Post by Rob W. Case on Oct 14, 2020 20:04:26 GMT -6
I don’t think it’s unusual to say that author George Orwell’s dystopian story of 1984 is the most intriguing, thought-provoking, frightening, and influential political work of fiction to ever hit bookshelves, media, and film. I think the reason as to why this is so, is because as human history continues to advance, we see numerous elements depicted within this story, play out in our society and in our everyday reality.
1984’s Influence in Politics:
Some of the terminologies used within both the book and the film are words that have seeped into our political discourse, so much so, that they have become mainstream, regularly used, and have a lasting impression on people when one becomes acquainted with them, and observe their realities play out in the political world. Think, for example, how often you hear the terms “Big-Brother”, “group-think,” “thought-crime,” and “newspeak” discussed in our society describing a political dynamic at play. When a person observes these, and other characteristics like these in the book or the film play out in reality, it is common to describe these attributes as “Orwellian”. When you describe something as “Orwellian”, people know what you are talking about.
The Intriguing Nature of the Book/Film:
In 1948 George Orwell had a terrifying, yet fascinating vision of the future, a future where humanity would be ultimately controlled by a centralized governmental system in which everything is backwards and every facet of human nature, survival, and thought was tightly controlled. Freedom is slavery, war is peace, and ignorance is strength. In fact, the reason why the book/film is titled 1984 is because Orwell took the year 1948, the year he wrote it, and inverted the last two numbers of the year in an opposite position, projecting it as a year in the future that would tell of a “backward” and dystopian society. When the book was released on June 8th, 1949, it would not only draw millions of readers into the intrigue that the story would inevitably generate, but it would also be George Orwell’s final book written before his death in 1950. That said, the stunning accuracy of certain ideas and political concepts adopted into the story, his thoughts and insights relating to human nature and what it will resort to when it pursues absolute power, and the mysteriousness of his death at the young age of 46 due to complications relating to tuberculosis, all play a role in the intrigue that is unavoidably associated with this futuristic story.
On Television:
In December of 1954, the story of 1984 was adapted to the small screen on the BBC Television network in Britain. This teleplay, made cheaply, and portrayed very basic in nature, would serve as the primary visual adaptation of the novel for many years to come, until a big budget theatrical release would be released first in Britain in October of 1984, and then in the United States in March of 1985.
The Big Budget Film:
Since 1984 is most notably an English work, its portrayals have been predominantly British. As the year 1984 approached, Virgin Films partnered up with 20th Century Fox and Atlantic Releasing Company to distribute in the year 1984, a multimillion-dollar feature film portrayal that would bring Orwell’s vision to audiences from the standpoint of the vision made in 1948. From there, audiences could see for themselves what was predicted, what has already happened in society that might give Orwell’s work credence, what is on track to possibly happening in the near future, and a warning against the more extreme dynamics that could easily become inevitable as that future draws near.
The Story:
The film begins with the caption “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” The story begins in Oceania, which is controlled by the Ingsoc Party (which is newspeak for English Socialist), where multitudes of the party faithful are gathered together in Victory Square, to sit in front of a large telescreen. There, they are fed propaganda in order to invoke pride in the party they belong to, incite hatred towards the opposition towards those who are not in conformity with them, and ease them emotionally and psychologically into finding peace and comfort in the party that they belong to.
The Opposition:
The chief opponent and perceived threat of Oceania is Emmanuel Goldstein, a man who was once an important member of the Ingsoc Party, but left the party and escaped the totalitarian state of Oceania because he thought for himself, outside of the boundaries of the party, and promoted independence. That said, Goldstein is maligned against by “The Ministry of Truth”, which in turn triggers hatred and hyper emotional responses in the masses who, if they so much as hear his name, see his face, and/or hear his words, riles up total hatred, complete hysteria and total madness within them. He is viewed by the masses of Oceania as a traitor, a threat, and the one responsible for everything bad and wrong in their “world.” Everything Goldstein has to say about freedom, independence, as well as truths that expose the presence of big brother in their society, are offset by the overpowering influence of their emotions against him, and so they scream and shout down of everything he has to say.
In an environment replete with two-way telescreens everywhere (with embedded security cameras) to closely monitor the behavior of everyone who serves some purpose within the political power structure of Oceania, in addition to many other frightening political dynamics occurring within the backdrop of this film, the story ultimately revolves around two main characters, one by the name of Winston Smith (John Hurt), and the other, a woman named Julia (Suzanna Hamilton). Winston is a regular joe who works for the “Ministry of truth.” His job is to, under the watchful eye of Big Brother, rewrite history and incoming information to the dictates of the party, as well as make people who worked for the government, but rebelled against it, “disappear” from knowledge and its historical record. Winston sneaks off to write about his thoughts, ideas, inner personal feelings, and desires in a diary, thus committing thought crime. His life changes when he is approached by an Outer party worker named Julia. Julia is a print mechanic who works for the “Ministry of Truth”. The two begin talking, and from there, spark a love affair, which is also a violation to the strict rules of the party. They discuss ideas and thoughts with each other, as well as form a bond that restricts full devotion and undivided attention to the party and its interests.
Winston seeks a private quarter, in which he and Julia can meet in, so he pursues one in a Proletarian town where the lowest class of Oceania’s citizens (its poor) reside. Since they are regarded as animals, insignificant, and not really a substantial political threat to the party rule or structure by those in charge, they are the least surveilled, which allows more opportunity for Winston and Julia to find a place to meet. In that neighborhood, Winston meets an owner of a pawn shop, Mr. Charrington (Cyril Cusack), who offers up a flat above the shop for Winston to rent out. And yet, the more secure Winston thinks he feels, the more freethinking he becomes, and the more freethinking he becomes, the more he lets his guards down in a society where no one can be trusted. And then, it happens. Winston and Julia are found out, raided, and captured by the thought-police. Winston is taken to a place called “The Ministry of Love” in which he has to speak to a high-ranking party official named O’Brien (Richard Burton), the film’s chief antagonist, and by him, undergo “rehabilitation”, which is comprised of a brainwashing process and excessive tortures. This is where he encounters the detrimental consequences of saying that 2+2=4, and not what the party says it is. The film, from that point, goes into a tragic direction as we see how an apparatus that has too much power and control can dehumanize people and cause them to be mindless pawns who work in submission to the aid and agenda of the power structure that resides over them.
My Take:
Since its initial book release in 1949, to its feature film adaptation in 1984, George Orwell’s story has been one of the most relevant and influential ever made. Why? Because of the gripping and terrifying truths embedded within the fiction. Since its inception and number of adaptations (book, audiobook, TV movie, feature film), every generation has seen a distinct set of truths and dynamics depicted in the story, play out in real life, and in their own political world, in some way. In addition to that, they can also see how others can play out, or are playing out as the future becomes the present. I think that is what this makes this film so powerful. In my view, this film shows what party supremacy, when it is coupled with absolute power, can do to a person to ultimately dehumanize them. We see this in our political discourse today. For example, with the hard left in this country vying for complete power, control, and dominance to the dictates of their purist goals and agenda, there is no room left for more reasonable people with a more liberal perspective to feel free and comfortable expressing themselves, much less telling the truth if it counters the talking points or agenda of the hard-line party purists. It’s fascinating and compelling to see, but frightful and uneasy to see play out as well.
The film’s production and acting are superb, making you think of all of the surrounding dynamics playing out around them, and how they are affecting our main characters mentally, emotionally, and behaviorally. The substance of what George Orwell’s story gets across does so very effectively by these British actors, and flows easily as you witness every event and scene play out. That said, viewing this film or reading the story in a political season has a particularly unique effect, I think, like watching a horror movie in the Halloween season. Its substance becomes more potent on account of this.
The film is rated R for nudity and disturbing scenes of violence/torture.
To view the original trailer for the film, please click on the “Play” button below.
1984 was re-released last year on a special Blu-ray edition for its 35th anniversary. The film was restored and remastered with a new 4K transfer. The new edition Blu-ray, the Criterion Edition, is made from this 4K transfer, so the picture quality makes it look like a newer movie.
For more about this special edition, visit:
www.criterion.com/films/29140-1984
1984 is on Blu-ray, DVD, and available on multiple streaming services as well.
1984’s Influence in Politics:
Some of the terminologies used within both the book and the film are words that have seeped into our political discourse, so much so, that they have become mainstream, regularly used, and have a lasting impression on people when one becomes acquainted with them, and observe their realities play out in the political world. Think, for example, how often you hear the terms “Big-Brother”, “group-think,” “thought-crime,” and “newspeak” discussed in our society describing a political dynamic at play. When a person observes these, and other characteristics like these in the book or the film play out in reality, it is common to describe these attributes as “Orwellian”. When you describe something as “Orwellian”, people know what you are talking about.
The Intriguing Nature of the Book/Film:
In 1948 George Orwell had a terrifying, yet fascinating vision of the future, a future where humanity would be ultimately controlled by a centralized governmental system in which everything is backwards and every facet of human nature, survival, and thought was tightly controlled. Freedom is slavery, war is peace, and ignorance is strength. In fact, the reason why the book/film is titled 1984 is because Orwell took the year 1948, the year he wrote it, and inverted the last two numbers of the year in an opposite position, projecting it as a year in the future that would tell of a “backward” and dystopian society. When the book was released on June 8th, 1949, it would not only draw millions of readers into the intrigue that the story would inevitably generate, but it would also be George Orwell’s final book written before his death in 1950. That said, the stunning accuracy of certain ideas and political concepts adopted into the story, his thoughts and insights relating to human nature and what it will resort to when it pursues absolute power, and the mysteriousness of his death at the young age of 46 due to complications relating to tuberculosis, all play a role in the intrigue that is unavoidably associated with this futuristic story.
On Television:
In December of 1954, the story of 1984 was adapted to the small screen on the BBC Television network in Britain. This teleplay, made cheaply, and portrayed very basic in nature, would serve as the primary visual adaptation of the novel for many years to come, until a big budget theatrical release would be released first in Britain in October of 1984, and then in the United States in March of 1985.
The Big Budget Film:
Since 1984 is most notably an English work, its portrayals have been predominantly British. As the year 1984 approached, Virgin Films partnered up with 20th Century Fox and Atlantic Releasing Company to distribute in the year 1984, a multimillion-dollar feature film portrayal that would bring Orwell’s vision to audiences from the standpoint of the vision made in 1948. From there, audiences could see for themselves what was predicted, what has already happened in society that might give Orwell’s work credence, what is on track to possibly happening in the near future, and a warning against the more extreme dynamics that could easily become inevitable as that future draws near.
The Story:
The film begins with the caption “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” The story begins in Oceania, which is controlled by the Ingsoc Party (which is newspeak for English Socialist), where multitudes of the party faithful are gathered together in Victory Square, to sit in front of a large telescreen. There, they are fed propaganda in order to invoke pride in the party they belong to, incite hatred towards the opposition towards those who are not in conformity with them, and ease them emotionally and psychologically into finding peace and comfort in the party that they belong to.
The Opposition:
The chief opponent and perceived threat of Oceania is Emmanuel Goldstein, a man who was once an important member of the Ingsoc Party, but left the party and escaped the totalitarian state of Oceania because he thought for himself, outside of the boundaries of the party, and promoted independence. That said, Goldstein is maligned against by “The Ministry of Truth”, which in turn triggers hatred and hyper emotional responses in the masses who, if they so much as hear his name, see his face, and/or hear his words, riles up total hatred, complete hysteria and total madness within them. He is viewed by the masses of Oceania as a traitor, a threat, and the one responsible for everything bad and wrong in their “world.” Everything Goldstein has to say about freedom, independence, as well as truths that expose the presence of big brother in their society, are offset by the overpowering influence of their emotions against him, and so they scream and shout down of everything he has to say.
In an environment replete with two-way telescreens everywhere (with embedded security cameras) to closely monitor the behavior of everyone who serves some purpose within the political power structure of Oceania, in addition to many other frightening political dynamics occurring within the backdrop of this film, the story ultimately revolves around two main characters, one by the name of Winston Smith (John Hurt), and the other, a woman named Julia (Suzanna Hamilton). Winston is a regular joe who works for the “Ministry of truth.” His job is to, under the watchful eye of Big Brother, rewrite history and incoming information to the dictates of the party, as well as make people who worked for the government, but rebelled against it, “disappear” from knowledge and its historical record. Winston sneaks off to write about his thoughts, ideas, inner personal feelings, and desires in a diary, thus committing thought crime. His life changes when he is approached by an Outer party worker named Julia. Julia is a print mechanic who works for the “Ministry of Truth”. The two begin talking, and from there, spark a love affair, which is also a violation to the strict rules of the party. They discuss ideas and thoughts with each other, as well as form a bond that restricts full devotion and undivided attention to the party and its interests.
Winston seeks a private quarter, in which he and Julia can meet in, so he pursues one in a Proletarian town where the lowest class of Oceania’s citizens (its poor) reside. Since they are regarded as animals, insignificant, and not really a substantial political threat to the party rule or structure by those in charge, they are the least surveilled, which allows more opportunity for Winston and Julia to find a place to meet. In that neighborhood, Winston meets an owner of a pawn shop, Mr. Charrington (Cyril Cusack), who offers up a flat above the shop for Winston to rent out. And yet, the more secure Winston thinks he feels, the more freethinking he becomes, and the more freethinking he becomes, the more he lets his guards down in a society where no one can be trusted. And then, it happens. Winston and Julia are found out, raided, and captured by the thought-police. Winston is taken to a place called “The Ministry of Love” in which he has to speak to a high-ranking party official named O’Brien (Richard Burton), the film’s chief antagonist, and by him, undergo “rehabilitation”, which is comprised of a brainwashing process and excessive tortures. This is where he encounters the detrimental consequences of saying that 2+2=4, and not what the party says it is. The film, from that point, goes into a tragic direction as we see how an apparatus that has too much power and control can dehumanize people and cause them to be mindless pawns who work in submission to the aid and agenda of the power structure that resides over them.
My Take:
Since its initial book release in 1949, to its feature film adaptation in 1984, George Orwell’s story has been one of the most relevant and influential ever made. Why? Because of the gripping and terrifying truths embedded within the fiction. Since its inception and number of adaptations (book, audiobook, TV movie, feature film), every generation has seen a distinct set of truths and dynamics depicted in the story, play out in real life, and in their own political world, in some way. In addition to that, they can also see how others can play out, or are playing out as the future becomes the present. I think that is what this makes this film so powerful. In my view, this film shows what party supremacy, when it is coupled with absolute power, can do to a person to ultimately dehumanize them. We see this in our political discourse today. For example, with the hard left in this country vying for complete power, control, and dominance to the dictates of their purist goals and agenda, there is no room left for more reasonable people with a more liberal perspective to feel free and comfortable expressing themselves, much less telling the truth if it counters the talking points or agenda of the hard-line party purists. It’s fascinating and compelling to see, but frightful and uneasy to see play out as well.
The film’s production and acting are superb, making you think of all of the surrounding dynamics playing out around them, and how they are affecting our main characters mentally, emotionally, and behaviorally. The substance of what George Orwell’s story gets across does so very effectively by these British actors, and flows easily as you witness every event and scene play out. That said, viewing this film or reading the story in a political season has a particularly unique effect, I think, like watching a horror movie in the Halloween season. Its substance becomes more potent on account of this.
The film is rated R for nudity and disturbing scenes of violence/torture.
To view the original trailer for the film, please click on the “Play” button below.
1984 was re-released last year on a special Blu-ray edition for its 35th anniversary. The film was restored and remastered with a new 4K transfer. The new edition Blu-ray, the Criterion Edition, is made from this 4K transfer, so the picture quality makes it look like a newer movie.
For more about this special edition, visit:
www.criterion.com/films/29140-1984
1984 is on Blu-ray, DVD, and available on multiple streaming services as well.