1984 Remake

[metirish]

Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four forecast for Hollywood remake

An American consortium that includes director Ron Howard is set to make a new film of George Orwell's highly influential novel

Ben Child
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 22 March 2012 11.35 GMT

Hollywood is planning a new version of Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell's classic dystopian science-fiction novel which warned of the dangers of totalitarian government and spawned the term Big Brother. Set in a world where three warring superstates battle each other eternally without any hope of victory, Orwell's 1949 novel has already had two big-screen adaptations. The 1956 version, starring Edmond O'Brien, Michael Redgrave and Jan Sterling, changed the storyline radically from the source material and is these days hard to find, as it was withdrawn from circulation by Orwell's estate following the expiry of a distribution agreement. The best-known version is Michael Radford's critically acclaimed 1984 retelling, starring John Hurt as everyman Winston Smith, the restless party worker who dares to dream of independent thought and possible romance. Richard Burton, in his final role, played the perfidious O'Brien, with Suzanna Hamilton as Julia, the object of Smith's doomed affections. The new version is being put together by a consortium of Hollywood production companies including Imagine Entertainment, which is partly owned by Oscar-winning film-maker Ron Howard. Shepard Fairey, the street artist who produced the iconic Barack Obama "Hope" poster, was instrumental in bringing the project to the attention of the producers. The consortium has secured rights from Orwell's estate and is currently searching for screenwriters, so the project is at an early stage. It's not known whether Howard himself is considering a director's role. Nineteen Eighty-Four takes place entirely in the Oceania province of Airstrip One, formerly the United Kingdom, and while the new producers are firmly US-based there is nothing at this stage to suggest that they plan to relocate the action. The blockbuster success of films such as the Harry Potter series has proved beyond doubt that American audiences are no longer � if they ever were � put off by British accents. As well as the two theatrical versions, Nineteen Eighty-Four has been a huge influence on cinema over the past half-century. Among the most notable are Terry Gilliam's flawed 1985 masterpiece Brazil, which takes many of its cues from Orwell's vision of a society governed by state-licensed mind control, and the 2006 comic-book adaptation V for Vendetta (based on Alan Moore's cult graphic novel), which also posits a British future under a fascist dictatorship. The latter has picked up something of a cult status in recent years after hackers' groups such as Anonymous adopted the iconic Guy Fawkes mask worn by vigilante V as a symbol of rebellion against tyranny.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/mar/22/orwells-nineteen-eighty-four-new-film

[Vic Sage]

The Radford version is terrific -- entirely faithful while utterly cinematic. I can't imagine a better Winston Smith than John Hurt; he breaks your heart just to look at him. and of course Richard Burton's last performance, as good as he's ever been. Deakins' cinematography is starkly beautiful, in all its desaturated glory -- it's practically Scandanavian. The Eurythmics songs are unfairly underrated, as they succeed in creating a dissonant kind of electro-pop sound for a vintage 40s looking film. The movie is doomed, hopeless, terrifying.

and there is absolutely no valid aesthetic reason to remake it. They will only succeed in fucking it up.
Hey, Maybe Smith and Julia will run away together this time! That's what it needs... a happy ending!
it WILL WORK!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Funny... Hurt ended up playing the Big Brother-y dictator role in that film version of V For Vendetta.

[Vic Sage]

i'm sure that was a conscious decision by the filmmakers, to establish that connection.
Jonathan Pryce should also be noted for his lovely Winstonian performance in BRAZIL.

British Dystopian Tragedy... i smell a sub-genre coming up.

[Edgy MD]

Shepard Fairey, the street artist who produced the iconic Barack Obama "Hope" poster, was instrumental in bringing the project to the attention of the producers.

I half want to take that literally.

[Vic Sage]

British dystopian SF:

THINGS TO COME (1936) - HG Welles was the UK distributor of dystopianism in the 19th century. The film adaptation of his work, including this and THE TIME MACHINE (1960) are early cinematic entries.
FAHRENHEIT 451 (1966) - Though a French director adapted an American novel, it is a Brit production shot in the UK with Julie Christie and a distinct British feel.
THE BED-SITTING ROOM (1969) - Richard Lester's farce is an odd duck
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) - Kubrick was the UK's grandmaster of dystopian visions
THE FINAL PROGRAMME (LAST DAYS OF MAN ON EARTH) (1973) - a cult curiosity
ZARDOZ (1974) - Boorman's incoherently entertaining mindblower
1984 (1956), (1984) - the early version undermined the novel and was eventually withdrawn from distribution. The remake was brilliant.
BRAZIL (1985) - Terry Gilliam's Orwellian vision stands on its own
JUDGE DREDD (1995) - Bad but fun; Dredd is a distinctly british character
28 DAYS LATER (2002) - This zombie movie and its sequel created a new standard
REIGN OF FIRE (2002) - Dragon apocalypse
CODE 46 (2003) - Tim Robbins in this UK indie
V VOR VENDETTA (2005) - Alan Moore disowned it but its great on its own terms
CHILDREN OF MEN (2006) - powerful drama
28 WEEKS LATER (2007) - the sequel is pretty good too
DOOMSDAY (2008) - not what it could have been

for more on dystopian films, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dystopian_films
on my essay on 70s SF includes discussion of many of these: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=8860

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

What about Threads? I've heard so many disturbing things about that movie that I never want to see it.

[Edgy MD]

If I got a 1984 remake, I'd totally make the move on Karen I didn't make 28 years ago.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Edgy DC wrote: If I got a 1984 remake, I'd totally make the move on Karen I didn't make 28 years ago.

I would've been more careful to make sure my copy of MAD magazine with Alfred E. Neuman peeing in the snow that I brought in to show off to my friends didn't get confiscated by the principal, never to be seen again. I hope Sr. Elizabeth enjoyed reading that issue.