‘1984’ is a British film released, a little too coincidentally, in 1984, which is based upon George Orwell’s novel of the same name. The story follows Winston Smith living in Oceania; a country run by a totalitarian government. Citizens are under constant surveillance by the ‘thought police’, who’s job it is to uncover and punish ‘thoughtcrime’; any disapproved thoughts of members. Winston is an antihero who keeps a secret diary of his thoughts, thus committing ‘thoughtcrime’, contrary to the aims of the Party which rules Oceania and their supreme figurehead, Big Brother. Winston lives for a few months in happiness and relative freedom when he meets Julia; a sensual, free spirited woman. Winston rents an apartment for them to stay together in the apparently proletarian area, however they are caught by the thought police, and it is revealed that the proprietor of the apartment was in fact a member of the police. The couple are separated and Winston is taken to the Ministry of Love, where he is tortured and brainwashed by O’Brien, a high ranking member of the Inner Party. Finally, he is taken to Room 101, where he is subjected to the “worst thing in the world”, this being a cage full of rats, something that has haunted his thoughts previously. He is then restored back to physical health and released, where he sees Julia who has also been brainwashed by the Party. They exchange a few unemotional words about how they have betrayed each other, and then a video of Winston confessing his crimes is played with him saying “I love you” to Big Brother, thought earlier to be aimed at Julia.
I have not yet read the novel but I would like to as to compare similarities and observe differences within the film. Orwell has created this dystopian world which would have been highly disturbing to read at the time, and in ways still is today. I think the most powerful and shocking scene was the torture of Winston and how they succeed in brainwashing him, implying just how powerful this Party is. The story mirrors the idea and reality of corrupt governments and dictatorships in various countries but not to as great an extent.
The Party in the novel/film imposes ‘antisexualism’ amongst citizens in order to eliminate personal sexual attachments that diminish political loyalty. Julia describes the Party’s idea as “sex gone sour”. During her and Winston’s love affair, Winston suffers recurring ankle inflammation, an Oedipal allusion to sexual repression. Also, O’Brien tells Winston that neurologists plan to extinguish the orgasm entirely; the mental energy required for prolonged worship requires authoritarian suppression of the libido. In partnership with this ‘antisexualism’, censorship is heavily displayed in the film/novel, especially within the Ministry of Truth, where photographs are doctored and public archives rewritten to rid them of ‘unpersons’ and in according to the Party’s rules.
Julia and Winston's encounter after they have been brainwashed and 'restored' back to physical health:
"I betrayed you," she said baldly.
"I betrayed you," he said.
She gave him another quick look of dislike.
"Sometimes," she said, "they threaten you with something — something you can't stand up to, can't even think about. And then you say, 'Don't do it to me, do it to somebody else, do it to so-and-so.' And perhaps you might pretend, afterwards, that it was only a trick and that you just said it to make them stop and didn't really mean it. But that isn't true. At the time when it happens you do mean it. You think there's no other way of saving yourself and you're quite ready to save yourself that way. You want it to happen to the other person. You don't give a damn what they suffer. All you care about is yourself."
"All you care about is yourself," he echoed.
"And after that, you don't feel the same toward the other person any longer."
"No," he said, "you don't feel the same."
