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MY TOP 5 Best Orwellian/Dystopian Films

On this day in 1949, a novel was published that not only changed fiction forever, but it changed the way we talk forever.

Before George Orwell’s 1984 was released, there was no such thing as Big Brother or thoughtcrimes.

The term “dystopian society” was not particularly well-known, either. There were other dystopian novels before (most notably Jack London’s The Iron Heel and Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We), but none would have the cultural impact of Orwell’s novel. Now it seems like we can’t go ten seconds without someone calling our current world “dystopian” or calling their government “Big Brother.”

The frightening thing is…they’re kind of right. We don’t like to think of our world colliding with Orwell’s vision, but it’s very nearly there.

Add to it some of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and we’re all set.

There are a lot of definitions of “dystopian.”

According to Wikipedia, “A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian.” It’s also called “anti-utopian.”

To me, all of this means that post-apocalyptic stories are NOT dystopian. They typically take place in a world where law and government no longer really exist. That’s why, although they’re amazing films, Mad Max and The Road Warrior will not be on my list. I’ll save those for a post-apocalyptic list. (This also means that a movie like Blade Runner doesn’t really count. The government doesn’t seem to have a lot of control over what’s going on in that world. Not in the film version, anyway.)

Here are my top 5 best Orwellian/dystopian films.

METROPOLIS (1927)
Directed by Fritz Lang
Written by Thea von Harbou/Fritz Lang (uncredited)
Based on novel by Thea von Harbou

No dystopian list is complete without the film that started it all. (Even before the novel that inspired this list.)

Fritz Lang’s Metropolis is possibly the first film to really show how a government allowed to go too far can make a small percentage of the people richer while making everyone else poorer.

The world of Metropolis is divided between the rich folks on the upper levels enjoying life while the poor folks on the lower levels are working their tails off. A mad scientist builds a robot and…well, just watch the movie. This is the best known silent film for a reason. If it was only the sets that were amazing, that would be enough. This movie has everything, though.

A timeless story told in a way that we can no longer tell it.

There are several versions of this film out there, but the most recent edit using footage that was thought to be lost for decades is the one to get. The Giorgio Moroder version from the 80s is alright, but it’s become laughable with its 80s rock score. The BEST way to see it, though, is in the theatre with a live band or orchestra playing the score.

SLEEPER (1973)
Directed by Woody Allen
Written by Woody Allen/Marshall Brickman

Woody Allen has never been known as a sci-fi master, but for one brief, shining moment in 1973, he used the sci-fi genre to bring us his own brand of cerebral slapstick to life.

Miles Monroe (Woody Allen) is unfrozen 200 after he’s accidentally frozen in 1973. He wakes up in an America ruled by a dictator who has outlawed sex. The scientists who wake up him hoping that he will help them take the dictator down. Of course, they’re caught and Miles is on his own…with Diane Keaton in tow against her will. Sleeper is a classic bit of lunacy from a man who has always worn his Marx Brothers influence on his sleeve.

One of the best of Woody’s earlier, funnier films.




BRAZIL (1985)
Directed by Terry Gilliam
Written by Terry Gilliam/Tom Stoppard/Charles McKeown

Terry Gilliam has never been known as a “normal” filmmaker.

Brazil, though, is probably his most lunatic vision ever. So much so that Universal took it away from him and recut it to make it much happier than it could ever be.

Brazil is about Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce), a man who is not a rebel. He’s a low-level office worker in a bureaucracy led future who gets caught up in a revolution led by the mysterious Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro). Oh yeah, and there’s a love story that begins in Sam’s fantasy world. The levels of this film are really only penetrable by several viewings, but it’s brilliant all the way through. The all-star cast includes Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Ian Holm, Katherine Helmond, Peter Vaughan, Jim Broadbent and Ian Richardson.

PS – Don’t bother with the studio’s “Love Conquers All” version. Watch the director’s cut.



BATTLE ROYALE (2000)
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Written by Kenta Fukasaku
Based on novel by Koushun Takami

Just so you know that dystopia isn’t a purely Western idea, the Japanese have been doing it probably about as long as we have. They are, after all, the only country actually living in a post-apocalyptic world.

Battle Royale, though, takes things to a whole other level.

The government is sick of juvenile delinquents, so they just send them to an island to kill each other. Kitano “Beat” Takeshi is the teacher who takes the “winning” class to the island and does so with the darkest sense of humor this side of…well, this is about as dark as it gets. It’s teenagers being sent to an island to kill each other. If there’s more than one left at the end, all of their heads will explode.

This is the darkest, funniest, most disturbing film on this list. It’s also an incredibly pointed commentary on the current Japanese government. I highly suggest the book, also. It gives you a chance to get to know all of the characters that the movie just glosses over. Pretty amazing.

The Hunger Games has nothin’ on this.

WALL-E (2008)
Directed by Andrew Stanton
Written by Andrew Stanton/Peter Docter/Jim Reardon

One of the few times that a truly dystopian world has shown up in a really good children’s film (of course it’s Pixar), WALL-E spends much of its time on an Earth of the future where garbage has taken over.

Only little robots like WALL-E (and the occasional cockroach) seem to be living on Earth, constantly compacting trash and moving it around so that, one day, the humans can come back. The humans, meanwhile, are flying in giant spaceships being ruled over by Shelby Forthright (Fred Willard in live-action segments), the CEO of a company called Buy N Large.

The ships form a beautiful world…if you don’t mind being completely sedentary and obese, sailing around life in a floaty chair. It’s a good way to start the kiddos on the road to being anti-establishment and pro-environment.

The movie wins points by using the theme from Brazil in its trailer.

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