films-directed-by-michael-radford

"Man has no business with the simplicity or complexity of things."

"When you explain poetry, it becomes banal. Better than any explanation is the experience of feelings that poetry can reveal to a nature open enough to understand it."

"Even the most sublime ideas sound ridiculous if heard too often."

"If you make this much of a fuss about one poem, you're never going to win that Nobel Prize."

"Your laugh is a sudden silvery wave."

"Your smile spreads like a butterfly."

"So what if we break our chains? What do we do then?"

"He had no way to win her heart. Until a great poet showed him the power of words."

"Dreams do come true."

"A shy postman didn't stand a chance with the island's most beautiful woman until the great poet of love gave him the courage to follow his dreams...and the words to win her heart."

"An irresistible treat about love, letters, and laughter!"

"When he found the power to express what was in his heart, he found the love of a woman."

"Philippe Noiret – Pablo Neruda"

"Massimo Troisi – Mario Ruoppolo"

"Maria Grazia Cucinotta – Beatrice Russo"

"Renato Scarpa – Telegrapher"

"Linda Moretti – Donna Rosa"

"Emmanuel Goldstein: [His finals words were recorded for the "Two Minutes Hate" before his execution...] What is freedom? Nothing the Party says is true. Nothing the Party does is good. Even the war itself isn't real. The Party wants you to believe we are at war so as to channel your aggressions away from their rightful target: the Party. Big Brother is not real. He is pure fiction created by the Party. The real rulers of the State are unknown, faceless manipulators who, because they are not known, are able to wield power without let or hindrance. People of Oceania, you are being duped. The Party doesn't serve the people — it serves itself. We are not at war with Eurasia. So, what is freedom? You are being made into obedient, stupid slaves of the Party. Open your eyes. See the evil that is happening to you. The Party drops bombs on its own citizens. It is the Party, not the Eurasians, who are our enemies. Rise up. Throw off the yoke. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain, people of Oceania. [He is executed by a firing squad.]"

"George Orwell's Terrifying Vision Comes To The Screen"

"Big Brother is Watching…"

"The year of the movie. The movie of the year."

"What Orwell feared, when he wrote his novel in 1948, was that Hitlerism, Stalinism, centralism, and conformity would catch hold and turn the world into a totalitarian prison camp. It is hard, looking around the globe, to say that he was altogether wrong. Michael Radford's brilliant film of Orwell's vision does a good job of finding that line between the "future" world of 1984 and the grim postwar world in which Orwell wrote."

"This story is, of course, well known. 1984 must be one of the most widely read novels of our time. What is remarkable about the movie is how completely it satisfied my feelings about the book; the movie looks, feels, and almost tastes and smells like Orwell's bleak and angry vision."

"The peculiar horror of individuality being swallowed up in some faceless social whole has been portrayed in a number of films that refer to the modern totalitarian experience, including…Nineteen Eighty-Four (Michael Radford, 1984)."

"In a cinema showing patriotic newsreel, anonymous, black-clad citizens rise from their seats in unison to praise their leader Big Brother. Later in the film, it is made clear that the government considers each individual to be no more than a 'cell' in the great organism of the state."

"It would be hard to imagine a better dramatization of Orwell's novel than this film. It does a good job of communicating the novel's substance and spirit, and it has some compelling performances. In particular, the expressive John Hurt is riveting in the lead role. However, this is such a powerful portrayal that many viewers will find the ultimate defeat of the individuals in the hands of the mega-state depressing, and some scenes of torture are graphic. It's not the most uplifting film, but certainly a very important one."

""1984" the film works because it wonderfully embodies the bleakness that was the book."

"John Hurt — Winston Smith"

"Richard Burton — O'Brien"

"Suzanna Hamilton — Julia"

"Cyril Cusack — Charrington"

"Gregor Fisher — Parsons"

"James Walker — Syme"

"David Cann — Martin"

"Anthony Benson — Jones"

"Peter Frye — Rutherford"

"This is our land --- a land of peace, and of plenty; a land of harmony and hope. This is our land: Oceania. These are our people: the workers, the strivers, the builders. These are our people --- the builders of our world, struggling, fighting, bleeding, dying --- on the streets of our cities, and on the far-flung battlefields, fighting against the mutilation of our hopes and dreams. Who are they? [images of protesters appear; a crowd chants "Eurasia, Eurasia."] They are the dark armies --- the dark, murdering armies of Eurasia. In the barren deserts of Africa and India, in the oceans of Australasia, courage, strength, and youth are sacrificed --- sacrificed to barbarians whose only honour is atrocity. But even as we grasp at victory, there is a cancer, an evil tumour, growing, spreading in our midst. [Image of Goldstein appears] Shout. Shout! SHOUT OUT HIS NAME!"

"Rupert Baderman — Winston as a Boy"

"Corinna Seddon — Winston's Mother"

"Martha Parsey — Winston's Sister"

"John Boswall — Emmanuel Goldstein"

"Bob Flag — Big Brother"

"Roger Lloyd-Pack — Waiter"

"[First entry in his forbidden diary] April 4, 1984... I think. To the past or to the future, to an age when thought is free, from the Age of Big Brother, from the Age of the Thought Police, from a dead man --- greetings!"

"[Entry in his forbidden diary] If there is hope, it lies in the proles. If they could become conscious of their own strength, they would have no need to conspire. History does not matter to them."

"Thoughtcrime is death. Thoughtcrime does not entail death. Thoughtcrime IS death. I have committed even before setting pen to paper the essential crime that contains all others unto itself."

"[Reciting Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree] Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you, you sold me."

"We are the dead."

"Was there ever a time when this was ordinary?"

"[Reads from Goldstein's book] "In accordance to the principles of doublethink, it does not matter if the war is not real, or when it is, that victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won. It is meant to be continuous. The essential act of modern warfare is the destruction of the produce of human labour. A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. In principle, the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects, and its object is not victory over Eurasia or Eastasia, but to keep the very structure of society intact." [notices Julia is asleep] Julia? Are you awake? There is truth, and there is untruth. To be in a minority of one doesn't make you mad. Julia, my love, I understand how, but I don't understand why."