The year is 1984, and the totalitarian regime of Oceania has been imposed throughout the Western world, engaging in continuous electronic surveillance of its citizens through electronic screens and the Thought Police. At the top of the power structure is the all-powerful, elusive but ever-present Big Brother.
Within this oppressive framework, Winston Smith, an apparently obedient member of the Party, dreams of overthrowing the regime. His encounter with his younger lover, Julia, ignites an uncontrollable passion. As love is considered an act of resistance, the two lovers will face their worst nightmares.
It is astonishing how the bleak vision of 1984 keeps resurfacing: from the years of authoritarian communist regimes in Eastern Europe to military dictatorships in Western and Third World countries, and especially today, in the era of religious fanaticism, globalization, and the Internet, with the ongoing debate about fake news and mass electronic surveillance by governments and major private companies, the dystopian novel that Orwell wrote in 1948 (reversing the last two digits in the book's title) proves to be more relevant than ever.
The book has been adapted multiple times for film and television, and has even been turned into an opera. One of the most well-known film adaptations was released in 1984, directed by Michael Radford and starring John Hurt, Suzanna Hamilton, and Richard Burton in his final role.