I chose to watch the 1980 film of Brave New World and what a difference it was from the film we watched in class. This film definitely fulfilled my expectations. The film truly showcased everything about the book. The same way I imagined A Brave New World being was the way it was portrayed in the film. All the different social classes looked just as expected from the clothing to the acting in the film. The appearance of everyone in the books was also just as I thought them to be. Bernard was really funny looking and ugly. One of the things I liked the most about the film was the way it begun. It seemed to have started out from the beginning of everything.

Unlike in the book the film showed us how Mond and Thomas got to the positions they were in. We also were shown how Linda ended up in the reservations and how she wasn’t even looked for as she was just assumed to be dead. A similarity between the book and the film of the values of the World State as they didn’t care to look for Linda because the stability of the World State was more important. This was all shown throughout the beginning of the film. In the film it was actually shown that there was a mistake made and alcohol was placed in Bernard’s surrogate.

Mond was made aware of this mistake yet he chose to let Bernard be decanted as he himself would watch him and use him as an experiment. This is another one of the similarities between the book and the film. Even though we weren’t told in the book that Mond was aware of the mistake in Bernard’s surrogate the similarity isn’t between what happened but the values of the World State. Mond chooses to keep Bernard to study him all for the sake of the World State. Like in the book were everything is done for the sake of the World State.

This film was almost similar to the T with the book no pun intended. Fordship was valued highly and every time two people would converse it would end with the sign of the T being drawn in the air. John and Bernard were definitely the main characters in both the film and the book. The troubles Bernard had growing up were also shown in the film. They showed us how Bernard didn’t want to play find the zipper with the other kids. He was brought to the head of the DHCs office and was put in a chair. When he was asked if he wanted to play and he would respond no he would be given some kind of shock. Till he finally agree to play with the kids after being shocked twice. Showing us another one of the values of the World State similar to the ones in the book of control.

Helmholtz also played a big role in the film as he did in the book. He was considered different from everyone else just as Bernard was. He held the same relationship he had with Bernard and John in the book. He was essential to help show how John believed in poetry and in the writings of Shakespeare just as he did in the book. As well as he was close to Bernard before he became popular.

John being brought back from the reservations was also the same as the book. John loving Lenina was also evident. One of the parts from the book that was omitted was the part John hit Lenina when she tried to sleep with him. Towards the end of the film John did choose to go off alone and live for himself. The words used in the film were almost identical to everything said in the book. John did hang himself but he did not strike everyone including Lenina as in the book. Everyone rioted and they were calmed down with soma vapors. John looked for Lenina and he kissed her saying goodbye to her and then proceeded to hang himself. The book did end with John commuting suicide just as the book did. Showing us all the values of the World State and what John truly believed in just as in the book. I enjoyed this version of the film better than the 1998 version of the film.

P.S. This was a bit hard to write as I kept thinking of more and more things to add to it.

The 1980 version of Brave New World mostly followed the book to a large extent. Although one major difference is that I learned a lot about Linda’s and Tom (the Director of Hatchery) relationship and past. The movie initiates with Tom being introduced before he was the Director while Linda was working in the Hatchery. We are introduced to how their relationship began which lead to them going to the Savage Reservation, and here was where Linda gave birth to John. By them including these scenes it causes a viewer which has not read the book to understand more what is really going on and see how the society had underlying cracks and issues. Sadly in the book all of this was just mentioned throughout but never went deeply in depth yet in the film they spent about one hour focused on the past. Just this difference allowed me to learn more about the Director and Linda’s characters and see how the complete story is developed behind John’s character and their relationship.

In this film they also had a heavy emphasis on the presence of Ford and what is considered as their religion. Throughout the film the characters did the sign of the “T” and always mentioned Ford, and not only did they mention him but they also explained why they believed in Ford. Mustapha Mond began to explain why Ford was someone to admire and worship and explain how the World State had overcome and become the great intellectual and advanced society they are. Mond mentioned all of this while he was in a room surrounded by other citizens, yet in the book a lot of these concepts were mentioned while the children were given a tour around the Hatchery. This slight difference causes us to focus more on Mond as the authoritative figure and learn the reason for which the World State is the way they are without focusing on other aspects such as getting the tour.

Bernard Marx as an infant was also seen in this version of the film, and how at such a young age he was already seen as different thus making him an outsider. He even challenged the person which was conditioning. This information of Marx being rebellious at a young age was never mentioned in the book yet this difference allowed viewers to emphasize more on how Bernard was different from everyone else in the World State.

The was one part in which did me wondering, and that was how Mond was overlooking over everything from Tom going to the Savage Reservation to John being filmed by Bonaparte in the lighthouse. To me this made me feel as if this was all like a strategy game in which he planned all the parts and new the outcomes but just wanted to see everything happen. For example in the book it was not mentioned that Mond had sent Bonaparte to create a film which would he would use to John look “ridiculous” and a laughing stock to the World State. Or even the fact that Mond placed him in a lighthouse which was under supervision by guards and his knowledge. In the book John discovered the lighthouse on his own and the “paparazzi” found him in which he then decided to create the videos. This difference makes Mond appear more controlling over John and all the decisions being made. Even in remote areas outside the World State such as the deserted lighthouse.

Overall I really enjoyed this 1980 adaptation much more compared to the 1998 version. This version have me more of a “behind the scenes” on characters in which I did not give much importance while reading the book, such as Linda. This 1980 adaptation was generally following the book word by word and to me seem more realistic and easier to follow.

The 1980 movie version of the novel Brave New World followed the text better than the 1998 version of the movie. There were some changes, but the characters mainly stayed the same, and the movie tried to stay true to the novel.

What I didn’t expect was for the movie to begin with Bernard being nowhere in sight. His name never even showed up until 40 minutes into the movie. Instead, it focused on Thomas and Linda. It showed their life before the trip to the savage reservation and exactly how Linda was left behind. It wasn’t told through a story like it was in the novel. This put more of an emphasis on Thomas’ character. In the novel he was only mentioned a couple of times, and after he was exposed he disappeared completely. In the movie, you get to see his reaction after he is exposed. In the 1998 version his character was more sinister, with him knowingly leaving Linda after he found out she was pregnant.

Bernard’s character was more true to the novel in this version of the movie, but there were moments they changed it. When he and Lenina went to the savage reservation, they both witnessed something unpleasant. This led to Bernard asking Lenina for soma to calm himself down. Lenina was the calm one in the situation and Bernard was the one who couldn’t handle it. Their roles were completely reversed. Bernard to me was obviously an outsider this time. He was socially awkward and his stature wasn’t that of other alphas in the area. It was easy to tell he didn’t belong with everyone else. They also showed how Bernard grew up from the moment he was decanted and how he strayed from the ways of the state throughout the years. This was a new addition to the movie, and I thought it added to his character. It showed how he disrupted the teachings of the state and how other noticed it from the beginning. From the moment he was decanted, his situation was already known to others.

Bernard was considered an outsider from the beginning. Unlike the novel, Bernard stood up for John and Helmholtz during the fight over the soma. He didn’t even think about it. To me, his character was less extreme in the movie. In the novel, he would become upset over everything and seemed much more malicious. When he was given attention after bringing John back, he bragged a lot and his character became more unlikable to me. In the movie, I didn’t dislike him and instead could understand his actions more. He was much more composed, and seemed to care about Helmholtz more than he did in the novel. In the novel, Bernard seemed more concerned with his own problems than with what Helmholtz was going through.

I thought this version of the movie was better than the 1998 version. The newest version changed too much and altered the characters personalities. It made the story too different for me. This version sticks to the novel a lot more closely, and I found myself liking the movie.