’s “1984” is a classic dystopian novel. Most of us read it in high school or college, along with things like Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” and Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”. It’s a challenge for some folks to read, and it’s a huge challenge to bring to the big screen. The issue isn’t that the topic doesn’t work. Hollywood has been cranking out dystopian hits like “The Maze Runner” and “Blade Runner” for years to big audiences. The issue here is that this is an intellectual novel, filled with deep thoughts and profound speeches on complex issues. Which results in a dull movie.

I am NOT someone who wants lots of explosions and running around just for their own sake. I’ve said before that my biggest problem with modern science fiction movies is they relay way too heavily on that kind of stuff. When Orwell’s widow signed the agreement to use the novel for a movie adaptation, that was one of her specific requirements. No fancy special effects. We don’t know what her thoughts on this movie were since she died just 9 days after signing the agreement. Stories tell us that she hated a 1950s version of the book. My bet is that this is very close to what she wanted. A faithful rendering of her husband’s best-known work on film.

It wasn’t a great decision from my point of view.

In Winston Smith’s world, the Party controls everything. EVERYTHING. What information you can access, what you think, what you say. The resulting world is drab almost to the point of colorlessness. The people match that colorlessness as well. Which makes it hard to care about what happens to them. Their life is a dull routine amidst the rubble of an ongoing war (against whom changes on an almost daily basis). They believe in nothing other than the Party.

I won’t say I enjoyed the book, but the story it told was terrifying. It’s stuck with me for years. The movie? Not so much. But let’s hit the high spots:

• Fine cast-Winston is a role made for John Hurt. The quiet little man being destroyed by the social machine. This was Richard Burton’s final screen credit. He would die later that same year. He’s chillingly “neutral”, I guess, as O’Brien, the man chosen to investigate and interrogate Smith. Suzanna Hamilton does a fine job as Julia, the woman that attracts Winston’s attention. She is both fervid in their mutual desire, yet strangely neutral in her own right.
• Visually, this movie is pretty cool to look at. Director Radford wanted to shoot the movie in black and white, but the studio shot the idea down. Instead, Radford uses a bleaching process to reduce the colors on the screen. It’s distinctive.
• The movie was shot IN 1984. Sometimes on the actual days noted in Winston’s journal for the events noted there.
• In most versions (not the 2003 DVD), the soundtrack is done by a then little-known group named The Eurythmics. If you’re into their music, that may be enough reason to watch.
• There is a fair amount of nudity in the movie. I’m not sure how much it adds to the storytelling. If nudity is an issue for you, you have been warned.

Sadly, none of that was enough to keep me focused on the movie.

You can stream “Nineteen Eighty-Four” on Tubi, Pluto TV, Amazon Prime Video, Sling TV, Fandango, Google Play, YouTube, and Apple TV.

Rating – ** Not Impressed.