This is like two Orwell documentaries in one. The first is wholly constructed from his diaries and correspondences, delivered in a gravelly whisper by the actor Damian Lewis.
The second, intercut throughout, is a polemical film inspired by Orwell’s last book, ‘1984’. Published 76 years ago, the novel is the core of Raoul Peck’s portrait of the writer. The director charges from the Spanish Civil War to the firebombing of Japan to the war in Iraq, the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar, what Putin calls the “special operation” (the phrase is bleakly ridiculed) in Ukraine and the destruction in Gaza, all the while arguing that we have now reached a peak moment of Orwellian untruth. The rich selection of archival material is punctuated by new footage, clips from a fascinating cross-section of documentaries and dramas, including several screen iterations of ‘1984’ and Orwell’s novella ‘Animal Farm’.
With support of the BFI Film Audience Network,
awarding funds from the National Lottery in order to
bring this project to more audiences across the UK.
