“The film ‘1984’ opens with clerk Winston Smith rewriting history. His task is to change obsolete government documents so that they reflect current reality. He methodically scratches out old headlines, obliterates the photographs of newly made ‘unpersons,’ and attends mass rallies at which the worship of Big Brother alternates with numbing reports of the endless world war that is still going on somewhere, involving somebody.” —Film critic Roger Ebert
The Lewis Theatre Film Series will show the second filming, coincidentally done in 1984, of this very widely read book. The film will be shown on Monday, Apr. 10, at 7 p.m.; admission is $8.
As part of a nationwide outreach this month, The Lewis Theatre will donate a portion of net proceeds to a local organization. April is chosen because this is the month that protagonist Smith begins writing his forbidden diary. Co-star John Hurt just died last month.
In his review, Ebert continued, “What is remarkable about the movie is how completely it satisfied my feelings about the book; the movie looks, feels, and almost tastes and smells like Orwell’s bleak and angry vision. John Hurt, with his scrawny body and lined and weary face, makes the perfect Winston Smith; and Richard Burton, looking so old and weary in this film that it is little wonder he died soon after finishing it, is the immensely cynical O’Brien, who feels close to people only while he is torturing them. Suzanna Hamilton is Julia, a fierce little war orphan whose rebellion is basically inspired by her hungers.”
Additionally, The Lewis Theatre, in historic Downtown Lewisburg, is presenting free showings of the ever-popular “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” during the Lewisburg Chocolate Festival, Saturday, Apr. 8 at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. This is sponsored by High Country Boutique and Studio 40.
The Lewis Film Series presents a special movie once each month, continuing the programming previously done in partnership with Carnegie Hall. Suggestions and comments are welcome via Facebook or at The Lewis Theatre.