Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society in which a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.

Director:

Michael Radford

Writers:

George Orwell (novel), Michael Radford

Stars:

John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Hurt	...	Winston Smith
Richard Burton	...	O'Brien
Suzanna Hamilton	...	Julia
Cyril Cusack	...	Charrington
Gregor Fisher	...	Parsons
James Walker	...	Syme
Andrew Wilde	...	Tillotson
David Trevena	...	Tillotson's Friend
David Cann	...	Martin
Anthony Benson	...	Jones
Peter Frye	...	Rutherford
Roger Lloyd-Pack	...	Waiter (as Roger Lloyd Pack)
Rupert Baderman	...	Winston Smith as a Boy
Corinna Seddon	...	Winston's Mother
Martha Parsey	...	Winston's Sister

Storyline

After The Atomic War the world is divided into three states. London is a city in Oceania, ruled by a party who has total control over all its citizens. Winston Smith is one of the bureaucrats, rewriting history in one of the departments. One day he commits the crime of falling in love with Julia. They try to escape Big Brother's listening and viewing devices, but, of course, nobody can really escape...

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Plot Keywords:

big brother | future | year 1984 | sex | television | 

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Taglines:

Big Brother is Watching...

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

1984

Filming Locations:

Alexandra Palace Way, London, England, UK

Box Office

Gross:

$8,400,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Umbrella-Rosenblum Films Production, Virgin Benelux, Virgin Schallplatten

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Richard Branson's Virgin Films, the production company bankrolling the movie, had wanted a commercially viable pop act to compose the music for the film to increase its market potential. Originally they approached David Bowie, who had used Orwell's novel as inspiration for some songs on his 1974 album, "Diamond Dogs", but he demanded too much money for the job. They opted instead for Eurythmics, who had initially turned down the offer but later accepted. Director Michael Radford was unaware of this plan and had already hired Dominic Muldowney to compose the entirety of the film's musical score. Virgin Films exercised their right of final cut and replaced most of Muldowney's score with the Eurythmics score for the film's theatrical release (some of Muldowney's score remained, particularly the state anthem, "Oceania, 'Tis for Thee"). Radford was displeased with this development and retaliated by withdrawing the film for consideration for BAFTA award for Best Picture. When the film did win the Evening Standard award for Best Film of the Year, Radford used his acceptance speech at the nationally televised ceremony to denounce the Eurythmics involvement. The Eurythmics released a statement that they were unaware of the dispute, and would not have accepted the commission if they had known it was done against the director's consent. The Eurythmics soundtrack was released as the album "1984 (For the Love of Big Brother)" in 1984; the complete Muldowney score was finally released as a limited-edition CD "Nineteen Eighty-Four: The Music of Oceania" in 1999, to commemorate the film's 15th anniversary. All home video versions have used the theatrical Eurythmics score except a 2003 DVD release that featured the Muldowney score; this version quickly went out of print. All releases of the film, with both versions of the score, have jointly credited Eurythmics and Muldowney in both the opening and closing credits.

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Goofs

Winston reads a newspaper article titled "INSOC IN RELATION TO CHESS BROTHER WINS." The party name should be spelled "INGSOC."

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Quotes

[first lines]
Big Brother: [voice-over] This is our land. A land of peace and of plenty. A land of harmony and hope. This is our land. Oceania. These are our people. The workers, the strivers, the builders. These are our people. The builders of our world, struggling, fighting, bleeding, dying. On the streets of our cities and on the far-flung battlefields. Fighting against the mutilation of our hopes and dreams. Who are they?

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Crazy Credits

After the end credits finish and the screen goes black, the monotonous end-title music keeps droning on for nine more minutes.

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Connections

Referenced in Iron Maiden and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Sex Crime"
Written & Performed by The Eurythmics

User Reviews

One of the great screen adaptations

Merely a few days after finishing my read of George Orwell's fantastic 1948 novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four", I was immediately keen on looking to rent the modern film version, "1984" - filmed, appropriately enough, not only during the actual YEAR of 1984, but also during the exact same short span of months that the story took place in. This, to me, is a prime example of perfect, and unbelievably well-timed, brilliance. A picture based on such complex, prophetic, and well-known material could have turned out to be a complete disaster (which it certainly had potential for, judging from the horrendous-looking DVD cover); thankfully, however, I was not disappointed.

"1984" is probably one of the most, if not THE most, masterful transitions from book to movie I have ever seen. Easily, its most impressive aspect was its phenomenal accuracy, attention to detail, etc. In other words, this film was FAITHFUL, in every sense of the word, to its source material. One can't give such a statement about films these days.

Amazing casting, terrific musical score, and mind-blowing sets, cinematography, and direction, "1984" is surely a unique treasure, and one that still retains the same timeless messages even decades since its release.