What does this 1984 adaptation of the 1949 George Orwell novel tell us about the totalitarian tendency in human history? How does it adumbrate upon the surveillance state as exemplified in Stalinist Russia? What role does emerging technology of the day play in Orwell’s vision? How does the film do as a portrait of the subjective experience of this state, as lived by the protagonists, Winston, Julia and others? How does the film portray the efforts of Oceania to control information and change or erase objective records, and what is the purpose of the ‘Ministry of Truth’? How does this effort reflect philosophical ‘idealists’? How do current efforts to change classic works of literature bear similarity to these practices? How does the state of Oceania contrast itself with what, from their point of view, were earlier totalitarian states, such as Communist Russia? Does it believe it’s bringing about a utopian vision? What parallels exist between the regular ‘two-minute hates’ aimed at Goldstein and anti-Antisemitism in the modern world? How does Oceania attempt to eradicate all normal human attachments and the need for privacy? Does it succeed?

Broadcast on:

17 Nov 2023