Based on George Orwell's novel. In a totalitarian future society, Winston Smith, whose work is re-writing history, tries to rebel. He meets a kindred spirit named Julia and they fall into a ... Read allBased on George Orwell's novel. In a totalitarian future society, Winston Smith, whose work is re-writing history, tries to rebel. He meets a kindred spirit named Julia and they fall into a love affair. Sir Richard Burton's final film.Based on George Orwell's novel. In a totalitarian future society, Winston Smith, whose work is re-writing history, tries to rebel. He meets a kindred spirit named Julia and they fall into a love affair. Sir Richard Burton's final film.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 6 wins & 3 nominations total
- Director
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn poor health during most of the filming, Richard Burton had great difficulty remembering his lines and sometimes had to film a scene dozens of times before he could get it right. The scene in O'Brien's apartment where he is talking to Winston about Goldstein's book took a record of forty-one takes for Burton to say his speech without fumbling his lines.
- GoofsWinston reads a newspaper article titled "INSOC IN RELATION TO CHESS BROTHER WINS." The party name should be spelled "INGSOC."
- Quotes
Winston Smith: [reads from Goldstein's book] "In accordance to the principles of Doublethink, it does not matter if the war is not real, or when it is, that victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won. It is meant to be continuous. The essential act of modern warfare is the destruction of the produce of human labor. A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. In principle, the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects. And its object is not victory over Eurasia or Eastasia, but to keep the very structure of society intact." Julia? Are you awake? There is truth, and there is untruth. To be in a minority of one doesn't make you mad.
- Crazy creditsThe movie begins with the title, "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."
- Alternate versionsFrom director of photography Roger Deakins: "Be careful which '1984' you watch as some do not have the 'Bleach Bypass' effect built in. As the effect was done on all the prints, the IP and subsequent INs do not reflect the intended look of the film."
- ConnectionsFeatured in Eurythmics: Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four) (1984)
- SoundtracksOceania,'Tis For Thee
Music by Dominic Muldowney
Lyrics by Jonathan Gems
Sung by the London Voices, directed by Terry Edwards
Soprano soloist: Sally Mates
Contralto soloist: Linda Hirst
Conducted by Dominic Muldowney
The flaw in the film, for me, is that I felt like I only enjoyed and understood this movie BECAUSE I had read the book already. There is a theory I once heard and agree with: the closer an adaptation is to the source, the more necessary it is to read the source. A good adaptation is faithful to the essentials of a story but makes necessary changes so that it not only becomes cinematic, yet also becomes something that a viewer unfamiliar with the source material can understand. I think if I were ignorant of the story, there are too many things that would confuse me in this film which the book seems to go out of its way to explain.
For example: Who/Where exactly is Oceania? How did the countries go from their current political state to the envisioned one? Why do the people gather in mass and scream passionate hateful exclamations at the screen? What exactly does Winston actually do? Who are the proles? I praise movies that can effectively tell a story without means of voice-over, a much overused device in films. In this case though, I think a little may have helped, not necessarily wall-to-wall, but sparingly used. The movie is effective by being more ambiguous than the book, but I tend to think maybe it is too ambiguous.
In summary, read the book if you haven't (either before or after seeing the film) to get a complete overview of the author's vision. With that as a foundation, this really is a good cinematic portrayal, and of a story that is still relevant and not impossible to come to pass. Obviously 1984 is long since gone bye-bye, but 2084 or 2054? Oppression can always come as long as people desire self-centered power and the masses don't pay close attention.
- mr composer
- Jun 21, 2005
- Permalink
Details
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- Also known as
- Neunzehnhundertvierundachtzig
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £3,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $8,430,492
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $29,897
- Dec 16, 1984
- Gross worldwide
- $8,431,544
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