Right on cue — it couldn't have come at a better time because this is the worst time — this documentary film, produced, written and directed by Raoul Peck, follows the career of George Orwell, particularly the lessons from his novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (1984), and how his political observations are even more relevant in present-day authoritarianism.
Of all the books everyone claims to have read, unsurprisingly, George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (1984) is high on the list. Surprisingly, few actually have, even though it ought to be required reading in every school in every country in the world (well, except in Russia, North Korea, and, as I discovered first-hand in 1975, in what was then Burma).
Here then is your chance to catch up by watching the film adaptation and/or read the book online at www.archive.org. "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." How appropriate!
I am waiting for the 2025 documentary film "Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5" to become available on DVD in Australia. As always, we are a bit behind when it comes to watching anything more demanding than footie.
"He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."
P.S. And here's the book that goes with the documentary film:
