1984

Michael Radford's adaption of George Orwell's foreboding literary premonition casts John Hurt and Suzanna Hamilton as lovers who must keep their courtship secret. Aside from criminalizing sex and interpersonal relationships, the ruling party in their country Oceania both fabricates reality and reconstructs history for the sake of oppressing the masses. They brainwash their citizens via large, propaganda-spewing TV monitors installed in their living rooms, which also inspect everyone's activities. Hurt and Hamilton are among the few we see desperately trying to fight the system by keeping control of their thoughts and beliefs. While the atmosphere becomes a bit too stifling at times, the images are quite striking with their muted colors and dilapidated sets. In an interesting bit of casting, Richard Burton costars (in his final role) as a government agent who surreptitiously exposes Hurt to the ideas of resistance. Unlike many like-minded films, 1984 does not offer a flashy vision of the future, but then that aspect makes it feel all the more real. In an age when more and more of our everyday activities are being scrutinized, Big Brother may not be so far off after all. --Bryan Reesman

Movie Details

Cast: John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, Cyril Cusack, Gregor Fisher, James Walker, Andrew Wilde, David Trevena, David Cann, Anthony Benson, Peter Frye, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Rupert Baderman, Corinna Seddon, Martha Parsey, Merelina Kendall, P.J. Nicholas, Lynne Radford, Pip Donaghy, Shirley Stelfox, Janet Key, Hugh Walters, John Hughes, Robert Putt, Christine Hargreaves, Gary Cooper, Matthew Scurfield, John Golightly, Rolf Saxon, Ole Oldendorp, Eddie Stacey
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 110 Minutes
DVD Aspect Ratios: 1.85:1

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DVD Features:

Original theatrical trailer

English mono

English, French & Spanish language subtitles

Color

Closed-Captioned

Widescreen

International rating:

Europe: 15
Australia: M

DVD International release dates:
North America: Mar 4, 03