The Road to 1984

I agree with the previous reviewer about the expression on Fox's face and the snippets of realism that Eric Blair took from his life in order to give concrete imagery to his writing-perhaps some of this was conjecture, but effective as a device for such a documentary. I also like how clips from film versions of Orwell's work are seamlessly integrated into the narrative; scenes from Animal Farm and 1984, fuse the fiction and non-fiction cleverly. The scene with O'Brien emphasizes the concept that Winston, like Orwell is the last man in Europe...a phrase poignant for many reasons including the fact that originally Orwell had intended this to be a title for this novel.

As an Orwell aficionado, I can attest that this film is quite accurately and tastefully done, with minimal artistic liberties taken. Most of the dialog is taken verbatim from Orwell's works. James Fox looks quite like Orwell, the main difference being that Fox is definitely heavier and healthier. My favorite scene is when Orwell and wife are eating lunch in their flat, and Orwell goes to the window and sees the woman in the yard below, hanging up laundry. He turns from the window with a thoughtful expression on his face, and you (if you know what this is about!) can "see" the concept of the washer woman going through Orwell's/Fox's mind. I cannot help but wonder how many "takes" it took for the director to be satisfied with the "perfect" look on Fox's face! I highly recommend this biography. When I went through high school 30 years ago, "1984" and "Animal Farm" were required reading. They are no longer, and that's a shame. With the many Orwellian words and concepts in the media today, students -- and citizens in general, for that matter -- should know where they came from.