cult films

“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.”

drama/romance/sci-fi/thriller
dir.: michael radford
1984

john hurt as winston smith
richard burton as o’brien

some facts:

- scenes were shot on the actual days noted in winston smith’s diary (the scene where smith writes in his diary, dating the entry april 4, 1984, was shot on april 4, 1984).
- richard burton was 4th choice for his role. paul scofield, sean connery and anthony hopkins were also considered.
- this film was dedicated to the memory of richard burton.
- 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 eurhytmics, who had initially turned down the offer but later accepted.
- the film features a salute which never was used in the novel. it is done by holding one’s arms up and making the wrists cross each other in the shape of a small v. a similar salute is seen in the film, pink floyd the wall (1982).
- the oceanian soldiers in the film are wearing soviet red army helmets, painted black.
- in the film adaptation of v for vendetta (2005), john hurt played the high chancellor adam sutler, who appeared big-brother-like on a massive television screen in several scenes.
- in the film, inner and outer party members call each other “brother” or “sister” instead of “comrade” like in the novel.
- mrs. orwell appalled when david bowie proposed turning “nineteen eighty-four” into a rock musical in the mid-1970s.