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Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984 film)

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Nineteen Eighty-Four
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Radford
Written byGeorge Orwell (Novel)
Michael Radford
Produced bySimon Perry
StarringJohn Hurt
Richard Burton
Suzanna Hamilton
Cyril Cusack
CinematographyRoger Deakins
Edited byTom Priestley
Music byDominic Muldowney
Eurythmics
Production
company
Distributed byAtlantic Releasing
20th Century Fox (UK)
Release date
October 10, 1984
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$8,430,492

Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes 1984) is a 1984 British science fiction film, based upon George Orwell's novel of the same name, following the life of Winston Smith in Oceania, a country run by a totalitarian government. The film was written and directed by Michael Radford and stars John Hurt and Richard Burton in his final film role.

Plot

In a dystopian 1984, Winston Smith (John Hurt) endures a squalid existence in the totalitarian superstate of Oceania under the constant surveillance of the Thought Police. The story takes place in London, the capital city of the territory of Airstrip One (formerly Britain).

Winston works in a small office cubicle at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history in accordance with the dictates of the Party and its (probably mythical) supreme figurehead, Big Brother (Bob Flag). A man haunted by painful memories and restless desires, Winston is an everyman who keeps a secret diary of his private thoughts, thus committing thoughtcrime — the crime of independent thought, contrary to the dictates and aims of the Party.

His life takes a fatal turn when he is accosted by a fellow Outer Party worker — a mysterious, bold-looking girl named Julia (Suzanna Hamilton), whose surname is never revealed — and they begin an illicit affair. Their first meeting takes place in the remote countryside where they exchange subversive ideas and have a sexual encounter. Shortly after, Winston rents a room above a pawn shop (in the supposedly safe proletarian area) where they continue their liaison. Julia, a sensual, free-spirited young woman, procures contraband food and clothing on the black market, and for a brief few months they secretly meet and enjoy an idyllic life of relative freedom and contentment together.

It comes to an end one evening when the Thought Police suddenly raid the flat and arrest both. It is revealed that there is a telescreen hidden behind a picture on the wall in their room, and that the seemingly kindly elderly proprietor of the pawn shop, Mr. Charrington (Cyril Cusack), is a covert agent of the Thought Police. Winston and Julia are taken away to be detained, questioned and brutally rehabilitated, separately. Winston is brought to the Ministry of Love, where he is systematically tortured and brainwashed by O'Brien (Richard Burton), a high-ranking member of the Inner Party whom Winston had previously believed to be a fellow thoughtcriminal and agent of the resistance movement led by the archenemy of the Party, Emmanuel Goldstein (a remote and shadowy figure who, like Big Brother, probably does not actually exist).

O'Brien instructs Winston about the state's true purpose and schools him in a kind of catechism on the principles of doublethink — the practice of holding two contradictory thoughts in the mind simultaneously. For his final rehabilitation, Winston is brought to Room 101, where O'Brien tells him he will be subjected to the "worst thing in the world", designed specifically around Smith's personal phobias and traumas. When confronted with this unbearable horror — which turns out to be a cage filled with vicious, carnivorous rodents — Winston's psychological resistance finally and irretrievably breaks down, and he hysterically repudiates his allegiance to Julia. Now completely subjugated and purged of any rebellious thoughts, impulses, or personal attachments, Winston is restored to physical health and released.

Winston returns to the Chestnut Tree Café, where he had previously seen the rehabilitated thoughtcriminals Jones, Aaronson and Rutherford (themselves once prominent but later disgraced members of the Inner Party) who have since been "vaporized" and rendered unpersons. While sitting at the chess table, Winston is approached by Julia, who was similarly "rehabilitated". They share a bottle of Victory Gin and impassively exchange a few words about how they have betrayed each other. After she leaves, Winston watches a broadcast of himself on the large telescreen confessing his "crimes" against the state and imploring forgiveness of the populace in the humbled and remorseful manner of a prodigal son come back to the fold.

Upon hearing a news report declaring the Oceanian army's utter rout of the enemy (Eurasian)'s forces in North Africa, Winston silently and tearfully professes his gratitude and love for Big Brother as he anticipates the date of his execution.

Cast

Production

Sonia Brownell, Orwell's widow, owned the film rights to the famed novel. Shortly before her death in 1980, Brownell eventually agreed to allow the film to be produced only under the condition that no futuristic special effects be used.

The glowering, ever-watchful visage of Big Brother was provided by Bob Flag, a non-professional who was cast in the role after answering an open-casting call by the filmmakers in London.

For the role of O'Brien, Paul Scofield, Anthony Hopkins, and Sean Connery were all previously considered. Richard Burton joined the production six weeks into its shooting schedule.

Production on the film occurred in and around London from April to June 1984. Some scenes were shot on the actual days noted in Winston Smith's diary (for example: April 4, 1984) as well as at some of the actual locations and settings mentioned in Orwell’s novel.

Michael Radford and cinematographer Roger Deakins originally wanted to shoot the film in black and white, but the financial backers of the production, Virgin Films, opposed this idea. Instead Deakins used a film processing technique called bleach bypass to create the distinctive washed-out look of the film's colour visuals.

The film is dedicated to the memory of Richard Burton, as this was his last acting role and he died in Switzerland two months before the British premiere date.

Filming

The opening scenes of the film showing the Two Minutes' Hate were filmed in a grass-covered hangar at RAF Hullavington near Chippenham in Wiltshire (not at Alexandra Palace as listed on the Internet Movie Database)[1].

The disused Battersea Power Station in Wandsworth served as the façade for the Victory Mansions; and the Beckton Gas Works in the Docklands of Newham was used as the setting for the proletarian zones. The pawnshop exterior, a pub scene and a scene with a prostitute were filmed in Cheshire Street, in London's East End, an area Orwell had visited and commented on in his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London. The canteen interiors were filmed in a disused Co-op grain mill at Silvertown.

In contrast, the idyllic, dreamlike "Golden Country", where Winston and Julia repair for their first tryst and which recurs in Winston's fantasies, was filmed in the southwest county of Wiltshire at a natural circle of hills called "The Roundway", near the town of Devizes. The scenes on the train were shot on the Kent and East Sussex Railway.

Reception

Nineteen Eighty-Four received a generally positive critical reaction, with a 79% "fresh" rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[2] Roger Ebert awarded the film 3.5/4 stars, writing that it "penetrates much more deeply into the novel's heart of darkness" than previous adaptations, and describing Hurt as "the perfect Winston Smith."[3]

MGM currently owns the rights to this film after it took over Orion Pictures (which took over Atlantic Releasing in 1988) in 1998.

Controversy over the musical score

Virgin Films (formerly part of the Virgin Group), who financed the film, commissioned Eurythmics to produce the music for the soundtrack. Director Michael Radford objected to Virgin's insistence on using the more pop-oriented electronic Eurythmics music, as the traditional orchestral score originally intended for the film had been composed entirely by Dominic Muldowney a few months earlier.

File:Music of Oceania.jpg
Album cover for Nineteen Eighty-Four: The Music of Oceania by Dominic Muldowney (1999).

Against Radford's wishes, Virgin Films exercised their right of final cut and replaced Muldowney's musical cues with the new Eurythmics' contributions. One Eurythmics song, "Julia", was also heard in its entirety during the film's closing credits. However, Muldowney's main theme music (particularly the state anthem, "Oceania, 'tis for thee") was still prominently featured in the film. In November 1984, Virgin Records released the Eurythmics soundtrack album, featuring considerably altered versions of their music heard in the film, under the title 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother).

During his acceptance speech at the Evening Standard British Film Awards, Radford openly expressed his displeasure with Virgin's decision and claimed that the Eurythmics music had been "foisted" on his film. Radford had disowned Virgin's edit of the film featuring the mixed Eurythmics/Muldowney score, yet when Nineteen Eighty-Four made its theatrical debut on October 10 in London and on December 14 in New York[4] this was the version released in wide circulation. Michael Radford withdrew the film from consideration at the BAFTA awards in protest of Virgin's decision to change the musical score. Eurythmics responded with a statement of their own claiming no knowledge of prior agreements between Virgin and Radford/Muldowney.

In 1999, Dominic Muldowney's complete orchestral score (24 tracks in total) was released on a special limited edition CD album under the title Nineteen Eighty-Four: The Music of Oceania, to commemorate the film's 15th anniversary. The CD booklet featured previously unseen production photographs and artwork as well as liner notes by Radford.

On the subsequent MGM DVD release in North America in 2003, the film's color is restored to a normal level of saturation and the Eurythmics contributions to the score were removed entirely and replaced with Muldowney's musical cues as Radford had originally intended—although both Eurythmics and Muldowney are still jointly credited in the opening and closing titles. As a result, this DVD release was quickly discontinued and currently remains out of print. This version had previously been shown by Channel 4 in the UK in the late-1980s. However, the MGM DVD release of the film in the UK in 2004 features the mixed Eurythmics/Muldowney soundtrack on the English- and French-language audio tracks as well as the original desaturated visuals.

Awards

The film won the Best British Film of the Year award at the Evening Standard British Film Awards.

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ Rotten Tomatoes: 1984
  3. ^ Roger Ebert: 1984 review
  4. ^ [2]
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