Orwell: 2+2=5 – Film Review

Director – Raoul Peck
Writer – Raoul Peck
Stars – Damian Lewis, George Orwell, U Win Khine

This documentary film focuses on the life and work of Eric Arthur Blair, who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. The film tells us about his upbringing and hints at what gave him his political persuasion. We see his time spent in Burma, which was then a province of British India. He worked as an imperial police officer and could clearly see the wealth disparity between the English who governed the country and the local inhabitants. We see his time spent in Spain, where he was involved in the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War. Later, we see his family life and his struggles with his health. He died aged 46 from tuberculosis. There is no narrator; instead, we hear Orwell’s own words through his letters to various friends. Damian Lewis provides the voiceover for George Orwell’s writings.

The other topics are Orwell’s two main works, Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). We see scenes from various adaptations of the books, with Michael Radford’s version of 1984, starring John Hurt, taking pride of place. There is also Michael Anderson’s version from 1956, which starred Edmond O’Brien. These works are interwoven with modern footage of politicians and news broadcasts. We also see how prophetic the works are with images of the governments around the world. We see the riots at the Capitol building in the United States and interviews with Donald Trump. We also see a variety of other world leaders, with Putin, Netanyahu and others, with their attempts to control the language around their political agenda and wars.

The director of the piece is Raoul Peck. One unusual fact about Peck is that he was Haiti’s Minister of Culture from 1996 to September 1997! His 2016 film, I Am Not Your Negro, about the life of James Baldwin, was nominated for an Oscar.

The film will resonate with a lot of different people. Most will be aware of Orwell’s works, but it may give you an insight into his personal life. The main point of interest is how prophetic his works are. While Orwell meant them as a cautionary tale, instead, they have become a blueprint for many world leaders in this post-truth era.