Johntechwriter

This director's choice of subject matter, the post-9/11 U. S. war on terror, could not play to a more divided audience. And that is just here in the USA. Yet somehow Bigelow, with not a trace of sentimentality, humanizes both the terrorists and their torturers.

Ultimately this community has more in common than they would care to admit, which is understandable since their goals are diametrically opposed. One commonality that struck me is how invested the characters on both sides are in playing out their roles. Had their objectives been reversed, would their conduct have changed in any significant way?

This is not to suggest equivalence, or to promote the notion that the characters cancel each other out. This director goes deeper, exploring the clash between the actions people take when compelled to carry out their assigned parts in the human tragicomedy, and their common humanity.

Sadly, this telling of Orwell's "1984" has not aged well. But as a side benefit, in Burton and Hurt's scenes together, we are provided a stunning contrast between their profession's eternal, oppositional forms.

Hurt, the "method" actor, inhabits his role, his agony under torture as real as the tears we watch him shed.

Burton, playing opposite, is nearly implacable on the outside. His superb, stage-trained voice communicates his character with equal resonance, despite his lack of facial expression. Burton gives us the "classical" actor's delivery.

This is not a zero-sum game. They set each other off to perfection.