Just read: Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell

[amazon.co.uk]
Oceania is at war with Eastasia. It has always been at war with Eastasia. Winston Smith knows that this is not true - Oceania was allied with Eastasia in the recent past - but as a worker in the Ministry of Truth, it is his job to rewrite history to match the party line. He knows that life used to be better than this - at least, he thinks he can remember when it was, but, thanks to the Ministry, there is no written evidence left. Knowing that he is doomed to fail, Winston decides to rebel.

A lot has been written about Orwell's great political dystopia, and I doubt that I can add any great insights, but here goes...

As a novel, I think Nineteen Eighty-Four suffers somewhat from the Expository Lump, occasionally reading like a political info-dump (totalitarian-state-HOWTO, anyone?) However, given the quality and power of the political message it carries, it seems churlish to complain about such things.

The exceptional description of a grim, gritty London, watched over by thought police, left me feeling paranoid and dirty just by reading it, and a sense of opression permeates every word.

Despite being written over fifty years ago, the political message is still relevant. If anything, in today's world of global, politically-influenced TV news networks, the message is even more important than when Orwell wrote it.

Read it.

Just Seen: Belleville Rendez-Vous

[AKA Les Triplettes de Belleville, or The Triplets of Belleville]
[IMDB]
[Official site Flash Assault Course™]

This is a tale of a cyclist, his grandmother and their pet dog.

I can also say that it is, by far, the most bizarre film I've seen in ages. I was enthralled by the combination of crazy, surrealist imagery, dry black humour, and traditional cel animation seamlessly integrated with CGI. The opening sequence, a flashback to the 1920s, is lovingly rendered in a black-and-white animation style typical of American cartoons of the period.

For most intents and purposes, the film is wordless. There are snatches of background audio in French, and some on-screen text in French and (occasionally) English, but you can manage just fine without it.

Utterly bonkers, and great fun - highly recommended.