Orwell: 2+2=5 review – documentary portrait doesn’t wholly add up
#George Orwell #documentary #political discourse #1989 #review #legacy #coherence
📌 Key Takeaways
- Documentary explores George Orwell's life and legacy
- Critiques the film's execution as lacking coherence
- Examines Orwell's relevance to modern political discourse
- Highlights the enduring impact of his works like '1989'
📖 Full Retelling
<p>Raoul Peck’s film about the Nineteen Eighty-Four novelist makes a compelling case for its continuing relevance but could ask more searching questions about its author</p><p>Raoul Peck’s documentary about George Orwell and his enduring relevance takes as its keynote the heretical masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four and its famous scene about the state compelling people to believe whatever it says is the truth: that two and two make five. That Orwellian anti-arithmetic of tyranny
🏷️ Themes
Documentary Review, Political Commentary
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Review Orwell: 2+2=5 review – documentary portrait doesn’t wholly add up Raoul Peck’s film about the Nineteen Eighty-Four novelist makes a compelling case for its continuing relevance but could ask more searching questions about its author R aoul Peck’s documentary about George Orwell and his enduring relevance takes as its keynote the heretical masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four and its famous scene about the state compelling people to believe whatever it says is the truth: that two and two make five. That Orwellian anti-arithmetic of tyranny has become a political meme often repeated in social media debates about gender politics, although these are not mentioned here, perhaps because they are not considered sufficiently important. This is a serious and worthwhile film, though one that tells you what you know already, and yet somehow perhaps doesn’t tell you enough. The simple experience of hearing Orwell’s prose, both from his published work and letters and diaries, read aloud by Damian Lewis, is invigorating and refreshing. There’s an interesting emphasis on Orwell’s physical frailty, with him effectively composing his masterwork in the shadow of death. It was written, as he put it, “under the influence of tuberculosis”. That such a fierce, muscular, assertive book should be conceived under this influence is a startling thought, and Peck amusingly juxtaposes Orwell’s sickness with Winston Smith being made to do exercises and the infatuation of tyrannical regimes with public displays of physical fitness. Perhaps it is truer to say that Nineteen Eighty-Four was written under the influence of cigarettes and their unregretted consequences. Peck cites various movie and TV adaptations of Nineteen Eighty-Four (with, variously, Peter Cushing and John Hurt as Winston Smith) and includes footage of Jura, where Orwell went to live, perhaps in retreat from the clamour and contradiction of London’s political existence. We see archive photo records of Orwell’s childhood, and his...
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