Amazon.com video review:
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
