I thought the ending of the film did the novel justice to some extent. The scene in room 101 was vivid and frightening, and watching the rats wrestle and fidget in the mask against his face was much more effective than reading it. While reading the book, I couldn’t completely picture what was happening, therefore, the effect of what was happening in room 101 was lessened. However, during the film, as I heard the desperation in Winston’s voice as he shouted “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia!” and as I saw what condition his body was in from the torture, I shuddered more than once. Seeing it on film brought the story to life. I could see the skeleton of Winston’s body and the eyes of Big Brother, and this made the idea of a society like Oceania more frightening, since it was tangible.
I didn’t like how they combined some parts of the ending. Instead of meeting Julia in a park as in the book, he met her at the Café, the scene of the last moments of the book. Just after Julia leaves and once the telescreen announces Oceania’s victory, Winston whispers, “I love you”. In the book, it was implicit that he was speaking to Big Brother. In the film, he is not looking at Big Brother as he says it, but he’s facing away, toward the door where Julia had just left. This completely changes the meaning of the story, because if Winston, after all of his time in the Ministry of Love, can still have love for Julia, then the Party has less power than the book was meant to portray.
1 comment:
I agree with you when you stated that the ending is completely different due to the direction that Winston is facing when he whispers, "I love you." I did not realize the effect it had on the scene until I read your blog. The direction that Winston is facing completely changes the meaning of the words he speaks. I like the last line of your blog because it shows that the movie does make the Party seem less powerful than the book does.
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