Winston Smith (John Hurt) is a clerk at the Ministry of Truth in the totalitarian state of Oceania. His job is to “correct” old newspapers to bring them into line with current reality. His every move is watched and controlled by Big Brother, the absolute leader. But Winston knows nothing of reality. He doesn’t know if Oceania is really at war, if Big Brother exists, or what year it is (he assumes it is 1984). And he hates the government and Big Brother, silently, taking no action, until Julia (Suzanna Hamilton) slips him a note with the forbidden words “I love you.” Soon after, he meets O’Brien (Richard Burton), who may be a member of the resistance.
George Orwell’s chilling, anti-totalitarian work is the most important political novel ever written and may well be the most important novel of any kind. It not only presents a sickening dystopia that we could easily slip into, but points out the tools and tricks and foolish mistakes that can take us there. It clearly shows why you can never give up your freedom, never blindly trust the government, never let the press and language be corrupted by those with power, and never allow fear of war and terrorists to make you a willing pawn. It doesn’t take much work to see how this is relevant to our current U.S. political situation, but then, it is relevant to all societies and all times. It is a guide to keeping the world someplace worth living.
That’s a lot to live up to with a film. While no movie can replace Orwell’s words, and his novel should be read first, director Michael Radford’s version is worth your time. He captures the oppressive environment of Oceania. The retro-nineteen-forties city has a brownish-green hue that adds to the hopeless feeling as video screens everywhere announce great victories and denounce traitors.
Richard Burton, with his remarkably powerful voice, here restrained, is the perfect choice as the representative of absolute control. It was his last role and one of his best. Suzanna Hamilton outshines him in her role as the enigmatic Julia. She projects the proper mix of sexuality, insanity, innocence, and desperation. Julia’s motivations and beliefs are never explained, nor should they be. We see what Winston sees and there is not enough freedom for him to ever know much.
While Radford paints the world better than expected, the film never pulled me in. I never felt myself one of the oppressed, paranoid citizens, which I did feel when reading the book. The problem is Winston Smith, and John Hurt’s portrayal of him. Hurt has no problem acting as a sick, withered, and beaten man. But he never manages to be the everyman that Winston needs to be. I was never with him, just watching him.
The long torture scene also fails to elicit the terror it should, but that’s very difficult to pull off and I can’t say how Radford could have improved it, only that it isn’t good enough. Perhaps that is something that can only be conveyed by the novel.
I was also disappointed by the end. After being so true to the book, Radford decides to alter the most important moment, diminishing its meaning. In this version, Winston seems still to have reservations. He is a sad figure who appears to have accepted his fate rather than embraced Big Brother.
I was lucky as a kid to see the other film version, 1984 (1956) multiple times. I loved it then, as much as anyone can love a trip through such a bleak world. Pressure from Orwell’s widow has removed that film from distribution (I’d think reading the book would have shown her the danger of censorship). I’m not sure what I’d think of it now, more than thirty years later, but a few things about it have stuck with me. The most important of these is the ending, when Edmond O’Brien stands and yells out his love for Big Brother. His eyes are wide and his grin, joyful. He has lost his soul so completely. That is one of the images that made me love cinema, and Hurt’s mumbling is no replacement.