Comparing the Novel and Film Rendition of 1984
Comparing the Novel and Film Rendition of 1984
Telescreens, Big brother, a world watched over and perfected. George Orwell created this world in the book 1984, this book was a warning to the future. Later on, Michael Radford made 1984 into a film. Although there are some differences between Orwell’s 1984 and Radfords version of it, but there also are similarities in the physical descriptions, personalities, and in the way the film followed Orwell’s descriptions.
The people living during this time were not in the best of shape. Workers were fed unsanitary food, they only exercised in the morning and most people drank gin and smoked cigarettes. Winston was a typical working man. He was skinny with dark hair and eyes, he even had some teeth missing. Julia on the other hand was young and beautiful woman,” She was a bold- looking girl about twenty-seven, with thick dark hair, freckled face, and swift, athletic movements.”(Orwell 27 ). They were two different looking people with different personalities.
The personalities of the characters expressed in the film and the book were similar. Orwell had created Winston’s character as an average man, who is quite on the outside, but inside a curious man questioning the party. When Winston went into a room he had to know what life was like before the revolution so he asked an old man, “ What I’m trying to say is this. You have been alive for a very long time; you lived half your life before the revolution. In 1925, for instance you were already grown up. Would you say, from what you can remember, that life in 1925 was better then it is now or worse?”(Orwell 78). Julia was opposite of Winston she was very outgoing, did not care too much about the party just went with the flow. The actress who played Julia’s part did an excellent job on playing the role.
Usually when a director is creating a film s/he changes the novel around a little bit, but Radford did a good job of following most of Orwell’s descriptions. A good example of this is the room above the shop; Orwell described it as “An old-fashioned glass clock with a twelve hour face was ticking away on the mantle piece. Under the window was an enormous bed with the mattress still on it.” (Orwell 81). Radford had the room set up pretty...