Harrowing cautionary tale made movie (Nineteen Eighty-Four (DVD))

Member Name: notallsoft

Product:	Nineteen Eighty-Four (DVD)
Date:	06/08/01 (861 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A competent adaptation of a great work of literature, well acted, fantastic cinematography

Disadvantages: Very depressing, for length reasons, needs to miss out some major aspects of the text

George Orwell's 1984 has long been one of my favourite novels, but it's only within the last few years that I got hold of a copy of the film made in the eponymous year.
Starring John Hurt as the troubled idealist Winston Smith and with Richard Burton and Suzanna Hamilton in the supporting roles of O'Brien and Julia, the film manages to retain the menace and desperation of the book without getting bogged down in its ideology.

Having said that, there is no mistaking Orwell's political point either. This is definitely a cautionary tale of the highest order, and the film does do that justice to an extent, making the world of 1984 every bit as desolate as it is described in the text. Cleverly, this is done using contemporary london locations made sordid by the expert cinematography.

The acting is very good, as should be expected from the great British names in the cast. The less-famous Hamilton drifts through all this squalour like an angel, reminding us that even love or beauty has no effect on the malevolence. The scene where the fragile love story is crushed by the jackboot of big brother makes your heart stop.

While it would be impossible for a film to fully replicate Orwell's novel, and I strongly advise anyone who hasn't read it to do so, although not if they are suffering from clinical depression, this film stands up as a masterpiece itself. The ending, which I won't spoil for those who haven't read it, has all the pathos of a shakespeare tragedy. See it and weep.

Summary: