Review – 1984

This is hands-down one of the most depressing movies ever made. The film-makers were so faithful to the George Orwell novel that they even shot it on location in London in April, May and June 1984, the place and time of the book’s setting. The art direction is truly amazing, doing a wonderful job of creating a bleak vision of the future as it might have looked from 1948 (the year the novel was written). John Hurt is perfect as the emaciated, pasty, extra-sentimental Winston Smith, and even Richard Burton (in his final role) does an admirable job as the diabolical O’Brien. Top it off with a soundtrack by the Eurythmics, and you’ve got a pretty good film on your hands, though again probably not the best choice for light-hearted party viewing. Worth seeing