'Looks like meat, tastes like meat, isn't meat at all.'
In a dystopian future, in which the authorities have total control of every aspect of human life, Winston Smith begins to document his thoughts, and starts to fall in love, his obsession forces him to take risks, risks that endanger both him and Julia.
Such a faithful adaptation, I am in the middle of reading the book again, and I am staggered by just how accurate this excellent film is.
Intensely bleak, it is a nightmare scenario to imagine, sadly though after the last few years, it almost feels like a prophecy, with people's freedoms and civil liberties being diminished. I'm not a cynic, but I see glimpses of the novel in day to day life.
I must admit, the relatively good, but average score surprises me, I thought this would have a much greater rating.
The visuals are perfect, again it is just what I see in my mind's Wye when I read the book, the greyness and squalor, the production is on point.
What the book does alarmingly well, is create a world, it has ideas, rules, a culture, ideals and opinions, it almost has a smell and touch, this film manages to capture those elements.
The propaganda element works very well, the posters, screens, the voices, you almost imagine someone to shout out 'you've never had it so good.'
John Hurt is extraordinary here, it's a captivating sincere performance. Suzanne Hamilton is excellent, as is Richard Burton, it's well documented that he had problems with the script, but there's no denying his incredible presence, and that terrific voice.
This still gives me the chills.
9/10.
