1984 (2023 film)

1984 is a 2023 Finnish-Russian sci-fi dystopian black comedy drama film directed by Diana Ringo. The film is based upon George Orwell's 1949 novel of the same name as well as Yevgeny Zamyatin's 1920–1921 novel We.

Plot
In a grim and stifling society dominated by the omnipresent figure of Big Brother, individual liberties are a distant memory, swallowed up by constant surveillance. Art is scorned and fantasy is deemed a perilous affliction. Amid this oppressive landscape, a brilliant mathematician finds himself entangled in a forbidden affair with a fellow intellectual. In a world where freedom is slavery, and any opposition to the iron rule carries deadly consequences, he faces a difficult choice: whether to join the resistance against the all-powerful Big Brother or remain an obedient citizen of the United State.

Cast

 * Aleksandr Obmanov	as Mathematician D503
 * Vladimir Ivaniy	as Prisoner E202
 * Aleksey Sharanin	as	Philologist C340
 * Diana Ringo	as Fiction department employee I-330
 * Evgeniy Kazak	as	Concert host
 * Ilya Yaroslavtsev	as Party Member
 * Viktor Korovin	as	Medical assistant
 * Sergei Nikitin	as	Engineer R-13
 * Ilya Droznin as Prison guard
 * Anton Biryukov	as Enemy of the people L723
 * Vladislav Kuvitsyn	as Younger doctor
 * Sergey Budanov	as	Older doctor
 * Dima Rubin as Inner Party Official
 * Sergei Khrustalyov	 as Inner Party Official
 * Aleksei Shamayev	 as Minister of the United State
 * Maksim Shilov as Police officer

Production
The film is the third feature film adaptation of the novel 1984 by George Orwell. It is dedicated to the 120th birth anniversary of George Orwell.

It was shot in Moscow. 1984 is an independently produced film made without Russian government support or other government funds. Ringo has said in an interview to David Ryan (author of George Orwell on Screen) that she wished to make a film which would show the humorous and satiric side of "1984". When writing the screenplay, she was also influenced by the novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, which served as inspiration for George Orwell when he was writing 1984. Orwell praised the novel We, of which he also wrote a review in 1946. We has a similar plot and atmosphere as the novel 1984.

The film's entire soundtrack was composed by Diana Ringo.

Release
The first trailer of 1984 was released on November 21, 2022.

1984 was released on digital streaming by Prime Video on November 15, 2023. The final film trailer was also released on the same day.

In 2024 the film was selected for the competition program at the Ravno Selo Film Festival in Serbia. Founder and director of the festival is Lazar Ristovski.

Reception
WorldFilmGeek praised the film, giving an A rating, commending the adept blend of George Orwell's novel with Yevgeny Zamaytin's "We". The review highlighted the strong performances and directing.

Randall Larson in his Soundtrax column gave a positive review of the film's score.