Brazil is a movie based on the book 1984; however, it would be more appropriate to say that it is a parody of the book. Brazil takes a lighthearted approach to the grim subjects that are dealt with in 1984. In “Brazil” the country is governed by the Ministry of Information which seems to be unkempt and disorganized in every aspect except in the case of distributing punishment. Every detail is controlled with paperwork, which is easily misplaced or contains flawed information. Technology looks broken down and dilapidated, however, this does not deter the use of mobile telescreens to monitor the activities of everyone. In 1984 the state of Oceania is run by a totalitarian government headed by the figure called Big Brother. The governing body includes four ministries, the scariest of which is the Ministry of Truth, similar to the Ministry of Information in Brazil. The difference is that the Ministry of Truth is enforced by the thought police who could be anyone, even family and telescreens, which are everywhere, even in everyone’s homes. The government in 1984 is organized with one intended goal, to keep the people oppressed and in constant fear of even thinking the wrong thought. In Brazil, the enforcers were not as invasive, they were more interested in action or inaction but they were just as brutal in their punishment.

There is a major class gap in Brazil, the poor live in cramped, dumpy apartments, in which nothing worked. While he rich lived lavishly and spent money carelessly. The affluent women in Brazil are perpetrated as being obsessed with youth. They would do whatever it took to achieve this, whether through life threatening surgeries or sleeping with men many years their junior. In 1984 three classes were described, however there weren’t any major differences among them except access to things like real sugar, rather than synthetic saccharine.

Sam Lowry, the main character in Brazil is a smart man who finds himself in a menial job within the Ministry. Due to his spinelessness and lack of initiative he is constantly being manipulated by his mother and his boss. However, he finds courage and the true object of his desire when he meets Jill Leighton, the woman, literally of his dreams. Winston Smith in 1984 bares similarities, his pursuit of the truth amidst a maze of lies and cover-ups by the government, some perpetrated by himself, was kicked into high gear once he discovered that Julia was interested in him. The two ended with the protagonist dreaming of their escape from capture Sam dreaming of being physically rescued by the resistance and Winston dreaming of being killed released from mental domination.

The book 1984 is a novel by George Orwell written in 1944. It is a look into the future as Orwell saw it, a dystopian universe in which the “Party” had absolute power and used it mercilessly to dominate its people.  People were separated into three groups, the Inner Party, the Outer Party and proletariats; at the head of these groups was Big Brother who had everyone under constant surveillance and rigid rules of conduct. This was achieved by forcing them to live in austere conditions with only the basic necessities and the threat of torture and certain death for those who deviated from rules. Pleasure or personal feelings were forbidden and even your spouse and children could be your persecutor.

The protagonist Winston was a member of the outer party working in the records department. His job was to alter the record of events that displeased or opposed the vision and goals of the party. He lives in a world where major countries aligned themselves into three groups, Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia; two of these three States were usually at war with each other, a strategy used to keep the people in fear and oppression, as well as, utilize any excess resources that were produced; Winston lived in Oceania. He hated the ideals of the Party and hoped that someday there would be an uprising; however Winston was not brave enough to proactively start one of his own. Julia, Winston’s love interest was also a member of the outer party, she was rebellious but she knew how to play the system. Her courage gave Winston the nerve to be more assertive and share his disdain for the Party with O’Brien a fellow co-worker who turned out to be his interrogator after he and Julia were captured.

The world of 1984 was a figment of Orwell’s imagination, however, in today’s society there are factors that are reminiscent of some of the events that took place in the book. Surveillance of citizens by its government has been steadily increasing, under the guise of protection. This has been especially true since the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001.Freedoms and liberties are gradually being taken away and the presence of police at every corner has become normal. While we are not quite at the extremes described in the book; such as open surveillance of individuals in their homes and prosecution for mere thought we are well underway to making this Orwellian novel a prophecy.

The Set Up

The Set Up is boxing melodrama made in 1949. It was adapted from a very long poem of the same name. This film features Stoker Thompson a 35 year old boxer who was way past his prime. However, the drive to win and also provide for his wife kept his determination strong.  His crooked managers, who lost faith in his ability to win, cut a deal with the local gangster to throw the fight. They were so sure he would lose that they didn’t bother to let Stoker in on the deal. However, in the third round of the fight when they realized that Stoker could win, they let him in on the scam. Between this news and the thought that his wife Julie had abandoned him Stoker pushed through to win the fight by knock out. In the end the mobster boss Little Boy broke his arm, ensuring that he would never fight again.

 At first glance The Set-Up appears to be just another boxing drama, as it lacked some of the conventions that we have come to expect from noir films. Noticeably missing was the femme fatale as well as murders or plots to murder; as a matter of fact, no one died in this film. Very present, however, was the tension that we are so used to which was scattered throughout the film but was even more so towards the end. The scenes in which the characters seemed to be all alone in their heads while surrounded by ambient sounds, like that of Julie walking through the bustling city and her moment on the bridge, as well as, the pauses between rounds added to the tension. The shadows cast in the alley as well as the sense of being trapped with nowhere to go were also elements that added to the tension. Another element that wasn’t present in the previous films viewed was the crowd’s rowdiness. Both men and women freely and openly displayed their thirst for brutality.

There were a few obvious differences between the poem and the movie. The main character’s name was changed from Pansy Jones to Stoker Thompson. Pansy in the poem was a bigamist and Stoker was a committed man to his wife Julie. His race was also noticeably different, possibly a sign of the time in which black people in leading roles was not very common. The movie also had a different ending than the poem; Pansy was beaten just like Stoker did, however, instead of a broken arm and being rescued by his wife Pansy succumbed to his injuries and died on railroad track.

The  second black and white film in my repertoire is  “Double Indemnity”, another of the film noir genre. In this one, however, the role of the protagonist was extremely amoral, to the point of murder. Walter Neff, an insurance salesman started out by completely disregarding the sanctity of the femme fatales marriage. As suspicious as he was of her intentions when they first met, he allowed himself to be drawn in by Mrs. Dietrechson. The femme fatale played two different roles, one of a naïve, helpless woman who only did her wifely duties, while her husband earned and treated her like a second class citizen.  The second role was that of a calculating, conniving and heartless individual who would do whatever it took to get what she wanted. Her coldness became evident in the movie when we saw that Walter was a nervous wreck after the murder, but she was calm and collected, doing exactly what was planned. She even started to make a contingency plan in case Walter didn’t follow through.

Many of the conventions of film noir were present, the use of light and shadows conveyed the mood, the music which was only present and became louder and at a higher tempo whenever there was going to be action. The setting, for example the use of rain in the scene after turning down Phyllis conveyed the gloom that fell over Walter. The camera angles of Walter were mostly from the bottom up to portray the fact that for the most of the film he had the upper hand. While seated in Keyes office, giving his confession he was slumped in a chair with the camera pointed down at him in judgment.

Before the movie began there was a small introduction in which it was explained that the adaptation of the movie was a long laborious task. This was because it was not only hard to get some of the contents of the book past censorship but also, any actor worth their salt was afraid to touch the controversial roles that the film had. The political context of the film is shown where the envelope was being pushed, by portraying a woman that was capable of murder and blatantly being unfaithful to her husband. Keyes also made it a point to mention that a lady that Walter might be interested would probably drink straight from a bottle with disgust; a trait that only a certain type of woman would do back in those days, I’m sure. There was also Walter’s surprised look when Phyllis accepted bourbon when he said he was out of champagne. This showed how women were expected to be in that time and how they were thought of if they fell outside of those conventions. There was also the specific mention of the colored woman who cleaned Walter’s house a nod to the segregation and racism that was rampant back then, she didn’t have a name just colored woman, similarly in the book the houseman was referred to as the Filipino. 

There were many similarities and also differences between “The Maltese Falcon” and “Double Indemnity”. One major similarity was the role of the femme fatale, who was instrumental in leading the protagonist down a dark path. There was also the protagonists’ decision at the end to bring her to justice, albeit two totally different methods. The two most notable differences for me were that the detective angle was not as pronounced in “Double Indemnity”. We were also allowed a peek into the protagonists’ thoughts as he narrated the film through his confession.

I was never a fan of film noir or “black and white” films as I referred to them, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten through the first ten minutes of one before “The Maltese Falcon”. I’ve also never considered the word “convention” when thinking about a movie. However, after Professor Gold’s explanation of the genre, the definition of conventions and the ones associated with film noir I was able to spot a few which were familiar, as they are still used in later movies.
The plot of “The Maltese Falcon” follows the detective mystery formula with every scene. It features a cocky, self-assured detective with a healthy appetite for the attention of his female counterparts; he flies in the face of authority while treading the line very skillfully. He masks his fears with bravado and sarcasm and pats himself on the back after taunting the police and antagonizing the criminals. Throughout the movie it was difficult to discern whether or not he was going to allow himself to be bested by the femme fatale, a manipulative female who uses her feminine wiles, even feigning stupidity and weakness to have her way. However in the end he does the right thing by solving the crime, turning in all the criminals including his love interest.
The shadow play aspect of the movie was obvious in the opening scene, the name of the detective agency casted a shadow on the office floor. The lighting was done to show the shadows and movement of each character on screen giving depth to the shady theme and storyline of the movie.