Animal Farm (1954)

I read George Orwells classic about 20yrs ago but was quite frankly devastated by it. For that reason I had no interest in watching any film adaptation but recently gave in.Animal Farm is as relevant today as the day it was written and perhaps for that reason it is very difficult viewing.For those unaware the entire story is an allegory for the events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union.It tells the story of the overworked animals on a farm who turn on their human master and make it their own only to watch the same thing happen again when one of the pigs becomes the very thing they had revolted against.The animation style is that of the early Disney cartoons, it's over the top wacky and charming. The trouble is even though the movie is heavily comical and jovial it has several very alarming scenes and a very unnerving under current throughout.Animal Farm is great viewing and devastatingly relevant across the world,if you're reading this then you are almost certainly experiencing it whether an overworked animal or maybe even a pig.I rate Animal Farm a tad low perhaps, not because of the quality of content but purely because it's so hard hitting and not in a good way.The Good: Charming animation style In places very sweet Extremely well written and narrated Powerful social commentary The Bad: Very difficult viewing Things I Learnt From This Movie: The animators went out of their way to make every humans nose look ridiculous Mankind can make a movie to reflect society and how downtrodden most are, but still won't acknowledge it enough to act

I mean, there are lots of scenes that involve betrayal, death, alcoholism, violence, politics, leadership and God knows, how many were involved in this film! The end part with the pigs wearing suits and are on their hind legs, reminds me of politics we are facing today with Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump going for an election in order to become the leader of state! The pigs in this film do represent this very well as politics is nothing but corruption. I couldn't believe that pig brought up those 7 puppies up when their mother is killed by the farmer, into becoming his dangerous bodyguards. It's very upsetting that they were properly "trained" as well behaved dogs. Then like, they are killed by the farm animals that were slaved and betrayed by the pig. Thank god we didn't see any blood or guts in the ending. However, I would say that was also probably the saddest part of the story also. I would suggest sensitive dog lovers not to see this film.Even though if I showed this to a child, they would be bored already but at the same time, it's best not to because of its sad theme around it. They'd even be very scared of the farmer too and by god, as an adult, I was a little frightened of him whenever he appeared!A good movie, it's nice that it was different but it does have anger and sadness mixed with it. Animal lovers & parents, all I can say is take caution before watching this!

While its comparatively happy ending lacks the power and sheer bleakness of the novel's ending, it is nevertheless a wonderful satire of totalitarianism in general and the Soviet Union in particular and an excellent film on its own merits. Maurice Denham is phenomenal as every single character in the film and Gordon Heath's often sardonic tone of voice as narrator is very enjoyable. Seeing the film as a child was my first exposure to George Orwell's work and one of my earliest exposures to satire in any form. Of course, when I was seven / eight, the social commentary and historical parallels went well over my head but it's one of the many influences which helped to shape my political views. I think that it's the only the film that I loved as a child and love as an adult but for (more or less) completely different reasons.

The awful thing was the lack of emotion in the film. The director didn't seem to focus on the talks between the animals. What they focused for that short span of time was how the animals did the work with a very little focus on developing the story. It looked as if I was watching an episode of a big TV Series. It seemed that they were in a rush to include everything present in the book. However it is good to know that at least, some attempt has been made to present this novella visually. The animation can be considered to be a little immature but considering the time it is fairly good. What pains most is the absence of emotions between the animals which was amazingly depicted in the book.Verdict - "Read the book alone and wait for some other version to watch."